English Actors

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and no one could quite make us laugh like Robin Williams. His meteoric rise to fame was fueled by an irrepressible sense of humor and dazzling improvisational skills. From the extraterrestrial Mork to the inspiring John Keating in Dead Poets Society and the endearing Genie in Aladdin, Williams’ performances captured the hearts of millions.

At the age of two, Mimi began working as a child actress, sharing the screen with the some of the legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, John Wayne, Loretta Young, Jane Wyman, Dorothy McGuire and many, many more. This is a tale of the kid-actors filming on the sound stages of 1950s Hollywood, kid-actors playing their parts in a very adult world, learning hard lessons with sometimes life-altering consequences.

I was prepared to die in that last fire I fought in Tucson. I’d saved as many civilians as I could when the flames finally devoured me, but then I woke up in a vast world called Dracoria with a beautiful angel beside me. Things have only gotten crazier from there.

For almost a century, movie fans have been riveted by the Academy Awards and the stars who have won Oscars. 50 Oscar Nights takes listeners behind the scenes of Hollywood’s most storied awards show through new and exclusive interviews with dozens of A-list actors, filmmakers, and craftspeople spanning sixty years of the Oscars. Here these artists reflect on their winning work and recount all the details of how they got ready, how they felt when they heard their name and got up on stage to accept their award, what they wore, how the entire experience impacted their life, and more.

Bette Davis didn’t fit the usual Hollywood image of beauty, but by sheer force of will she became one of the most famous and prominent actresses of the twentieth century. Her entire life was focused on her six-decades-long career. This invariably led to the loss of three husbands and estrangement from her oldest daughter. Still, Bette Davis lived with few regrets. Her most famous movies, Jezebel, All About Eve, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? are still considered classics, discovered by a generation that wasn’t even born when the movies were made.

The definitive biography of movie executive and philanthropist Sherry Lansing traces her groundbreaking journey to become the first female head of a major motion picture studio, shares behind-the-scenes tales from movie sets and Hollywood boardrooms, and explains what inspired her to walk away from it all to start the Sherry Lansing Foundation.

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson (June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962), was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 60s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2022) by the time of her death in 1962.

For more than 20 years, Englishman Richard Gregson was one of the most powerful film personalities in Hollywood and London. As the agent for Robert Redford, John Schlesinger, Alan Bates, Frederic Raphael and producer Jo Janni, he saw the industry from many angles and met ‘anyone who was anyone’ in Hollywood including Frank Sinatra and members of the Mafia.

Nicolas Cage: leading man or character actor? Action hero or goofball comedian? Internet joke or one of the greatest actors of his generation? Beyond the gif bait and easy punchline, Nicolas Cage continually frustrates easy categorization or understanding. In National Treasure, pop culture writer Lindsay Gibb studies Nicolas Cage’s acting style and makes sense of the trajectory of his eclectic career. In the process, Gibb debunks the common claim that Cage makes bad choices.

In studying the acting process, what I have found is that acting styles change, just like cinema. What were considered compelling, powerful acting choices in the 1950s and 60s, might be considered “over the top” film acting today. Since the art of film is connected to culture, it shifts and changes with societal tastes. Now, let’s focus on your desire to be an actor in an industry that’s always changing. So, you want to be an actor. That’s great! You want to be on television or in film – awesome!

Dolly Parton is best known for her musical prowess, but there is so much more to her character than people realize. Nowadays, she is the epitome of old Hollywood glamor. She is pretty well known for getting a lot of cosmetic surgery over the years in order to keep up the gaudy, glamorous image we’ve come to know and love. Even through all this she’s still modest. What people may not realize is that her early life was anything but glamorous.

My name is Mickey Rowe. I am an actor, a theatre director, a father, and a husband. I am also a man with autism. You think those things don’t go together? Let me show you that they do.

Joan Crawford was a legend. Few could compare to the charm and grace that she brought to the silver screen. Little did anyone know, however, of the charmed yet ultimately tragic life she led away from the camera and the main stage. Crawford was married four times and ended up disinheriting two of her children from her will. She certainly had her share of problems, but no one could keep this ambitious leading lady down for long. In this audiobook, we cover the life and legend of Joan Crawford in full.

The following recording is a discussion between movie star Vivien Leigh, film producer Samuel Goldwyn and British Theatre critic Kenneth Tynan.

Join Greg Laurie as he takes a cross-country drive in his 1968 Highland Green Ford Mustang 390 GT through the canyons of Malibu, the alleys of Hollywood, the wide and open roads of the Midwest, the streets of New York, as he traces the wooly geography of actor Steve McQueen's life, relationships, career, and spiritual journey.

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Color of Money, and Nobody’s Fool. But Newman was also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool.

The remarkable life, career, and faith journey of the star of The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For 16 years, millions of Americans welcomed Gavin MacLeod into their living rooms every Saturday night. This veteran of stage and screen transformed himself from a seasoned character actor into the leading, lovable father-figure of The Love Boat at the height of TV's boom years. For more than 30 years, Gavin MacLeod has served as the global ambassador for Princess Cruises.

Leo Durocher (1906-1991) was baseball's all-time leading cocky, flamboyant, and galvanizing character, casting a shadow across several eras, from the time of Babe Ruth to the Space Age Astrodome, from Prohibition through the Vietnam War. For more than 40 years, he was at the forefront of the game, with a Zelig-like ability to be present as a player or manager for some of the greatest teams and defining baseball moments of the 20th century.

From the moment Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson met, they were hooked on each other. Soon a deep friendship blossomed unexpectedly, unlike anything either had ever experienced. Through thick and thin, through their various emotional upheavals, through the peaks and valleys of their careers, through their personal traumas and heartaches, through the unending health issues and extreme physical pain that each experienced, and through the glare of the often merciless public spotlight, their bond held them together, and their love for each other endured.

No one could protect her once she was inside. No friend would hear her if she screamed. A brilliant undercover journalist and actress, Nellie Bly is admitted into Blackwell's Island asylum in New York as a homeless "crazy" lady. What will she be in 10 days?