Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sean Connery


Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), more commonly known as Sean Connery, is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winning Scottish actor and producer.

He is best known for portraying the character James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.[2] In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables.[3] His film career also includes such films as Marnie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, Dragonheart, and The Rock.

Connery has been polled as the "greatest living Scot"[4] and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2000.[5] In 1989, he was proclaimed the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, and in 1999, at the age of 69, he was voted the Sexiest Man of the Century.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Square Taylor

Monday, March 29, 2010

David Niven

James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983), known as David Niven, was a English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther. He was awarded the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor in Separate Tables.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Judy Garland


Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her work in films, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She had a contralto singing range.[1]. After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney and the 1939 film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz. After 15 years, Garland was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert, a well-regarded but short-lived television series and a return to acting beginning with a critically acclaimed performance in A Star Is Born (1954).

Source: Wikipedia






Saturday, March 27, 2010

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon - 30 minute sketch by request


Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (born October 4, 1942) is a singer, composer, scholar, and social activist, who founded the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973.

Source: Wikipedia





Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tom Chapin

Tom Chapin (born 1945) is a Grammy Award-winning American musician, entertainer, singer-songwriter and storyteller. He is known for his children's music, intended for the age group that is too old for Sesame Street but too young for pop music. However, he also writes and performs for adults.


Chapin attended State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1966.[1] From 1971-1976, he hosted a TV show called Make a Wish. He is the son of Jim Chapin and the brother of Harry Chapin, and occasionally appears in Harry Chapin tribute concerts (often with brother Steve Chapin). He has appeared in the Broadway production Pump Boys and Dinettes, among others. He is married to Bonnie Chapin; his daughters and stepdaughter are musicians as well (the Chapin Sisters). Chapin has recently branched in to the storytelling festival circuit and in 2007 was a Featured New Voices Teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.


Source: Wikipedia


On a personal note: I have an interest in family genealogy. Fortunately, the Chapin side of my family tree is easy to follow and has some interesting cousins in the lineage. Among them are Harry Chapin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Noah Webster, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, John Brown, JP Morgan, Canada Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett, ... all descended from Deacon Samuel Chapin (one of the founders of Springfield, MA)




Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara (born August 17, 1920) is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne.



Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Robert Mitchum






Robert Charles Durman Mitchum
(August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.



Monday, March 22, 2010

Reese Witherspoon



Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976), better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. In 1998 she appeared in three major movies: Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville, and Twilight. The following year, Witherspoon appeared in the critically acclaimed Election, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. 2001 marked her career's turning point with the breakout role as "Elle Woods" in the box office hit Legally Blonde, and in 2002 she starred inSweet Home Alabama, which became her biggest commercial film success to date. 2003 saw her return as lead actress and executive producer of Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. In 2005, Witherspoon received worldwide attention and praise for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, which earned her an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, andScreen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Witherspoon married actor and Cruel Intentions co-star Ryan Phillippe in 1999; they have two children, Ava and Deacon. The couple separated at the end of 2006 and divorced in October 2007. Witherspoon owns a production company, Type A Films, and she is actively involved in children's and women's advocacy organizations. She serves on the board of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), and was named Global Ambassador of Avon Products in 2007, serving as honorary chair of the charitable Avon Foundation.

Source: Wikipedia

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Bear Bryant - 20 minute sketch


“It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.”
-Coach Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his twenty-five year tenure as Alabama's head coach he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982 he held the record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history. At the University of Alabama, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Drive and Bryant-Denny Stadium are all named in his honor. He was also known for his trademark houndstooth hat, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal post during pre-game warmups, and frequently holding his rolled-up game plan while on the sidelines.

Before arriving at Alabama, Bryant was head football coach at University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University.








Friday, March 5, 2010