Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury has enjoyed a career spanning seventy years in motion pictures, on stage and in television. The winner of five Tony Awards, she made her Broadway debut in 1957 as Bert Lahr's wife in
Hotel Paradiso. In 1960, she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in Shelagh Delaney's
A Taste of Honey. She starred in her first musical
Anyone Can Whistle in 1959, and in 1966 she triumphed as
Mame, winning her first Tony. She won Tonys for
Dear World (1968),
Gypsy (1974) and
Sweeney Todd (1979). After a 23-year hiatus, she returned to Broadway in 2007 starring in Terrence McNally's
Deuce. In 2009 she won her fifth Tony as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's
Blithe Spirit, which was followed in 2010 by her performance as Madame Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim's classic
A Little Night Music, and she recently concluded a successful run on Broadway in Gore Vidal's classic,
The Best Man (2012).
She has appeared in nearly 60 motion pictures beginning with
Gaslight at the age of seventeen for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Her other films include such classics as
National Velvet, The Harvey Girls, Frank Capra's
State of the Union, The Portrait of Dorian Gray (her second film and second Academy Award Nomination), Cecil B. DeMille's
Samson and Delilah, The Court Jester, The Long Hot Summer, The Manchurian Candidate (Academy Award Nomination),
The World of Henry Orient and
Death on the Nile. In 1991 she was the voice of Mrs. Potts in the Disney animated feature
Beauty and the Beast, and in 1997 she was the voice of the Grand Duchess Marie in the animated movie
Anastasia. In 2005, she was in Emma Thompson's
Nanny McPhee and in 2011 she co-starred with Jim Carrey in
Mr. Popper's Penguins. She is scheduled to begin shooting Wes Anderson's new film
The Grand Budapest Hotel in December 2012, co-starring Johnny Depp and Jude Law.
From 1984-1996 she made television history starring as Jessica Fletcher on
Murder, She Wrote, the longest-running detective drama series in TV history, winning four of her six Golden Globe Awards. She has also starred in numerous other films for television and appeared as a guest star on series such as
Law & Order.
She is recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. In addition to her five Tony Awards, she is the winner of six Golden Globe Awards and was nominated three Oscars and 18 Emmys. In 1982 she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. In 1992 she received the Silver Mask for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 1996 she was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame, and in 1997 she was given a Lifetime Achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. In 2003, she was presented with a BAFTA/LA Britannia Award for Lifetime Achievement in Television and Film.
She was married to motion picture executive Peter Shaw for 53 years. He died in 2003. She has three children and three grandchildren.
James Earl Jones
Listening to
James Earl Jones's voice--recognized around the world--one would never guess that he spent his childhood as a virtual mute due to a severe stuttering problem. With the help of an extraordinary high school teacher, Jones overcame his stutter and transformed his weakness into his greatest strength. Today, Jones voice is known by people of all ages and walks of life, from
Star Wars fans who know him as the voice of Darth Vader to children who know him as Mufasa from Disney's
The Lion King.
Born in Mississippi and raised in Michigan, James Earl Jones moved to New York City after graduating from the University of Michigan and serving in the military. Supporting himself by working as a janitor, he struggled to make it as an actor and made his Broadway debut in 1957.
Renowned Broadway producer Joseph Papp gave Jones one of his first major breakthroughs, casting him as Michael Williams in Shakespeare's
Henry V. A true visionary, Papp was credited with injecting a "dash of social conscience" into
the performance by casting an African-American in the role. This marked the beginning of Jones's long affiliation with the New York Shakespeare Festival, eventually counting the title roles of
Othello, Macbeth and King Lear among his
many distinguished performances for the company.
Based on his success in the theatre, he began to be cast in small television roles. In the 1960s, Jones was one of the first African-American actors to appear regularly in daytime soap operas (playing a doctor in both
The Guiding Light and
As the World Turns), and he made his film debut in 1964 in Stanley Kubrick's
Dr. Strangelove.
In 1969, Jones won a Tony Award for his breakthrough role as boxer Jack Johnson in the Broadway hit
The Great White Hope (which also garnered him an Oscar nomination for the 1970 film adaptation). He won a second Tony Award in 1987 for August Wilson's
Fences, in which he played a former baseball player who finds it difficult to communicate with his son.
Although he was cast in numerous leading roles in films in the 1970s, including
The Man (1972),
Claudine (1974),
The River Niger (1975) and
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976), Jones continued to make his biggest impression on stage. In addition to his celebrated Shakespearian work, he began a long-standing collaboration with South African playwright Athol Fugard, acting in
The Blood Knot, Boseman and Lena and the critically acclaimed
Master Harold...and the Boys, among others.
His film performances of the 1980s included his work as the oppressed coal miner in John Sayles'
Matewan (1987) and as the embittered writer in
Field of Dreams (1989), while the '90s found him in the thick of the Tom Clancy blockbuster trilogy -
The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and
Clear and Present Danger -as well as in the film version of the Alan Paton classic
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995).
His career also includes a wide range of television work. He played Alex Haley in
Roots: The Next Generation (1979), Junius Johnson (an Emmy-winning performance) in
Heat Wave, the 1990 TNT drama about the 1965 riots in Watts, and a great number of guest roles in series ranging from
The Defenders and
Dr. Kildare to more recently,
Two and a Half Men and
House. He also earned an Emmy as Gabriel Bird, a disgraced cop turned private investigator, in the 1990-92 series
Gabriel's Fire.
In addition to the many awards he has received as an actor - two Tonys, four Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Cable ACEs, two OBIEs, five Drama Desks, and a Grammy - Jones has been honoured with the National Medal of Arts in 1992 and the John F. Kennedy Center Honor in December 2002. He also was honoured by the Screen Actors Guild with the Lifetime Achievement Award in January of 2009.
In the spring of 2005, James Earl Jones starred on Broadway a critically acclaimed revival of
On Golden Pond for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2006, he also starred as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the production of
Thurgood at the Westport County Playhouse and in spring of 2008 portrayed "Big Daddy" in
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway with cast members Terrance Howard, Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad. James Earl Jones also enjoyed a second run of
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on stage in London with Adrian Lester, Sanaa Lathan and again Phylicia Rashad. The production won an Olivier Award for Best Revival and Mr Jones was nominated for an Olivier in the Best Actor category. In 2011, Mr Jones starred in the Broadway and London productions of
Driving Miss Daisy with Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines and is now starring in the Broadway production of
The Best Man, for which he received a Tony nomination.
In November 2011, the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Mr Jones with an Honorary Oscar in recognition of his long and distinguished career.
For more information on James Earl Jones's life and career, please see his autobiography,
Voices and Silences, available through bookstores and online retailers.
Boyd Gaines
Boyd Gaines can currently be seen starring in the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of
Enemy Of The People. He most recently starred opposite John Lithgow in
The Columnist and prior to that with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave in the Broadway and West End productions of
Driving Miss Daisy. Boyd was seen previously at Lincoln Center with Kate Burton in
The Grand Manner (Drama Desk nomination), and on Broadway with Patti LuPone in
Gypsy for which he received his fourth Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination. Other credits include: Broadway:
Pygmalion,
Gypsy (City Centers Encore),
Journeys End (Tony Nominee, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award),
Twelve Angry Men,
Contact (Tony Award, Lucille Lortel Awards),
Cabaret,
The Show Off,
She Loves Me (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award),
Company,
The Heidi Chronicles (Tony Award). Off-Broadway:
Bach at Leipzig,
Major Barbara,
The Shawl,
Comedy of Errors,
The Extra Man,
The Maderati,
Winter's Tale,
Barbarians,
A Month in the Country (Theatre World Award). Regional: George Street, Williamstown, Westport Playhouse, Yale Rep, Center Stage, Long Wharf, Guthrie, Kennedy Center. Film:
Funny Games,
Lovely by Surprise,
Second Best,
I'm Not Rappaport,
Heartbreak Ridge,
The Sure Thing,
Porkys,
Fame. TV: "The Good Wife," "Angela's Eyes," "The Confession," "Piece of Cake," "One Day at a Time," "L.A. Law," "Frasier," "Law and Order." Training: Juilliard.
Watch Boyd Gaines talks to us about stage fright, his character, Boolie, and the universal appeal of Driving Miss Daisy