Date of Birth
1 January 1969, London, England, UK
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Trivia
Trained at RADA
She is of half Nigerian/half European-Jewish heritage, but is a born and raised Brit.
Has a daughter, Aoife, from a relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin. She is no longer with him.
Invited to join AMPAS in 2005.
She is a graduate of Cambridge University.
In 2005, Okenedo became the first black actress since Angela Bassett in 1994 to receive an NAACP Image Award nomination for the same role in which she was nominated for an Oscar. Previous Oscar nominees Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Halle Berry and Queen Latifah were not nominated by the NAACP for the same roles.
Personal Quotes
I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.
But I'm pretty secure about who I am. Anything that's truthful I'm not ashamed of.
When I do things that aren't very good, I'm worse as an actor. I don't know what I pick up - but it's something not very nice.
I'd hate to lose the character actress part of me, because, by God, the parts are much more interesting. As a black actress all I was offered in British film was the best friend role, whereas in TV I was offered a whole spectrum of parts. I'd love to be able to follow that through into my newly-formed film career which I didn't expect to get at 36!
I'm drawn to stories about ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary event or idea or emotion. I'm not saying I don't love films about super-people or super-doctors, but my preference is for stories about how we get through this life, what it is to be human, because I'm always struggling with it myself.
Without hammering you over the head with it, the movie gets you to ask questions. That's what good movies do.
"I'm just going where the stories are. I'll quite happily work in a tiny theater in the middle of nowhere if it's the right story. It always leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth when I do something purely for money. I always end up being absolute shit in it. I'm not really an actor who can make rubbish writing good. Some people are very good at it. It's a real skill."
From IMDB
Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Oliver Platt Biography
Date of Birth
12 January 1960, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Birth Name
Oliver James Platt
Height
6' 3½" (1.92 m)
Mini Biography
The son of a career diplomat, he spent his childhood in Washington DC, Asia, and the middle east. Oliver graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Drama in 1983 from Tufts University. He then trained at Shakespeare & Co. with Kristine Linklater.
Spouse
Camilla Campbell (1993 - present) 3 children
Trivia
David E. Kelley originally wanted him to play the role of Bobby Donnell on the TV show "The Practice" (1997).
His father, Nicholas Platt, is an ex ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, & the Phillipines.
Attended Tufts University.
Three children: Lily (b. 1995), George (b. 1997), and Claire (b. 1999).
Has an older brother, Adam Platt and a younger brother, Nicholas Platt Jr.
Avid Boston Red Sox fan.
A second-cousin, once-removed of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales.
Son of Nicholas Platt (b. 10.3.1936 in New York, NY), a career American diplomat, and wife Sheila Maynard. His mother, Sheila Maynard, is the daughter of maternal granddaughter of the Hon. Cynthia Burke-Roche (10.4.1884-8.12.1966, who married firstly Arthur Scott Burden (d. 6.1921) in 1906 and secondly Guy Fairfax Cary (d. 1950) in 1922). Cynthia was the sister of Edmund Maurice Burke-Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy in the Peerage of Ireland (of Irish and English extraction and son of an American Heiress), who was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. He is also the paternal grandson of American architect Geoffrey Platt (by whom he has remote Dutch American ancestry) and wife Helen Choate.
Was friends with "Huff" co-star Hank Azaria at Tufts University.
High school graduate from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado (near Aspen). The school's main curriculum is based on the "Outward Bound" education program, which teaches wilderness survival and expedition courses.
Personal Quotes
"The only thing I wanted to do when I was a young naive kid was to become a New York stage actor. I thought that would be nirvana. I think of myself as an actor. If other people want to pigeonhole me, if they want to think of me as a big deal or a medium deal or a small deal, well, that's up to them."
Where Are They Now
(June 2006) Making his Broadway debut in Conor McPherson's Shining City, at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway. His brilliant performance was honored with a Tony nomination for best actor.
12 January 1960, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Birth Name
Oliver James Platt
Height
6' 3½" (1.92 m)
Mini Biography
The son of a career diplomat, he spent his childhood in Washington DC, Asia, and the middle east. Oliver graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Drama in 1983 from Tufts University. He then trained at Shakespeare & Co. with Kristine Linklater.
Spouse
Camilla Campbell (1993 - present) 3 children
Trivia
David E. Kelley originally wanted him to play the role of Bobby Donnell on the TV show "The Practice" (1997).
His father, Nicholas Platt, is an ex ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, & the Phillipines.
Attended Tufts University.
Three children: Lily (b. 1995), George (b. 1997), and Claire (b. 1999).
Has an older brother, Adam Platt and a younger brother, Nicholas Platt Jr.
Avid Boston Red Sox fan.
A second-cousin, once-removed of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales.
Son of Nicholas Platt (b. 10.3.1936 in New York, NY), a career American diplomat, and wife Sheila Maynard. His mother, Sheila Maynard, is the daughter of maternal granddaughter of the Hon. Cynthia Burke-Roche (10.4.1884-8.12.1966, who married firstly Arthur Scott Burden (d. 6.1921) in 1906 and secondly Guy Fairfax Cary (d. 1950) in 1922). Cynthia was the sister of Edmund Maurice Burke-Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy in the Peerage of Ireland (of Irish and English extraction and son of an American Heiress), who was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. He is also the paternal grandson of American architect Geoffrey Platt (by whom he has remote Dutch American ancestry) and wife Helen Choate.
Was friends with "Huff" co-star Hank Azaria at Tufts University.
High school graduate from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado (near Aspen). The school's main curriculum is based on the "Outward Bound" education program, which teaches wilderness survival and expedition courses.
Personal Quotes
"The only thing I wanted to do when I was a young naive kid was to become a New York stage actor. I thought that would be nirvana. I think of myself as an actor. If other people want to pigeonhole me, if they want to think of me as a big deal or a medium deal or a small deal, well, that's up to them."
Where Are They Now
(June 2006) Making his Broadway debut in Conor McPherson's Shining City, at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway. His brilliant performance was honored with a Tony nomination for best actor.
Bobby Coleman Biography
Date of Birth
5 May 1997, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name
Robert Moorhouse Coleman III
Trivia
Son of Robert M. Coleman Jr. and Doris Berg Coleman.
Younger brother of Holliston Coleman.
Was named after his grand-father and father. He is the third generation to have the name carried on.
Auditioned for the part of Max in Where the Wild Things Are (2008).
From IMDB
5 May 1997, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name
Robert Moorhouse Coleman III
Trivia
Son of Robert M. Coleman Jr. and Doris Berg Coleman.
Younger brother of Holliston Coleman.
Was named after his grand-father and father. He is the third generation to have the name carried on.
Auditioned for the part of Max in Where the Wild Things Are (2008).
From IMDB
David Gerrold Biography and Work
Biography
David Gerrold, born Jerrold David Friedman (January 24, 1944), in Chicago, Illinois, is an award-winning science fiction author who started his career in 1966 as a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. He was invited to submit several premises, and the one chosen by Star Trek was filmed as "The Trouble with Tribbles", which has been one of the most enduringly popular episodes of the series.
Early works
After his early success with "The Trouble with Tribbles" Gerrold continued writing television scripts (mostly for science fiction series such as Land of the Lost, Babylon 5, Sliders, and The Twilight Zone) and science fiction novels, of which the most well-known are The Man Who Folded Himself (1973), about a man whose experiments with a time machine distorts the details of his life and reality, and When HARLIE Was One (1972), the story of an artificial intelligence's relationship with his creators. When HARLIE Was One was nominated for best novel for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. A revised edition, entitled When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0, was published in 1988, incorporating new insights and reflecting new developments in computer science.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Within days of seeing the Star Trek series premiere "The Man Trap" on 8 September 1966, Gerrold wrote a sixty-page outline for a two-part episode called "Tomorrow Was Yesterday", about the Enterprise discovering a generation ship launched from Earth centuries earlier. Although Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon rejected the outline, he realized Gerrold was talented and expressed interest in him submitting some story premises. Bearing preliminary titles and, in some cases, preliminary character names, Gerrold submitted five premises.
Two that he had little recollection of involved a spaceship-destroying machine, eerily similar to Norman Spinrad's "The Doomsday Machine", and a situation in which Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced intelligence using his crew as chess pieces. There has been some speculation by Trek and comic book historians that the chess game was inspired by an early issue of Justice League of America, published by DC Comics. The issue in question had the evil alien conqueror, Despero, playing a game of chess with one of the Leaguers, with the pieces depicting the other heroes. Gerrold has denied this, but the speculation persists.
A third premise, "Bandi", involved a small being running about the Enterprise as someone's pet, and which empathically sways the crew's feelings and emotions to comfort Bandi, and if necessary at someone else's expense. Gerrold noted, in retrospect, that it would not be like the Enterprise crew to have such attitudes against Kirk as Bandi induced, and that he might instead set the episode on another ship where laxity has been reported.
A fourth premise, "The Protracted Man", applied science fiction to use an effect seen in West Side Story, when Maria twirls in her dancing dress and the colours separate. Gerrold's story involved a man transported from a shuttlecraft trying out a new space warp technology. The man is no longer unified, separating into three visible forms when he moves, separated by a fraction of a second. As efforts are undertaken to correct the condition and move the Enterprise to where corrective action can be taken, the protraction worsens.
The fifth premise, "The Fuzzies," was also initially rejected by Coon, but a while later he changed his mind and called Gerrold's agent to accept it. Gerrold then expanded the story to a full television story outline entitled "A Fuzzy Thing Happened To Me. . .," and it eventually became "The Trouble With Tribbles." The name "Fuzzy" was changed because H. Beam Piper had written novels about a fictional alien species of the same name (see Little Fuzzy). The script went through numerous rewrites, including, at the insistence of Gerrold's agent, being re-set in a stock frontier town instead of an "expensive" space station. Gerrold later wrote a book, The Trouble With Tribbles, telling the whole story about producing the episode and his earlier premises.
This was one of two books Gerrold wrote about Star Trek in the early 1970s after the original series had been canceled. His other was a comprehensive analysis of the series entitled The World of Star Trek. He discussed them at various conventions where he was a frequent speaker and guest. In The World of Star Trek, he criticized some of the elements of the show, particularly Kirk's habit of placing himself in dangerous situations and leading landing parties from the ship himself, and suggested some things he would change about the show if it were to air again. Among these were a Klingon as a member of the crew, a counselor to look after crewmembers' inner lives, and crewmembers allowed to bring their families and children along.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
All of the above noted changes were incorporated into Star Trek: The Next Generation when it debuted in 1987. In particular, Gerrold can be credited for reshaping the position of "first officer" as the ship's executive officer and commander of "away teams" (to overcome the unrealism of the ship's captain routinely beaming into dangerous situations). He parted company with the producers at the beginning of the first season, after a dispute before the Writers' Guild in which the Guild required that Gerrold be paid additional wages for the work he did helping to create the series, because he had largely written the show's bible rather than the ailing Gene Roddenberry. He was awarded cash but chose to forego additional credit.
Roddenberry's partisans struck back after his death in 1991, with a lengthy passage in David Alexander's authorized biography, Star Trek Creator, suggesting that Gerrold had plagiarized the Martian-flatcat chapter in Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Rolling Stones for "The Trouble With Tribbles," (something that Gerrold had categorically denied in his book on the episode, saying he thought he was writing the "rabbits in Australia" story) and that only Heinlein's age and old-school graciousness had prevented him from bringing a lawsuit.
In fact, Heinlein and Gerrold became friends in the late 1970s, when Gerrold was an active blood donor in support of Heinlein's blood drives. They remained friends for many years, and Gerrold even dedicated one of his books (A Matter For Men) to Robert and Virginia Heinlein. After Heinlein's death, Ginny Heinlein gave up her California home, and Gerrold adopted Heinlein's cat, Pixel.
Another point of contention between Gerrold and the Star Trek: The Next Generation executive leadership was Gerrold's writing of an unproduced script that would have had an allegory to the AIDS pandemic along with some brief scenes with two Star Fleet crewmembers that would have subtly been identified as being a gay couple. Gerrold wrote this script in response to being with Roddenberry at a convention in 1987 where he had promised that the upcoming Next Generation series would deal with the issue of sexual orientation in the egalitarian future. The script was rewritten to remove the gay couple, and even then certain people seemed to be worried about airing an episode that made a plea for compassion for those people infected with AIDS. For more information see LGBT characters in the Star Trek universe.
Post-Trek involvement
Gerrold wrote a script for Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Blood and Fire, which included an AIDS metaphor and an incidentally gay couple in the ship's crew. The script was purchased by the TNG producers, but eventually shelved. Gerrold eventually reworked it as a novel, Blood and Fire, the third book in the Star Wolf series (see below). He later reworked the script again, placing the story in the time frame of Star Trek: The Original Series in order for it to be filmed as an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages.
Gerrold had always wanted to appear onscreen in an episode of Star Trek, particularly "The Trouble with Tribbles." The character of Ensign Freeman, who appears in the famous bar scene with the Klingons, was originally intended by Gerrold to be a walk-on part for himself, although another actor eventually took the role. While Gerrold appeared as a crewman extra with other Trek fandom notables in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he did not get the chance to appear in a Trek series until Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, when he appeared as a security guard in "Trials and Tribble-ations", set during the very same time frame as his original episode.
Gerrold also published a novelization of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series premiere "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) and an original Star Trek novel entitled The Galactic Whirlpool (1980) based on the story outline "Tomorrow Was Yesterday". (It has been suggested that the "Specs" character in that novel was Gerrold himself.) In 2006, for the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, he co-edited with Robert J. Sawyer an essay collection entitled Boarding the Enterprise.
The War Against the Chtorr
Gerrold is the author of the War Against the Chtorr series of books, about an invasion of Earth by mysterious aliens: A Matter for Men (1983), A Day for Damnation (1985), A Rage for Revenge (1989), and A Season for Slaughter (1993). As of 2006, he was still writing the fifth book (A Method For Madness), and has contracted to write a sixth (A Time For Treason). The ending chapters of the series have been set aside for the seventh and final book, which will be A Case For Courage. His age, combined with his health issues (from www.gerrold.com) leads many to believe that this series will never actually be completed.
In an original twist, the invasion is an ecological one. Instead of armies, the unseen aggressors gradually unleash plants and animals from their older, more evolved planet. These outcompete and displace their terrestrial counterparts and Earth becomes more and more Chtorr-like as the "war" progresses.
Star Wolf
Gerrold is also the author of the Star Wolf series of books, centered on the star ship Star Wolf and its crew: Voyage of the Star Wolf (1990), The Middle of Nowhere (1995), Blood and Fire (2004), and Yesterday's Children (1972) which is actually an earlier novel that features the same main character republished as Starhunt and tacked into the main continuity as a prequel. The books were based on a concept Gerrold had originally planned for a TV series. The Star Wolf series reflects Gerrold's contention that, due to the distances involved, space battles would be more like submarine hunts than the dogfights usually portrayed—in most cases the ships doing battle wouldn't even be able to see each other.
Other works
He also wrote the non-fiction book Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, published in 2001.
The Martian Child is a semi-autobiographical novel, based on the author's own experiences as a single adoptive parent, with most of the key moments drawn from actual events. The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and a movie version is currently in production for release sometime in 2007.
In 2000, his long-time admiration of the works of Robert A. Heinlein led him to create a new series, called The Dingilliad. It follows a resourceful teenager and his family as they try to begin a new life. Although not necessarily canon, there are hints that it ties into the War Against the Chtorr universe, with everything from the plagues to the rumored appearance of a giant purple worm. The trilogy contains the following books:
Jumping Off The Planet (2000)
Bouncing Off the Moon (2001)
Leaping To The Stars (2002)
Jumping off the Planet recieved the 2002 Hal Clement (Young Adult Award)for Excellance in Children's Science Fiction Literture http://www.goldenduck.org/winners.php
In addition, Gerrold has also published the following novels:
The Flying Sorcerers (with Larry Niven) (1971)
The Space Skimmer (1972)
Moonstar Odyssey (1977)
Deathbeast (1978)
Chess With A Dragon (1987)
In 2005, he was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado.
From Wikipedia
David Gerrold, born Jerrold David Friedman (January 24, 1944), in Chicago, Illinois, is an award-winning science fiction author who started his career in 1966 as a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. He was invited to submit several premises, and the one chosen by Star Trek was filmed as "The Trouble with Tribbles", which has been one of the most enduringly popular episodes of the series.
Early works
After his early success with "The Trouble with Tribbles" Gerrold continued writing television scripts (mostly for science fiction series such as Land of the Lost, Babylon 5, Sliders, and The Twilight Zone) and science fiction novels, of which the most well-known are The Man Who Folded Himself (1973), about a man whose experiments with a time machine distorts the details of his life and reality, and When HARLIE Was One (1972), the story of an artificial intelligence's relationship with his creators. When HARLIE Was One was nominated for best novel for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. A revised edition, entitled When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0, was published in 1988, incorporating new insights and reflecting new developments in computer science.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Within days of seeing the Star Trek series premiere "The Man Trap" on 8 September 1966, Gerrold wrote a sixty-page outline for a two-part episode called "Tomorrow Was Yesterday", about the Enterprise discovering a generation ship launched from Earth centuries earlier. Although Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon rejected the outline, he realized Gerrold was talented and expressed interest in him submitting some story premises. Bearing preliminary titles and, in some cases, preliminary character names, Gerrold submitted five premises.
Two that he had little recollection of involved a spaceship-destroying machine, eerily similar to Norman Spinrad's "The Doomsday Machine", and a situation in which Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced intelligence using his crew as chess pieces. There has been some speculation by Trek and comic book historians that the chess game was inspired by an early issue of Justice League of America, published by DC Comics. The issue in question had the evil alien conqueror, Despero, playing a game of chess with one of the Leaguers, with the pieces depicting the other heroes. Gerrold has denied this, but the speculation persists.
A third premise, "Bandi", involved a small being running about the Enterprise as someone's pet, and which empathically sways the crew's feelings and emotions to comfort Bandi, and if necessary at someone else's expense. Gerrold noted, in retrospect, that it would not be like the Enterprise crew to have such attitudes against Kirk as Bandi induced, and that he might instead set the episode on another ship where laxity has been reported.
A fourth premise, "The Protracted Man", applied science fiction to use an effect seen in West Side Story, when Maria twirls in her dancing dress and the colours separate. Gerrold's story involved a man transported from a shuttlecraft trying out a new space warp technology. The man is no longer unified, separating into three visible forms when he moves, separated by a fraction of a second. As efforts are undertaken to correct the condition and move the Enterprise to where corrective action can be taken, the protraction worsens.
The fifth premise, "The Fuzzies," was also initially rejected by Coon, but a while later he changed his mind and called Gerrold's agent to accept it. Gerrold then expanded the story to a full television story outline entitled "A Fuzzy Thing Happened To Me. . .," and it eventually became "The Trouble With Tribbles." The name "Fuzzy" was changed because H. Beam Piper had written novels about a fictional alien species of the same name (see Little Fuzzy). The script went through numerous rewrites, including, at the insistence of Gerrold's agent, being re-set in a stock frontier town instead of an "expensive" space station. Gerrold later wrote a book, The Trouble With Tribbles, telling the whole story about producing the episode and his earlier premises.
This was one of two books Gerrold wrote about Star Trek in the early 1970s after the original series had been canceled. His other was a comprehensive analysis of the series entitled The World of Star Trek. He discussed them at various conventions where he was a frequent speaker and guest. In The World of Star Trek, he criticized some of the elements of the show, particularly Kirk's habit of placing himself in dangerous situations and leading landing parties from the ship himself, and suggested some things he would change about the show if it were to air again. Among these were a Klingon as a member of the crew, a counselor to look after crewmembers' inner lives, and crewmembers allowed to bring their families and children along.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
All of the above noted changes were incorporated into Star Trek: The Next Generation when it debuted in 1987. In particular, Gerrold can be credited for reshaping the position of "first officer" as the ship's executive officer and commander of "away teams" (to overcome the unrealism of the ship's captain routinely beaming into dangerous situations). He parted company with the producers at the beginning of the first season, after a dispute before the Writers' Guild in which the Guild required that Gerrold be paid additional wages for the work he did helping to create the series, because he had largely written the show's bible rather than the ailing Gene Roddenberry. He was awarded cash but chose to forego additional credit.
Roddenberry's partisans struck back after his death in 1991, with a lengthy passage in David Alexander's authorized biography, Star Trek Creator, suggesting that Gerrold had plagiarized the Martian-flatcat chapter in Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Rolling Stones for "The Trouble With Tribbles," (something that Gerrold had categorically denied in his book on the episode, saying he thought he was writing the "rabbits in Australia" story) and that only Heinlein's age and old-school graciousness had prevented him from bringing a lawsuit.
In fact, Heinlein and Gerrold became friends in the late 1970s, when Gerrold was an active blood donor in support of Heinlein's blood drives. They remained friends for many years, and Gerrold even dedicated one of his books (A Matter For Men) to Robert and Virginia Heinlein. After Heinlein's death, Ginny Heinlein gave up her California home, and Gerrold adopted Heinlein's cat, Pixel.
Another point of contention between Gerrold and the Star Trek: The Next Generation executive leadership was Gerrold's writing of an unproduced script that would have had an allegory to the AIDS pandemic along with some brief scenes with two Star Fleet crewmembers that would have subtly been identified as being a gay couple. Gerrold wrote this script in response to being with Roddenberry at a convention in 1987 where he had promised that the upcoming Next Generation series would deal with the issue of sexual orientation in the egalitarian future. The script was rewritten to remove the gay couple, and even then certain people seemed to be worried about airing an episode that made a plea for compassion for those people infected with AIDS. For more information see LGBT characters in the Star Trek universe.
Post-Trek involvement
Gerrold wrote a script for Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Blood and Fire, which included an AIDS metaphor and an incidentally gay couple in the ship's crew. The script was purchased by the TNG producers, but eventually shelved. Gerrold eventually reworked it as a novel, Blood and Fire, the third book in the Star Wolf series (see below). He later reworked the script again, placing the story in the time frame of Star Trek: The Original Series in order for it to be filmed as an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages.
Gerrold had always wanted to appear onscreen in an episode of Star Trek, particularly "The Trouble with Tribbles." The character of Ensign Freeman, who appears in the famous bar scene with the Klingons, was originally intended by Gerrold to be a walk-on part for himself, although another actor eventually took the role. While Gerrold appeared as a crewman extra with other Trek fandom notables in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he did not get the chance to appear in a Trek series until Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, when he appeared as a security guard in "Trials and Tribble-ations", set during the very same time frame as his original episode.
Gerrold also published a novelization of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series premiere "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) and an original Star Trek novel entitled The Galactic Whirlpool (1980) based on the story outline "Tomorrow Was Yesterday". (It has been suggested that the "Specs" character in that novel was Gerrold himself.) In 2006, for the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, he co-edited with Robert J. Sawyer an essay collection entitled Boarding the Enterprise.
The War Against the Chtorr
Gerrold is the author of the War Against the Chtorr series of books, about an invasion of Earth by mysterious aliens: A Matter for Men (1983), A Day for Damnation (1985), A Rage for Revenge (1989), and A Season for Slaughter (1993). As of 2006, he was still writing the fifth book (A Method For Madness), and has contracted to write a sixth (A Time For Treason). The ending chapters of the series have been set aside for the seventh and final book, which will be A Case For Courage. His age, combined with his health issues (from www.gerrold.com) leads many to believe that this series will never actually be completed.
In an original twist, the invasion is an ecological one. Instead of armies, the unseen aggressors gradually unleash plants and animals from their older, more evolved planet. These outcompete and displace their terrestrial counterparts and Earth becomes more and more Chtorr-like as the "war" progresses.
Star Wolf
Gerrold is also the author of the Star Wolf series of books, centered on the star ship Star Wolf and its crew: Voyage of the Star Wolf (1990), The Middle of Nowhere (1995), Blood and Fire (2004), and Yesterday's Children (1972) which is actually an earlier novel that features the same main character republished as Starhunt and tacked into the main continuity as a prequel. The books were based on a concept Gerrold had originally planned for a TV series. The Star Wolf series reflects Gerrold's contention that, due to the distances involved, space battles would be more like submarine hunts than the dogfights usually portrayed—in most cases the ships doing battle wouldn't even be able to see each other.
Other works
He also wrote the non-fiction book Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, published in 2001.
The Martian Child is a semi-autobiographical novel, based on the author's own experiences as a single adoptive parent, with most of the key moments drawn from actual events. The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and a movie version is currently in production for release sometime in 2007.
In 2000, his long-time admiration of the works of Robert A. Heinlein led him to create a new series, called The Dingilliad. It follows a resourceful teenager and his family as they try to begin a new life. Although not necessarily canon, there are hints that it ties into the War Against the Chtorr universe, with everything from the plagues to the rumored appearance of a giant purple worm. The trilogy contains the following books:
Jumping Off The Planet (2000)
Bouncing Off the Moon (2001)
Leaping To The Stars (2002)
Jumping off the Planet recieved the 2002 Hal Clement (Young Adult Award)for Excellance in Children's Science Fiction Literture http://www.goldenduck.org/winners.php
In addition, Gerrold has also published the following novels:
The Flying Sorcerers (with Larry Niven) (1971)
The Space Skimmer (1972)
Moonstar Odyssey (1977)
Deathbeast (1978)
Chess With A Dragon (1987)
In 2005, he was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado.
From Wikipedia
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Amanda Peet Biography
Date of Birth
11 January 1972, New York, New York, USA
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Mini Biography
Amanda Peet grew up in New York with her older sister and their parents, Charles, a lawyer, and Penny, a social worker. She made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three when she jumped onto the stage during a play; yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period; during which time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by waitressing and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series "Law & Order" (1990).
Her feature film debut came in 1995 in the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while after, Amanda continued to find steady work, but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up. She did however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000) opposite Bruce Willis, that took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People In The World By People Magazine.
Spouse
David Benioff (30 September 2006 - present) 1 child
Trivia
Graduated from Columbia University in 1994.
Voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World 2000 by People Magazine.
Was maid of honor at actress Lauren Holly's wedding to Francis Greco. [10 March 2001]
Worked at "City Crab" in New York before hitting it big. (Source: Interview, "Larry King Live" (1985), 10 February 2000).
Replaced Amelia Heinle (the original Jack in the "Jack & Jill" (1999) pilot episode).
Attended Friends Seminary high school with actor Liev Schreiber when he was a senior and she was a freshman.
Educated at an all-girls' prep school in London.
Her father, Charles, has been a prominent corporate attorney in New York City for decades.
Ranked #44 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).
Engaged to David Benioff [July 22, 2005].
Has one older sister.
Named #87 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Did not learn to drive until she moved to L.A. in 2000.
Her character, "Jordan McDeere" on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006), is based on former NBC president Jamie Tarses.
Mother: the former Larry (sic) Levy, who was born in England.
At age 35, she gave birth to her first child. Daughter, Frances Pen was born on February 20, 2007 weighing 6 lbs, 10 oz. The baby's middle name is in honor of Amanda's mom, Penny.
Amanda and David were married at her alma mater, Friends Seminary high school, in New York City.
Personal Quotes
"And I also definitely love glamor. I mean, I love getting dressed up, and having someone do my make-up and feeling pretty. I'm not gonna lie about that, cause that's part of what I love about what I do. But celebrity.. it's like the feeling of going to the prom, the adolescent feeling of popularity. As an actor, my main focus is finding good writing and attacking a good role. I mean, I understand when you're incredibly famous that it becomes difficult to deal with the publicity aspect. But people who are like me, who go, "Oh, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just here for the work!" I find it to be a little pretentious, honestly. Cause you're not that famous. Calm down."
Info Provided by IMDB
11 January 1972, New York, New York, USA
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Mini Biography
Amanda Peet grew up in New York with her older sister and their parents, Charles, a lawyer, and Penny, a social worker. She made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three when she jumped onto the stage during a play; yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period; during which time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by waitressing and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series "Law & Order" (1990).
Her feature film debut came in 1995 in the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while after, Amanda continued to find steady work, but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up. She did however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000) opposite Bruce Willis, that took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People In The World By People Magazine.
Spouse
David Benioff (30 September 2006 - present) 1 child
Trivia
Graduated from Columbia University in 1994.
Voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World 2000 by People Magazine.
Was maid of honor at actress Lauren Holly's wedding to Francis Greco. [10 March 2001]
Worked at "City Crab" in New York before hitting it big. (Source: Interview, "Larry King Live" (1985), 10 February 2000).
Replaced Amelia Heinle (the original Jack in the "Jack & Jill" (1999) pilot episode).
Attended Friends Seminary high school with actor Liev Schreiber when he was a senior and she was a freshman.
Educated at an all-girls' prep school in London.
Her father, Charles, has been a prominent corporate attorney in New York City for decades.
Ranked #44 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).
Engaged to David Benioff [July 22, 2005].
Has one older sister.
Named #87 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Did not learn to drive until she moved to L.A. in 2000.
Her character, "Jordan McDeere" on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006), is based on former NBC president Jamie Tarses.
Mother: the former Larry (sic) Levy, who was born in England.
At age 35, she gave birth to her first child. Daughter, Frances Pen was born on February 20, 2007 weighing 6 lbs, 10 oz. The baby's middle name is in honor of Amanda's mom, Penny.
Amanda and David were married at her alma mater, Friends Seminary high school, in New York City.
Personal Quotes
"And I also definitely love glamor. I mean, I love getting dressed up, and having someone do my make-up and feeling pretty. I'm not gonna lie about that, cause that's part of what I love about what I do. But celebrity.. it's like the feeling of going to the prom, the adolescent feeling of popularity. As an actor, my main focus is finding good writing and attacking a good role. I mean, I understand when you're incredibly famous that it becomes difficult to deal with the publicity aspect. But people who are like me, who go, "Oh, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just here for the work!" I find it to be a little pretentious, honestly. Cause you're not that famous. Calm down."
Info Provided by IMDB
John Paul Cusack Biography
Date of Birth
28 June 1966, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Birth Name
John Paul Cusack
Height
6' 2½" (1.89 m)
Mini Biography
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. With the exception of mom Nancy (a former math teacher), the Cusack clan is all show business: father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and John's siblings Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Bill Cusack and Susie Cusack are all thespians by trade. Like his brother and sisters, John became a member of Chicago's Piven Theatre Workshop while he was still in elementary school. By age 12, he already had several stage productions, commercial voice overs and industrial films under his belt. He made his feature film debut at 17, acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy in the romantic comedy Class (1983). His next role, as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's geek brigade in Sixteen Candles (1984), put him on track to becoming a teen-flick fixture. Cusack remained on the periphery of the Brat Pack, sidestepping the meteoric rise and fall of most of his contemporaries, but he stayed busy with leads in films like The Sure Thing (1985) and Better Off Dead... (1985). Young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered his last adolescent role: the stereo-blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything... (1989). A year later, he hit theaters as a grown-up, playing a bush-league con man caught between his manipulative mother and headstrong girlfriend in The Grifters (1990).
The next few years were relatively quiet for the actor, but he filled in the gaps with off-screen projects. He directed and produced several shows for the Chicago-based theater group The New Criminals, which he founded in 1988 (modeling it after Tim Robbins' Actors' Gang in Los Angeles) to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four years later, Cusack's high school friends Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis joined him in starting a sister company for film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply written comedy Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which touched off a career renaissance for Cusack. In addition to co-scripting, he starred as a world-weary hit man who goes home for his ten-year high school reunion and tries to rekindle a romance with the girl he stood up on prom night (Minnie Driver). In an instance of life imitating art, Cusack actually did go home for his ten-year reunion (to honor a bet about the film's financing) and ended up in a real-life romance with Driver. Cusack's next appearance was as a federal agent (or, as he described it, "the first post-Heston, non-biblical action star in sandals") in Con Air (1997), a movie he chose because he felt it was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savannah murder case.
Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when he turned up in the fiercely original Being John Malkovich (1999). Long-haired, bearded and bespectacled, he was almost unrecognizable in the role of a frustrated puppeteer who stumbles across a portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2000, Cusack was back to his clean-shaven self in High Fidelity (2000), another New Crime production. He worked with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis to adapt Nick Hornby's popular novel (relocating the story to their native Chicago), then starred as the sarcastic record store owner who revisits his "Top 5" breakups to find out why he's so unlucky in love. The real Cusack has been romantically linked with several celebs, including Driver, Alison Eastwood, Claire Forlani and Neve Campbell. He's also something of a family man, acting frequently opposite sister Joan Cusack and pulling other Cusacks into his films on a regular basis. He seems pleased with the spate of projects on his horizon, but admits that he still hasn't reached his ultimate goal: to be involved in a "great piece of art".
Trivia
Brother of Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Susie Cusack and Bill Cusack. Son of Dick Cusack (actor, documentary filmmaker) and Nancy Cusack (teacher).
Last name is pronounced Q-sack.
Has a production company called New Crime Productions (that produced Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) among various stage productions) which he founded with two of his high school buddies Steve Pink & D.V. DeVincentis.
Education: Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, Illinois), run by the parents of actor Jeremy Piven. One semester at NYU.
Attended Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill.
Turned down Woody Harrelson's role in Indecent Proposal (1993).
Dated Neve Campbell. [2001]
Dated Lili Taylor.
Dated Alison Eastwood.
Dated Claire Forlani.
Dated Minnie Driver.
Turned down Bill Paxton's role in Apollo 13 (1995).
Close friends with actor Jeremy Piven. They have done 10 movies together: One Crazy Summer (1986), Elvis Stories (1989), Say Anything... (1989), The Player (1992), Floundering (1994), The Grifters (1990), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Serendipity (2001) and Runaway Jury (2003).
Is the product of a passionately liberal Irish Catholic family, visited the radical Berrigan brothers when he was growing up, and, like them, his mother still gets arrested for her anti-militarism and pro- human rights protests.
On free time likes to go "Helecopter Snowboarding" and kickboxing with stunt cordinator Benny Urquidez.
Tested for the role of Madmartigan in Willow (1988) but lost to Val Kilmer.
Is the subject of the song "Honorable Mention" by the band Fall Out Boy.
The novel "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is prominently referenced in two John Cusack movies (High Fidelity (2000) and Serendipity (2001).
Sister Joan Cusack appeared in 8 of his movies:Class (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything... (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999) and High Fidelity (2000).
Was originally set to play Walter Eberhart in the _Stepford Wives, The (2004)_ . Due to conflicts, he had to drop out and Matthew Broderick got the role.
Was once roommates with Jeremy Piven
Attended a theatre school in Chicago with sisters Joan Cusack and Ann Cusack. The theatre school was run by the parents of his best friend, Jeremy Piven
Irish-American.
His favorite group is the punk rock band, The Clash. He is also a big fan of The Specials and Elvis Costello.
Ranked #15 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.
Some kind of reference to his favorite bands (usually The Clash, The Ramones or The Specials) makes at least one appearance in most of his films. Most of the time, he wears a t-shirt of one of the bands (Say Anything... (1989), High Fidelity (2000), Must Love Dogs (2005), etc), but sometimes (Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)) he works in a poster of one of the bands. These bands are typically in the soundtracks to his New Criminal's productions as well.
Member of the "Brat Pack", the name for the actors who tended to star in teen movies of the 80's. Others include Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen and Diane Lane.
Most famous member of the Cusack family.
He and his good friend Tim Robbins made 6 movies together: Bob Roberts (1992), Cradle Will Rock (1999), High Fidelity (2000), The Player (1992), The Sure Thing (1985) and Tapeheads (1988)
Was, for a long time, attached to play the role of "Nite Owl" in the doomed movie adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book mini-series, _Watchmen (2008)_ .
Was originally the actor chosen to play John Bender in the The Breakfast Club (1985). At the last minute, things changed and Judd Nelson ended up in the role.
Was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson and nearly got to play him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).
Was considered for the role of "Paul Brenner" in The General's Daughter (1999), but was deemed too young at the time, so the role went to John Travolta instead.
His performance as "Lloyd Dobler" in Say Anything... (1989) is ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Apocalypse Now (1979) is one of his favorite films.
During the famous "boom box serenade" scene in Say Anything... (1989), he is actually playing his favorite Fishbone tape on the boom box, while Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is played in the movie. (source: Cameron Crowe commentary on the DVD).
Growing up John and his siblings often put on plays at their home. He has mentioned that his older sister Ann once staged a production of "Cinderella" in their living room in which she played Cinderella, sister Joan played the Ugly Stepsister, brother Bill played Prince Charming and John played the dog.
Considers the scripts to Max (2002/I) and Being John Malkovich (1999) the best he has read.
Personal Quotes
"I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough."
[on celebrity] "I have a healthy fear of it. I'm not into the celebrity culture aspect of being an artist. To me it represents extinction. The more people know about you, the less they want to try to figure out what you have to say in your movies, and the less credibility you have. To me it seems: Go do your thing, then get out. That's the best way to do it." (January 14, 2004)
"Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!" (January 14, 2004)
Info Provided by IMDB
28 June 1966, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Birth Name
John Paul Cusack
Height
6' 2½" (1.89 m)
Mini Biography
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. With the exception of mom Nancy (a former math teacher), the Cusack clan is all show business: father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and John's siblings Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Bill Cusack and Susie Cusack are all thespians by trade. Like his brother and sisters, John became a member of Chicago's Piven Theatre Workshop while he was still in elementary school. By age 12, he already had several stage productions, commercial voice overs and industrial films under his belt. He made his feature film debut at 17, acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy in the romantic comedy Class (1983). His next role, as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's geek brigade in Sixteen Candles (1984), put him on track to becoming a teen-flick fixture. Cusack remained on the periphery of the Brat Pack, sidestepping the meteoric rise and fall of most of his contemporaries, but he stayed busy with leads in films like The Sure Thing (1985) and Better Off Dead... (1985). Young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered his last adolescent role: the stereo-blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything... (1989). A year later, he hit theaters as a grown-up, playing a bush-league con man caught between his manipulative mother and headstrong girlfriend in The Grifters (1990).
The next few years were relatively quiet for the actor, but he filled in the gaps with off-screen projects. He directed and produced several shows for the Chicago-based theater group The New Criminals, which he founded in 1988 (modeling it after Tim Robbins' Actors' Gang in Los Angeles) to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four years later, Cusack's high school friends Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis joined him in starting a sister company for film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply written comedy Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which touched off a career renaissance for Cusack. In addition to co-scripting, he starred as a world-weary hit man who goes home for his ten-year high school reunion and tries to rekindle a romance with the girl he stood up on prom night (Minnie Driver). In an instance of life imitating art, Cusack actually did go home for his ten-year reunion (to honor a bet about the film's financing) and ended up in a real-life romance with Driver. Cusack's next appearance was as a federal agent (or, as he described it, "the first post-Heston, non-biblical action star in sandals") in Con Air (1997), a movie he chose because he felt it was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savannah murder case.
Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when he turned up in the fiercely original Being John Malkovich (1999). Long-haired, bearded and bespectacled, he was almost unrecognizable in the role of a frustrated puppeteer who stumbles across a portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2000, Cusack was back to his clean-shaven self in High Fidelity (2000), another New Crime production. He worked with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis to adapt Nick Hornby's popular novel (relocating the story to their native Chicago), then starred as the sarcastic record store owner who revisits his "Top 5" breakups to find out why he's so unlucky in love. The real Cusack has been romantically linked with several celebs, including Driver, Alison Eastwood, Claire Forlani and Neve Campbell. He's also something of a family man, acting frequently opposite sister Joan Cusack and pulling other Cusacks into his films on a regular basis. He seems pleased with the spate of projects on his horizon, but admits that he still hasn't reached his ultimate goal: to be involved in a "great piece of art".
Trivia
Brother of Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Susie Cusack and Bill Cusack. Son of Dick Cusack (actor, documentary filmmaker) and Nancy Cusack (teacher).
Last name is pronounced Q-sack.
Has a production company called New Crime Productions (that produced Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) among various stage productions) which he founded with two of his high school buddies Steve Pink & D.V. DeVincentis.
Education: Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, Illinois), run by the parents of actor Jeremy Piven. One semester at NYU.
Attended Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill.
Turned down Woody Harrelson's role in Indecent Proposal (1993).
Dated Neve Campbell. [2001]
Dated Lili Taylor.
Dated Alison Eastwood.
Dated Claire Forlani.
Dated Minnie Driver.
Turned down Bill Paxton's role in Apollo 13 (1995).
Close friends with actor Jeremy Piven. They have done 10 movies together: One Crazy Summer (1986), Elvis Stories (1989), Say Anything... (1989), The Player (1992), Floundering (1994), The Grifters (1990), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Serendipity (2001) and Runaway Jury (2003).
Is the product of a passionately liberal Irish Catholic family, visited the radical Berrigan brothers when he was growing up, and, like them, his mother still gets arrested for her anti-militarism and pro- human rights protests.
On free time likes to go "Helecopter Snowboarding" and kickboxing with stunt cordinator Benny Urquidez.
Tested for the role of Madmartigan in Willow (1988) but lost to Val Kilmer.
Is the subject of the song "Honorable Mention" by the band Fall Out Boy.
The novel "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is prominently referenced in two John Cusack movies (High Fidelity (2000) and Serendipity (2001).
Sister Joan Cusack appeared in 8 of his movies:Class (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything... (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999) and High Fidelity (2000).
Was originally set to play Walter Eberhart in the _Stepford Wives, The (2004)_ . Due to conflicts, he had to drop out and Matthew Broderick got the role.
Was once roommates with Jeremy Piven
Attended a theatre school in Chicago with sisters Joan Cusack and Ann Cusack. The theatre school was run by the parents of his best friend, Jeremy Piven
Irish-American.
His favorite group is the punk rock band, The Clash. He is also a big fan of The Specials and Elvis Costello.
Ranked #15 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.
Some kind of reference to his favorite bands (usually The Clash, The Ramones or The Specials) makes at least one appearance in most of his films. Most of the time, he wears a t-shirt of one of the bands (Say Anything... (1989), High Fidelity (2000), Must Love Dogs (2005), etc), but sometimes (Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)) he works in a poster of one of the bands. These bands are typically in the soundtracks to his New Criminal's productions as well.
Member of the "Brat Pack", the name for the actors who tended to star in teen movies of the 80's. Others include Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen and Diane Lane.
Most famous member of the Cusack family.
He and his good friend Tim Robbins made 6 movies together: Bob Roberts (1992), Cradle Will Rock (1999), High Fidelity (2000), The Player (1992), The Sure Thing (1985) and Tapeheads (1988)
Was, for a long time, attached to play the role of "Nite Owl" in the doomed movie adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book mini-series, _Watchmen (2008)_ .
Was originally the actor chosen to play John Bender in the The Breakfast Club (1985). At the last minute, things changed and Judd Nelson ended up in the role.
Was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson and nearly got to play him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).
Was considered for the role of "Paul Brenner" in The General's Daughter (1999), but was deemed too young at the time, so the role went to John Travolta instead.
His performance as "Lloyd Dobler" in Say Anything... (1989) is ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Apocalypse Now (1979) is one of his favorite films.
During the famous "boom box serenade" scene in Say Anything... (1989), he is actually playing his favorite Fishbone tape on the boom box, while Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is played in the movie. (source: Cameron Crowe commentary on the DVD).
Growing up John and his siblings often put on plays at their home. He has mentioned that his older sister Ann once staged a production of "Cinderella" in their living room in which she played Cinderella, sister Joan played the Ugly Stepsister, brother Bill played Prince Charming and John played the dog.
Considers the scripts to Max (2002/I) and Being John Malkovich (1999) the best he has read.
Personal Quotes
"I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough."
[on celebrity] "I have a healthy fear of it. I'm not into the celebrity culture aspect of being an artist. To me it represents extinction. The more people know about you, the less they want to try to figure out what you have to say in your movies, and the less credibility you have. To me it seems: Go do your thing, then get out. That's the best way to do it." (January 14, 2004)
"Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!" (January 14, 2004)
Info Provided by IMDB
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