I've listed below some websites for the famous actors/directors/producers mentioned in one of my previous posts.
They, amongst many others, have become household names --- and all are native to the Golden Horseshoe area.
They remain proud of their home, several of them returning from time to time - to visit, perform and, quite often to do charitable work.
I'm pleased to say that, a few short years ago, I spent an afternoon acting with Marty Short, (and Matt Hayes from "CH News" and "KLite FM"), for a local children's charity event.
Martin Short played The Mad Hatter, Matt Hayes played The March Hare, and I played Alice, (Alice in Wonderland).
Marty Short is a kind and very caring man. Matt Hayes also. It was my pleasure to have been able to improvise "Alice in Wonderland" with these two great talents. The kids who attended had a wonderful time!
I'll post more on other celebrities from The Golden Horseshoe in future...
By the way, did you know that Richard Gere and several other dancers in the movie, "Chicago", were taught their smooth steps for that movie by a choreographer - in Toronto?
And ... most people know that Paul Shaffer, (Paul Shaffer & the CBS Orchestra), who is seen nightly on The David Letterman Show, is a Toronto native.
Happy reading!
'til then...
Patti Zonta
Martin Short (Hamilton, ON)
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| http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Short,_Martin/gallery/AES-036879/ |
Born: March 26, 1950
The son of a steel-executive father and concert violinist mother, Ontario native Martin Short attended McMasters University, where he graduated in 1972 with a degree in social work. If you haven't spotted Short at your local youth center or settlement house, it's because he decided to pursue a performing career, encouraged by his fellow McMasters classmates Eugene_Levy andDave_Thomas. Making his professional debut in a 1973 Toronto production of Godspell, Short joined Levy and Thomas at the Second City improv troupe in Edmonton, Alberta in 1977. Two years later, Short made his first film, Lost and Found, and also co-starred on the critically lauded but little-seen American sitcom The Associates. It was while appearing on SCTV Network 90 from 1982 through 1983 and Saturday_Night_Live from 1984 through 1985 that Short attained stardom with such distinctive comic characterizations as supercilious showbiz promoter Jackie Rogers Jr. and pointy-headed nerd Ed Grimley (this last-named character was spun off into an amusing Saturday morning cartoon series in 1989). He also scored big yocks with his devastating, dead-on impressions of such icons as Jerry_Lewis and Katharine_Hepburn (a lifelongJerry_Lewis fan, Short was invited to join Lewis as co-host of a cable-TV Martinand Lewis retrospective in 1993; he has yet to share the spotlight with the real Ms. Hepburn). Though an extremely likeable screen presence, the puckish Short has, like many of his Second City brethren, frequently been cast in films far beneath his talents, hitting bottom with 1994's Clifford. Happily, he has been extremely well-served in such films as Three_Amigos (1986), Innerspace(1989), and the 1992 remake of Father of the Bride, in which he had an unbearably funny cameo as epicene wedding planner Franck Eggelhoffer. In 1993, Short made his Broadway debut, assuming the old Richard_Dreyfussrole in a musical adaptation of the 1977 film The Goodbye Girl. The following year, Martin Short had another go at television, headlining the weekly (but not for long) Seinfeld rip-off The_Martin_Short_Show. Hal Erickson, RoviSource: http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Short,_Martin/
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Eugene Levy, (Hamilton, ON)
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| http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0506405/ |
A gifted comic actor who also won acclaim as a writer and director, Eugene Levy was born on December 17, 1946, in Hamilton, Ontario, the home of McMaster University, where he enrolled after graduating from Westdale High School in the same city. Levy studied film at McMaster, and, in 1967, became vice president of the McMaster Film Board, a student film group where he met fellow aspiring moviemaker Ivan_Reitman. (Other McMaster students at the time included Martin_Short and Dave_Thomas.) In 1970, Reitman began work on a low-budget horror movie called Cannibal_Girls and cast Levy as Clifford Sturges. One of his co-stars was a struggling actress named Andrea_Martin, who would later work alongside Levy's old pals Short and Thomas -- as well asJohn_Candy and Joe_Flaherty -- on the short-lived Canadian sitcom The David Steinberg Show. Levy and Martin's paths crossed again when they were cast in the Toronto production of the musical +Godspell; the cast also includedGilda_Radner and Paul_Shaffer, in addition to Short, Candy, and Thomas. After +Godspell closed in 1973 (just in time for the long-delayed Cannibal_Girls to finally hit the grind-house circuit), Levy joined the Toronto company of the famed improvisational Second City comedy troupe, in which Candy andFlaherty were already cast members...Source: http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Levy,_Eugene/
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Ivan Reitman (Hamilton, ON)
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| ivan‑reitman.jpg |
Date of Birth27 October 1946, Komárno, Czechoslovakia [now Slovak Republic]
Ivan Reitman, as a producer and director, has created many of American cinema's most successful and best loved feature film comedies and has worked with Hollywood's acting elite. Reitman has produced such hits as the ground-breaking sensation National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which introduced John Belushi to American filmgoers, and the family features Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993). His directing credits include Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981) and Ghostbusters (1984), films starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis; Dave (1993), which starred Kevin Kline andSigourney Weaver, Junior (1994) which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson. Reitman also produced the HBO telefilm The Late Shift (1996) (TV), based on Bill Carter's non-fiction book about the late-night television wars which received seven Emmy nominations. Other recent producing endeavors include Commandments (1997), starring Aidan Quinn and Courteney Cox, Private Parts (1997), starring Howard Stern, as well as the animation/ live action film Space Jam (1996), starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters. With Twins (1988/I), Reitman created an entirely new comedic persona for action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and forged a personal and professional relationship that continued with Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Junior (1994). Acclaimed dramatic actors such as Robert Redford,Debra Winger, Sigourney Weaver, and Emma Thompson have also revealed untapped comic talents under Reitman's direction. In 1984, Reitman was honored as Director of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners and the next year received a Special AchievementAward at the Canadian Genie awards. In 1979 and again in 1989, for the films Animal House (1978) and Twins (1988/I), Reitman was honored with the People's Choice Award...
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Jim Carrey (Newmarket / Burlington, ON)
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| http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000120/ |
Date of BirthSource: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000120/bio
17 January 1962, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Birth Name
James Eugene Carrey
Height
6' 1½" (1.87 m)
Mini Biography
The youngest of four children born to Percy (an accountant and aspiring jazz saxophonist) and Kathleen, Jim Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. As a child he performed constantly, for anyone who would watch, and even mailed his résumé to "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967) at age 10. In junior high he was granted a few precious minutes at the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provided, of course, that he kept a lid on it the rest of the day)...
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John Candy (Toronto, ON)
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| http://www.triviatribute.com/johncandy.html |
Date of Birth
31 October 1950, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaDate of Death
4 March 1994, Durango, Mexico (heart attack)Birth Name
John Franklin CandyHeight
6' 2" (1.88 m)Mini Biography
John Candy is one of Canada's greatest, and funniest, character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells, but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, in the year 1950, Candy found his passion for drama while attending a community college. He found a number of bit parts in Canadian television shows, and also in such small films as Tunnel Vision (1976) and Find the Lady (1976). However, his big success came at the age of twenty-seven, when he became part of the comedy group "Second City" in Toronto. Alongside such soon-to-be Canadian stars as Catherine O'Hara (one of Candy's lifelong friends), Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Harold Ramis, Candy was also part of the television show the group inspired. "SCTV" (1976) earned Candy a reputation for his quirky humour, and his uncanny imitations of others...
Born in Toronto, Ontario, in the year 1950, Candy found his passion for drama while attending a community college. He found a number of bit parts in Canadian television shows, and also in such small films as Tunnel Vision (1976) and Find the Lady (1976). However, his big success came at the age of twenty-seven, when he became part of the comedy group "Second City" in Toronto. Alongside such soon-to-be Canadian stars as Catherine O'Hara (one of Candy's lifelong friends), Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Harold Ramis, Candy was also part of the television show the group inspired. "SCTV" (1976) earned Candy a reputation for his quirky humour, and his uncanny imitations of others...
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