Mel Brooks

Born: June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, NY Notable Works: The Producers (1968) Blazing Saddles (1974) Young Frankenstein (1974) Academy Award Nominations: 1969 Best Original Screenplay for The Producers (won) 1975 Best Adapted Screenplay for Young Frankenstein 1975 Best Original Song for Blazing Saddles Personal Favorite: The Producers (1968) One of the greatest American comedy filmmakers,…

Meryl Streep

Born: June 22, 1949 in Summit, NJ Notable Works: Kramer vs. Kramer (1972) Sophie’s Choice (1982) The Bridges of Madison County (1995) Academy Award Nominations: 1979 Best Supporting Actress for The Deer Hunter 1980 Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (won) 1982 Best Actress for The French Lieutenant’s Woman 1983 Best Actress for Sophie’s…

John Goodman

Born: June 20, 1952 in Affton, MO Most Notable Works: Barton Fink (1991) The Flintstones (1994) Monsters, Inc. (2001) Personal Favorite: The Big Lebowski (1998) One of the greatest acting professionals in the last 30 years. And maybe one of the most underrated as well. Goodman regularly plays supporting roles, many of them very minor….

John Wayne

Born: May 26, 1907 in Winterset, IA Died: June 11, 1979 in Los Angeles, CA Notable Works: Stagecoach (1939) Red River (1948) The Quiet Man (1952) Academy Award Nominations: 1950 Best Actor for Sands of Iwo Jima 1961 Best Picture for The Alamo 1970 Best Actor for True Grit Personal Favorite: The Searchers (1956) 176 films….

James Stewart

Born: May 20, 1908 in Indiana, PA Died: July 2, 1997 in Beverly Hills, CA Notable Works: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Rear Window (1954) Academy Award Nominations: 1940 Best Actor for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1941 Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story (won) 1947 Best Actor for…

Dennis Hopper

Born: May 17, 1936 in Dodge City, KS Died: May 27, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA Notable Works: Easy Rider (1969) Blue Velvet (1986) Speed (1994) Academy Award Nominations: 1970 Best Original Screenplay for Easy Rider 1987 Best Supporting Actor for Hoosiers Personal Favorite: Red Rock West (1993) Hopper began his long career by playing small roles in…

Harvey Keitel

Born: May 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, NY Notable Works: Mean Streets (1973) Bad Lieutenant (1992) Pulp Fiction (1994) Academy Award Nominations: 1991 Best Supporting Actor for Bugsy Personal Favorite: Reservoir Dogs (1992) Harvey Keitel is one of the most respected and accomplished actors of the past 50 years. Before Martin Scorsese’s lengthy partnership with Robert De Niro,…

Orson Welles

Born: May 6, 1915 in Kenosha, WI Died: October 10, 1985 in Los Angeles, CA Notable Works:  Citizen Kane (1941) The Magnificent Ambersons (1943) Touch of Evil (1958) Academy Award Nominations: 1942 Best Actor for Citizen Kane 1942 Best Director for Citizen Kane 1942 Best Original Screenplay for Citizen Kane (won) 1971 Honorary Award (won) Personal Favorite: The…

Wes Anderson

Born: May 1, 1969 in Houston, TX Notable Works: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Academy Award Nominations: 2002 Best Original Screenplay for The Royal Tenenbaums 2010 Best Animated Picture for Fantastic Mr. Fox 2013 Best Original Screenplay for Moonrise Kingdom 2015 Best Picture for The Grand Budapest…

Prince

Born: June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, MN Died: April 21, 2016 in Chanhassen, MN I just wanted to write a short post today to pay tribute to the great Prince Rogers Nelson. Also known as Jamie Starr, Christopher, Alexander Nevermind, The Purple One, Joey Coco, O(+>, and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. While he did…

Adrien Brody

Born: April 14, 1973 in New York, NY Notable Works: The Pianist (2002) King Kong (2005) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Academy Award Nominations: 2003 Best Actor for The Pianist (won) Personal Favorite: The Village (2004) After working with Terrence Malick, Spike Lee, and Barry Levinson in the late 1990s, it was only a matter…

Vincent Gallo

Born: April 11, 1961 in Buffalo, NY Notable Works: Arizona Dream (1992) Palookaville (1995) Buffalo ’66 (1998) Personal Favorite: The Funeral (1996) The character of Paul Leger in Arizona Dream is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. Gallo joins Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, and Lili Taylor in one of the…