Barry Sonnenfeld

Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He worked as cinematographer for the Coen Brothers, then later he directed and produced big budget films such as Men in Black.

Trivia:

Was uninjured when a private jet he was travelling in collided with five empty ‘planes after a rough landing in Van Nuys, California. [16 February 1999]

Started his career as a cinematographer in porn films. He’s quoted in the January 26, 1998 Newsweek magazine (page 60) saying that he was depressed when he heard that Boogie Nights (1997) was being made (a film about making pornos) because he had wanted to make a movie about the time he shot 9 feature length pornos in nine days.

NYU Film School Assistant to Elliott Erwitt.

Lives in Long Island, NY.

Loves to eat smoked whitefish.

Was offered the job of directing Forrest Gump (1994), but declined. The job then went to Robert Zemeckis, who won an Academy Award for it.

Has a private bathroom designed to look like a public bathroom, complete with stalls and urinals in his house in New York.

One of his most embarrassing moments occurred when he was a teenager attending his first rock concert. His mom had the PA announcer say, “Barry Sonnenfeld, call your mother.”

Nephew of Vaudeville and screen comedian Gus Schilling, whose voice likeness he inherited genetically.

Father of Chloe Sonnenfeld.

Has stated in many interviews that before making Men in Black he was considering doing a live-action film version of The Jetsons. With Jim Carrey playing George Jetson and Nicole Kidman playing Jane Jetson.

Was set to direct “Fun with Dick and Jane” (2005), but bowed out citing personal reasons.

Was at one time attached to direct The Heartbreak Kid (2007).

Linda Fiorentino

Linda Fiorentino (born March 9, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Dogma, Vision Quest, Men in Black, After Hours and The Last Seduction.

Trivia:
Won her part in Men in Black (1997) in a poker game from Barry Sonnenfeld. Besides the part, she won around $1200.
1995: Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the “100 Sexiest Stars” in film history (#66).
Graduated from Washington Township High School, in Sewell, NJ. Is a graduate of Rosemont College, in Rosemont, PA (just west of Philadelphia).
Director Kevin Smith said in his DVD commentary for Dogma (1999) that Linda wouldn’t even speak to him some days and, in retrospect, he wishes he had given the part of Bethany to Janeane Garofalo instead.
2000: Donated $1,000 to the New York Senate Campaign for Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
She is one of 8 children. Her mother’s name is Clorinda Fiorentino and her sisters include Rose Fiorentino, Catherine Fiorentino, and Terry Fiorentino Christie.
1980: Earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania at 22 years old.
She has been an active photographer since 1987 and has studied it at the International Center of Photography in New York City.
She has optioned the film rights to Colin Patrick Lynch’s play, “One Eyed Jacks and Suicide Kings”.
She has optioned rights to the Jim Curtis’ screenplay about Russian poetess, Anna Akhmatova, in July 2007.

Actor David Warner

Warner was born July 29, 1941 in Manchester England.  In 1963, he made his film debut in Tom Jones, and in 1965 starred as Henry VI in the BBC television version of the RSC’s The Wars of the Roses cycle of Shakespeare’s history plays. Another early television role came when he starred alongside Bob Dylan in the 1963 play The Madhouse on Castle Street. A major step in his career was the leading role in Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment (1966) opposite Vanessa Redgrave, which established his reputation for playing slightly off-the-wall characters. He also appeared as Konstantin Treplev in Sidney Lumet’s 1968 adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Sea Gull and starred alongside Jason Robards and Stella Stevens as Reverend Joshua Duncan Sloane in Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue, perhaps one of Warner’s (and Peckinpah’s) least known or appreciated films.

The Omen (1976)

In horror movies he appeared in one of the stories of From Beyond the Grave, opposite Gregory Peck in The Omen (1976) as the ill-fated photojournalist Keith Jennings, and the 1979 thriller Nightwing. He also starred in cult classic Waxwork (1988), and featured alongside a young Viggo Mortensen in 1990 film Tripwire.

Evil Genius in Time Bandits (1981)

Since then, he has often played villains, in films such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978), Time After Time (1979), Time Bandits (1981), Tron (1982), and television series such as Batman: The Animated Series playing Ra’s al Ghul, the anti-mutant scientist Herbert Landon in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, as well as rogue agent Alpha in the animated Men in Black series and the Archmage in Disney’s Gargoyles and finally The Lobe in Freakazoid.

Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell

He was also cast against type as Henry Niles in Straw Dogs (1971) and as Bob Cratchit in the 1984 telefilm of A Christmas Carol. In addition, he played German SS General Reinhard Heydrich both in the movie Hitler’s SS: Portrait in Evil, and the television mini-series Holocaust.

with Gregory Peck in the Omen (1976)

In 1981, Warner received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for Masada.

He has appeared in movies such as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Avatar, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Titanic (the third time he has appeared in a film about RMS Titanic), Scream 2, and more recently in independent television’s adaptation of the Hornblower series (which starred Ioan Gruffudd, Warner’s co-star on Titanic). He appeared in three episodes of the second series of Twin Peaks (1991). He also continues to play classical roles.

In “Chain of Command”, a 6th-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, he was a Cardassian interrogator. He based his portrayal on the evil “re-educator” from 1984. His less-spectacular roles included a double-role in the campy low-budget fantasy Quest of the Delta Knights (1993) which was eventually spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also played Admiral Tolwyn in the movie version of Wing Commander.

On the “nice guy” side, he played the charismatic Aldous Gajic in Grail, a first-season episode of Babylon 5 and Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Senator Sandar in Planet of the Apes (2001)

He also portrayed the sympathetic character of Capt. Kiesel in Sam Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron. In an episode of Lois & Clark he played Superman’s deceased Kryptonian father Jor-El, who appeared to his son through holographic recordings. He has also played ambiguous “nice guys” like vampire bat exterminator Philip Payne in 1979′s Nightwing; and Dr. Richard Madden in 1994′s Necronomicon: Book of the Dead, who had to kill to sustain his life, but was a generally nice person. He was the supporting role in Seven Servants by Daryush Shokof where he was to assist his long time best friend “Archie” in peaceful death with “unity” of man-kind in vision as he bodily “connected” to Archie played by the legendary Anthony Quinn in 1996.

Tron

He also appeared as mad scientist Dr. Alfred Necessiter in the film The Man with Two Brains in 1983 alongside Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner. – source Wikipedia

Trivia:

Has vertigo. Was doubled in Time Bandits (1981) in the scene where the Evil Genius walks up the steps after caging the bandits, because he could not handle the drop below him.

Has been in 3 movies about the Titanic: S.O.S. Titanic (1979) (TV); Time Bandits (1981) and Titanic (1997).

Has played at least three different species in the Star Trek universe: a human in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989); a Klingon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and a Cardassian in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987).

Is one of only 32 actors or actresses to have starred in both the original Star Trek (up to and including Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)) and then in one of the spin offs.

Played an ape in Planet of the Apes (2001), a character obsessed with gorillas in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) and did a gorilla impression in The Man with Two Brains (1983).

Has appeared in three different films involving time travel: Time After Time (1979); Time Bandits (1981) and Planet of the Apes (2001).

In Time After Time (1979), he played John Leslie Stevenson (Jack the Ripper). In “The Outer Limits” (1995) episode “Ripper”, he played Inspector Langford who was investigating Dr. Jack York (Cary Elwes) who was suspected of being Jack the Ripper.

Chosen by Tony Richardson for his role in Tom Jones (1963) after the director enjoyed his performance in the play “Afore the night” (1962)

Although he played Reinhard Heydrich, one of the key architects of the Holocaust, in both “Holocaust” (1978) and Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985) (TV), he is Jewish in real life.

By appearing in Batman: The Animated Series (“Batman” (1992)), he became the first actor to play the villain Ra’s-Al-Ghul. To date, he has been succeeded only by Ken Watanabe and Liam Neeson.

He has two roles in common with both David Collings and Richard E. Grant. All three have played Bob Cratchit – Warner in A Christmas Carol (1984) (TV), Collings in Scrooge (1970) and Grant in A Christmas Carol (1999) (TV) – and the Doctor from “Doctor Who” (1963) – Warner in the Big Finish audio dramas “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Masters of War”, Collings in the Big Finish audio drama “Full Fathom Five” and Grant in Comic Relief: Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) (TV) and “Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka” (2003).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQBqzEdz9VU]

Artists featured in this video include:

Dick Smith

Dick Smith

academy award winner “Best Makeup” Amadeus (1984) and creator of makeup special effects for Little Big Man (1970), The Exorcist (1973), The Godfather (1972) , Taxi Driver (1976), Altered States (1980), Scanners (1981), Ghost Story (1981), The Hunger (1983)

Rick Baker six time “Best Makeup” academy award winner for, An American Werewolf in London (1981), Harry and the Hendersons (1987),

Rick Baker

Ed Wood (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), Men in Black (1997), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Lon Chaney Sr.

Lon Chaney Sr.

silent film actor/makeup designer for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923),  The Phantom of the Opera (1925), London After Midnight (1927)

Jack P. Pierce makeup artist/designer

Jack P. Pierce

for Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935),  Werewolf of London (1935), Dracula’s Daughter (1936), The Wolfman (1941)

John Chambers

John Chambers

makeup artist/designer for Star Trek television series (1966) , Planet of the Apes (1968), Lost in Space television series (1967-68), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977), Blade Runner (1982)

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