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Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III (January 22, 1934 − November 21, 1993) was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist. His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series. He is known for his roles as Tim O'Hara on the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on the ABC comedy-drama series The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and Dr. David Banner on the CBS drama series The Incredible Hulk.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Bixby, a fourth-generation Californian of English descent, was born in San Francisco, California. His father, Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby Jr., was a store clerk and his mother, Jane (née McFarland) Bixby, was a senior manager at I. Magnin & Company. When Bixby was eight, his father enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific. He attended Lowell High School where he developed his oratory and dramatic skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Though he received only average grades, he also competed in high school speech tournaments regionally. After graduation from high school in 1952, against his parents' wishes, he majored in drama at San Francisco City College, where he was a classmate of future actress Lee Meriwether. Later, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, his parents' alma mater, and joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity there. Just four credits short of earning a degree, Bixby dropped out of college and joined the United States Marine Corps after being drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. Bixby served stateside duty in the Marines and was honorably discharged.

He then moved to Hollywood, where he had a string of odd jobs that included bellhop and lifeguard. He organized shows at a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 1959, he was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler.

Beginning acting[link]

In 1961, Bixby was in the musical The Boy Friend at the Detroit Civic Theater, returning to Hollywood to make his television debut on an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He became a highly regarded character actor and guest-starred in many 1960s TV series including Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Dr. Kildare and Hennesey. He also joined the cast of The Joey Bishop Show in 1962. During the 1970s, he made guest-appearances on TV series such as Ironside, Insight, Barbary Coast, The Love Boat, Medical Center, four episodes of Love, American Style, Fantasy Island, and two episodes each of The Streets of San Francisco, and Rod Serling's Night Gallery.

[edit] My Favorite Martian and other early roles

Bixby took the role of young reporter Tim O'Hara in the 1963 CBS sitcom, My Favorite Martian, in which he co-starred with Ray Walston. But by 1966, high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes. After the cancellation of Martian, Bixby starred in four movies: Ride Beyond Vengeance, Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding, and two of Elvis Presley's movies, Clambake, and Speedway. He turned down the role as Marlo Thomas's boyfriend in the successful That Girl and starred in two failed pilots.

[edit] The Courtship of Eddie's Father

With The Courtship of Eddie's Father co-stars, Brandon Cruz and Miyoshi Umeki

In 1969, Bixby starred in his second high profile television role, as Tom Corbett in The Courtship of Eddie's Father a comedy-drama on ABC. The series concerned a widowed father raising a young son, managing a major syndicated magazine while at the same time trying to re-establish himself on the dating scene. This series was in the vein of other 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with widowhood, such as, The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, The Eleventh Hour, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, The Lucy Show, Family Affair, Julia, The Doris Day Show, The Partridge Family and Sanford And Son. On Courtship, Bixby's co-star was child actor Brandon Cruz who played his son on the series. The pair developed a close rapport that translated to an off-camera friendship as well. The cast was rounded out by Academy Award winning actress Miyoshi Umeki, who played the role of Tom's housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, James Komack (one of the series' producers) as Norman Tinker (Tom's pseudo-hippie, quirky photographer) and actress Kristina Holland as Tina (Tom's secretary). One episode of the show co-starred Bixby's future wife, Days of our Lives actress Brenda Benet, as one of Tom's girlfriends.

Bixby was nominated for the Emmy Award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1971. The following year, he won the Parents Without Partners Exemplary Service Award for 1972.

Bixby made his directorial debut on the show in 1970, and directed eight episodes. ABC pulled the plug on the sitcom in 1972 at the end of season three.

Brandon Cruz said of the show, which developed a father-son relationship compared to that of The Andy Griffith Show, "We dealt with issues that were talked about but were never brought up on television. Bill wasn't the first actor to portray a single widowed father, but he became one of the popular ones, because of his easy-going way of this crazy little kid." Prior to Bixby's promotion as the director, Brandon said, "He was looking for the best dolly grip, along with the boom operator that if something was called specifically and failed, Bill could be easily angry." On the kind of relationship Bill had wanted with his co-star, Brandon also said, "Bill would never speak down to me. Bill treated me as an equal. He made sure that we had a lot of time together, just so he could kinda crawl inside my head and see what actually made a kid tick." The final thing he realized of Bill's real-life father's death in 1971, and when asked about his mentor’s father’s loss, he stated: "He had that type of mentality that the show must go on, thinking it was just a great T.V. show, after he broke down weeping."^{[citation needed]}

After the show was canceled, the two stars remained in contact, and Cruz was even a guest on Bixby's next run-away hit, The Incredible Hulk. The death of Bixby's only child, in 1981, drew Bixby and Cruz closer still. The two would remain in touch until Bixby's death in 1993. In 1995, Cruz would name his own son Lincoln Bixby Cruz.

1973 to 1977[link]

Bixby as Tony Blake in The Magician

In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician. The series was well liked, but it only lasted one season. An accomplished amateur magician himself, he hosted several TV specials in the mid-1970s which featured other amateur magicians, and was a respected member of the Hollywood magic community, belonging to The Magic Castle, an exclusive club for magicians. During the show's popular, although short-lived production, Bixby as always, invited a few old friends along to co-star such as Pamela Britton (in her final role), Kristina Holland and Ralph O'Hara.

Also in 1973, he starred in Steambath, a play by author Bruce Jay Friedman, on PBS with Valerie Perrine and Jose Perez.

He became a popular game show panelist, appearing mostly on Password and The Hollywood Squares. He was also a panelist on the 1974 revival of Masquerade Party hosted by Richard Dawson. He had also appeared with Dawson on Cop-Out.

In 1975, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the Disney movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, which was well received by the public.

Returning to television, he worked with Susan Blakely on Rich Man, Poor Man, a highly successful television miniseries in 1976. He played a daredevil stunt pilot in an episode of the short-lived 1976 CBS adventure series Spencer's Pilots, starring Gene Evans. In 1977, Bixby appeared with Donna Mills, Richard Jaeckel, and William Shatner in the last episode, entitled "The Scarlet Ribbon", of NBC's western series The Oregon Trail, starring Rod Taylor and Andrew Stevens. Bixby directed two of The Oregon Trail episodes.

In 1976, he was honored with two Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in Drama or Comedy for The Streets of San Francisco and the other for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series for Rich Man, Poor Man.

Bixby also hosted Once Upon A Classic on PBS from 1976 to 1980.

[edit] The Incredible Hulk

Although he initially declined the part of Dr. Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk because of its comic book origins, on reading Kenneth Johnson's script for the pilot episode he was persuaded to change his mind (and agreed to remain involved with the series for as long as Johnson was to be involved). Consequently, Bixby starred as Dr. Bruce Banner in a two-hour pilot movie called The Incredible Hulk, based loosely on the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Marvel comic book of the same name. Its success (coupled with some theatrical releases of the film in Europe) convinced CBS to turn it into a weekly series, which began airing in the Spring of 1978. It became an international hit, seen in over 70 countries. The show made Bixby a pop icon of the late 1970s and 1980s. One line of dialogue spoken by Bixby in the pilot: "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry", became a catchphrase the world over (the phrase was used again, first in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), although in Spanish, and again in the 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk, with an altered version in Portuguese). The pilot also starred Susan Sullivan as Dr. Elaina Marks, who tries to help the conflicted and widowed Dr. Banner overcome his "problem" and falls in love with him in the process.

During the show's run, Bixby invited two of his long-time friends, Ray Walston and Brandon Cruz, to guest star with him in different episodes of the series. He also worked on the show with his friend, movie actress Mariette Hartley, who would later star with Bixby in his final series, Goodnight, Beantown in 1983. In the Hulk, Ms. Hartley appeared in the memorable double-length episode Married (in which David finds another source of help with whom he falls in love and marries) and subsequently won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance. Future star Loni Anderson would also guest star with Bixby during the first season. Bixby directed one episode of the Hulk, "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk" in 1980 (original airdate: January 9, 1981). The series was canceled after the following season, but leftover episodes aired as late as the next June. Bixby later reprised the role in three television movies: The Incredible Hulk Returns, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and The Death of the Incredible Hulk. Two other television movies were to be planned. However, due to Bixby's declining health, all such projects were canceled.^{[citation needed]}

Later work[link]

Bixby was executive producer and co-star of the short-lived sit-com Goodnight, Beantown (1983–84). He also directed three episodes of the series. In 1987, he directed eight episodes of the satirical police sitcom Sledge Hammer!, including the episode, "Hammer Hits the Rock" in season two, where he made an uncredited appearance as "Zeke" (prisoner in cell No. 76).^[3]

Bixby was executive producer of the three Hulk made-for-television sequel movies in the late 1980s and in 1990. He also directed the latter two.

Bixby hosted two Is Elvis Alive? specials in August 1991 and January 1992,^[4] both from Las Vegas.

Bixby made his last acting appearance in 1992, guest starring on an episode of Diagnosis: Murder.

He finished his career by directing 30 episodes (in seasons two and three) of the NBC sitcom Blossom.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Bixby's father died of a heart attack in 1971, a month before Bill's first wedding. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific off the coast of the island of Maui.

Bixby was married three times. His first marriage was to actress Brenda Benet. They were married on July 4, 1971. She gave birth to their son Christopher on September 25, 1974. In addition to their earlier appearance together on Courtship, Benet guest-starred with him on his The Magician series in 1973, did an episode of The Love Boat with him in 1977, and guested on his The Incredible Hulk program in 1980 just before they divorced. On March 1, 1981, Bixby's six-year-old son Christopher died suddenly of a rare throat infection. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean, near Maui, like his grandfather's. Benet committed suicide on April 7, 1982, following a break-up with her assistant, Tammy Bruce.

In 1989, he met Laura Michaels, who had worked on the set of one of his Hulk movies. The couple married a year later in Hawaii. In early 1991,^{[citation needed]} Bixby was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment.^[6] He was divorced in the same year. In late 1992, friends introduced him to the artist Judith Kliban, widow of B. Kliban, a cartoonist who had died of a pulmonary embolism. Bixby married Judith in late 1993, just six weeks before he collapsed on the set of Blossom.

In early 1993, after rumors began circulating about his health, Bixby went public with his illness, discussing his disease and the energy needed to keep him alive. As a result, he made several guest appearances on shows such as Entertainment Tonight, The Today Show, and Good Morning America, among many others.

Death[link]

Bixby's cancer recurred and was diagnosed as terminal. On November 21, 1993, six days after his final assignment on Blossom, he died of complications in Century City, California. He was 59 years old. His wife, Judith, and his longtime friend, Dick Martin, were by his side. His ashes are at Kliban's Maui estate. A week after his death, his and his wife's families were joined by many mourners at a private memorial.

Biopic[link]

In 2003, while promoting X2, Hugh Jackman mentioned in an interview on UK television morning talk show This Morning that he planned to make a biopic of Bill Bixby, that he had been drawn to the project by Bryan Singer and that it was a project he loved. A year later, while promoting Van Helsing, he mentioned on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno that he wanted to make the movie soon. Leno showed a picture of Jackman and Bixby and pointed out the similarities in looks. Jackman would later reveal on Parkinson in the UK that he was drawn to Bixby's story because it was one of tremendous courage and determination against the odds. Many magazines in the UK including Total Film, Empire and SFX ran the story that Jackman would be playing Bixby. Nothing more was heard until summer 2009 when it was rumoured that Jackman's Seed Productions would add this to their upcoming projects with the possibility of Richard Donner directing or Jackman himself making his directing debut.

TNT announced in 2009 that it too would be making a TV movie based on Bixby's life. It will star possibly Noah Wyle or Tim Daly as Bixby.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• Bill Bixby at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Bixby at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bill Bixby at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Bill Bixby at AllRovi
• Bill Bixby at the TCM Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Richard Dawson (born 20 November 1932) is an English actor, comedian, game show panelist and host in America. He is best known for his role as Corporal Peter Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes, being the original host of the Family Feud game show from 1976–1985, and from 1994 to 1995, and for being a regular panelist on the 1970s version of Match Game on CBS from 1973 to 1978. He is also famous for what is to date his final film role, that of Damon Killian, host of "The Running Man" in the 1987 film, The Running Man.

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Dawson was born as Colin Lionel Emm in Gosport, Hampshire, England, to an American father and English mother. At the age of 14, he ran away from home to join the Merchant Marine, where he pursued a boxing career. After his discharge, he pursued a comedy career using the stage name Dickie Dawson; when he reached adulthood, he revised this to become Richard Dawson. This name he would later officially legalise.^[1] In the course of his career in comedy Dawson is known to have played the London Palladium.

[edit] Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971) and other works

In 1963, Dawson appeared in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show in the role of dapper Brit entertainer "Racy Tracy" Rattigan. In 1965, Dawson had a small role at the end of the film King Rat, starring George Segal, playing 1st Recon paratrooper Captain Weaver, sent to liberate allied POWs in a Japanese prison. Having married British sex symbol Diana Dors, Dawson moved to Los Angeles, California, where he gained fame in the television show Hogan's Heroes as Cpl. Peter Newkirk. The war-related sitcom was one of the highest-rated shows on television during its six-year run from 1965 to 1971.

During the run of Hogan's Heroes, Dawson introduced sitcom costar Bob Crane (a long-time photography enthusiast) to John Henry Carpenter, who worked with the video department at Sony Electronics and had access to early video tape recorders. In later years, Carpenter, who photographed some of Crane's sexual escapades with various women, would be implicated in Crane's unsolved murder.

Late 1960s and early 1970s[link]

In 1967, Dawson released a psychedelic 45rpm single including the songs "His Children's Parade" and "Apples & Oranges" on Carnation Records. In 1968, Dawson was in the film The Devil's Brigade, as Private Hugh McDonald. Dawson and Dors eventually divorced, and he gained custody of both their children, Gary and Mark. Immediately following the cancellation of Hogan's Heroes, Dawson performed as a regular on the popular NBC variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In from 1971 to 1973 and would also be a regular on The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1973 to 1974. Dawson also appeared as a panelist on the 1972–73 syndicated revival of I've Got a Secret.

Mid-1970s to mid-1980s[link]

After Laugh-In left the airwaves in 1973, game show pioneer Mark Goodson signed Dawson to appear as a regular on Match Game '73, alongside Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, and host Gene Rayburn. Dawson, who had already served a year as panelist for Goodson's revival of I've Got a Secret, proved to be a solid and funny gameplayer and was the frequent choice of contestants for the "Head-To-Head Match" portion of the show's "Super-Match" bonus round, in which, after winning prize money in the "Audience Match" portion, the contestant and Dawson (or any celebrity the contestant chose) had to obtain an exact match to the requested fill-in-the-blank.

Dawson's position on the panel was the lower middle seat, directly below fellow regular Somers.

Dawson hosted a one-season syndicated revival of Masquerade Party in 1974; the program featured regular panelists Bill Bixby, Lee Meriwether, and Nipsey Russell. Produced by Stefan Hatos and Monty Hall (of Let's Make a Deal fame), the programme was not popular enough to warrant a second season.

[edit] Match Game and Family Feud

In 1975, during his tenure as one of Match Game's regular panelists, Dawson was hired by Mark Goodson to host an upcoming project titled Family Feud, which debuted on 12 July 1976, on ABC's daytime schedule. Unlike his flop with Masquerade Party, Family Feud was a breakout hit, eventually surpassing the ratings of Match Game in late 1977. In 1978 he left Match Game and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Game Show Host for his work on Family Feud.^[1]

One of his trademarks, kissing all the female contestants, was one of the things that made the show appear to be a warm and friendly programme, and he soon garnered the nickname The Kissing Bandit. On the 1985 finale Dawson explained that he kissed contestants for love and luck, something his mother did with Dawson himself as a child.^[2] In 1983, Dawson made an appearance on Mama's Family as himself, hosting an episode of Family Feud where the Harpers play as contestants (reuniting him with former Match Game co-panelists Betty White and Vicki Lawrence). After Dawson became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1984 he proudly showed his passport and photo during the introduction of an episode of Family Feud.

Dawson continued hosting the Feud until both editions were cancelled; the ABC Daytime edition on 14 June 1985 and the syndicated edition three months later on 13 September 1985.

Mid-1980s – present career and returning to Family Feud (1994-1995)[link]

Dawson parodied his TV persona in 1987 by co-starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action film The Running Man, in which he portrayed the evil, egotistical game-show host Damon Killian. Of Dawson's performance film critic Roger Ebert (who gave the film itself thumbs down) wrote, "Playing a character who always seems three-quarters drunk, Dawson chain-smokes his way through backstage planning sessions and then pops up in front of the cameras as a cauldron of false jollity. Working the audience, milking the laughs and the tears, he is not really much different than most genuine game show hosts—and that's the film's private joke."^[3]

Dawson hosted an unsold pilot for a revival of the classic game show You Bet Your Life that was to air on NBC in 1988, but the network declined to pick up the show, which would go on to attempt two more failed revivals with hosts Buddy Hackett and Bill Cosby. On 12 September 1994, Dawson returned to the syndicated edition of Family Feud, replacing Ray Combs for what became the final season of the show's official second run (1988–1995).

On Dawson's first show upon his return he received a 25-second standing ovation when he walked on set. Afterwards he said, "If you do too much of that, I won't be able to do a show for you because I'll cry." During the revival, he did not kiss the female contestants, because of a commitment he made with his wife and daughter. The final episode aired on 26 May 1995. After Family Feud, Dawson decided to retire from show business. In 1999, he was asked to make a special appearance on the first episode of the current version of Family Feud, but decided to turn the offer down and have no further involvement with the show.^[4] In 2000, Dawson narrated TV's Funniest Game Show Moments on the Fox network.

Personal life and family[link]

Upon retiring, Dawson took up residence in Beverly Hills, California with his wife since 1991, the former Gretchen Johnson, whom he met when she was a member of one of the contestant families on Family Feud in 1981.^[5] They have a daughter named Shannon Nicole Dawson. He did not kiss the female contestants in his second run on Family Feud due to a commitment he made to his wife and daughter. Richard announces this and shows a picture of his daughter on an episode in the '94 version of the Feud -- as he is greeting one of the contestants who happened to be a former contestant of his while he was a panelist on the Match Game. The episode was featured on the 25th Anniversary of Family Feud as No. 14 on the Game Show Network's Top 25 Feud Moments.

He also has two sons, Mark Dawson (born 1960) and Gary Dawson (born 1962), from his previous marriage to Diana Dors. Richard also has five grandchildren: Lindsay Dors Dawson, Tyler Emm Dawson, Emma Rose Dawson, Walter "Melons" Dawson, and Lauren Dawson.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Richard Dawson at the Internet Movie Database

Mark Ruffalo
Ruffalo at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival
Born	Mark Alan Ruffalo (1967-11-22) November 22, 1967 (age 44) Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Sunrise Coigney (2000–present)

Mark Alan Ruffalo (born November 22, 1967) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, Collateral, You Can Count on Me, The Avengers, and The Kids Are All Right, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.^[1]

Early life[link]

Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His mother, Marie Rose (née Hebert), is a hairdresser and stylist, and his father, Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, Jr., worked as a construction painter.^[1][2][3] His father and maternal grandmother were of Italian descent, and his maternal grandfather was of French Canadian ancestry.^[4][5] He has two sisters, Tania and Nicole, and a brother, Scott,^[1] who died in December 2008. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a "happy kid"^[6] and his upbringing as taking place in a "very big" family with "lots of love".^[7] Of his father, Ruffalo has said, "He was an amazing, charismatic guy who was city high school wrestling champion three times. He was away a lot when I was growing up. I was very lonely for him.”^[8] Ruffalo was raised Roman Catholic; he attended both a Catholic and a progressive school. Ruffalo spent his teen years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked. He graduated from First Colonial High School,^[1] and then moved with his family to San Diego, and later to Los Angeles, California. There, he took classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory and co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company.^[1] With the OTC, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays, and spent the next nine years earning his money as a bartender.

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Ruffalo had minor roles in films like The Dentist (1996), the low-key crime comedy Safe Men (1998) and Ang Lee's Civil War Western Ride with the Devil (1999). Through a chance meeting with writer Kenneth Lonergan, Ruffalo began collaborating with Lonergan and appeared in several of his plays, including the original cast of This is Our Youth (1998), which led to Ruffalo's role as Laura Linney's troubled, aimless drifter brother Terry in Lonergan's acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated 2000 film You Can Count on Me.^[1] He received favorable reviews for his performance in this film, often earning comparisons to the young Marlon Brando, and won awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Montreal World Film Festival.^[1]

This led to other significant roles, including the films XX/XY (2002), Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me with Sarah Polley (2003), Jane Campion's In the Cut with Meg Ryan (2003), Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), and We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), which is based upon two short stories written by Andre Dubus.^[1] He appeared opposite Tom Cruise as a narcotics detective in Michael Mann's acclaimed crime-thriller Collateral (2004).^[1] More recently, Ruffalo has appeared as a romantic lead in "chick flicks" such as View From the Top (2002), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Just Like Heaven (2005) and Rumor Has It (2005).^[1] In 2006, Ruffalo starred in Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing! at the Belasco Theatre in New York, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.^[1] In March 2007, he appeared in Zodiac as SFPD homicide inspector Dave Toschi, who ran the investigation to find and apprehend the Zodiac killer from 1969 through most of the 1970s.^[1] In 2007, Ruffalo played divorced lawyer Dwight Arno, who accidentally kills a child and speeds away, in Terry George's film Reservation Road, based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz.

In 2008, Ruffalo starred as a con man in The Brothers Bloom with Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz. Also in 2008, he starred along with Julianne Moore in Blindness. 2008 also saw Ruffalo in Brian Goodman's What Doesn't Kill You with Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, which was shown at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2009, he played a brief role in the film Where The Wild Things Are as Max's mother's boyfriend. In 2010, he costarred in the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island as U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule, the partner of Leonardo DiCaprio's character Teddy Daniels.^[9]

In 2010, he starred in Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Ruffalo stated in an interview that he approached Cholodenko after watching High Art and said he would love to work with her. Years later, she called Ruffalo and said she wrote a script, and had him in mind for the part. The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.^[10]

He is set to star in Second Coming, a low-budget indie film. According to Production Weekly, it is being produced by Richard N. Gladstein, Laura Bickford, and Ludovic Dardenay. The movie will also star Marion Cotillard, Ethan Hawke, Anjelica Huston, and Thandie Newton, and it will be the directorial debut of Nenad Cicin-Sain.^[11]

On July 23, 2010, it was announced that Ruffalo would star in the 2012 superhero film The Avengers. He received critical acclaim for his performance as Dr. Bruce Banner in the film.^[12]

Directing[link]

He made his directorial debut with Sympathy for Delicious, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. On releasing the film, Ruffalo said, "I'm still looking for distribution. I have a couple offers on the table, but I'm holding out for something a little bigger. I've been screening it for a lot of groups, and people are really responding to it. I think they're scared of that movie."^[13] Of directing, he says, "I liken it to an actor gets to eat one slice, and a director gets to eat the whole pie. [laughs] You get to collaborate with gifted people who are good at their craft, so you're orchestrating all these different mediums. You're helping people through the script to realize their own talents. I find that really satisfying, and I felt like being in front of the camera is so intense and self-involved and personal, and directing isn't like that for me. It's a much more communal experience. Last year at this time, I was like, 'I'm not going back to acting, man. No way, it's done.' I haven't worked in a year. It's really taken me that long to get back to my love for what I do for acting. I would like to do 50-50, if I could. Really, I'd just be directing right now, but I can't support my family doing that at this moment, and I love acting. It's not a bad position to be in."^[13]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Since June 2000, Mark has been married to French-American actress Sunrise Coigney (born Christina Sunrise Coigney on September 17, 1972 in San Francisco), and they have three children: a son Keen, born in 2001, and daughters Bella Noche, born in 2005, and Odette, born in 2007, in Los Angeles.^[14]

On December 1, 2008, Ruffalo's brother, Scott, was shot at his Beverly Hills condominium,^[15] with one report describing the shooting as "execution-style" in the back of the head.^[16] Scott died on December 8, 2008. Police took two people into custody: a woman who is considered a suspect and a man considered a "person of interest".^[17] One of the suspects reportedly told police that Scott Ruffalo shot himself while playing Russian roulette;^[18] the witnesses were later released as the police investigation continued.^[19]

In 2002, Ruffalo was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a type of brain tumor, and had surgery; the tumor was benign, but resulted in a period of partial facial paralysis.^[2] He fully recovered from the paralysis and returned to good health as well as an active life and movie career.

Ruffalo is a vegetarian.^[20]

Political views[link]

On October 4, 2006, he appeared on Democracy Now!, a daily news program. He spoke against the War in Iraq, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, torture, and the Bush Administration. He also announced he would speak at The World Can't Wait Protest in New York City on October 5, 2006. Ruffalo contributed to the campaign of former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination for President.^[21]

In October 2007, Ruffalo criticized the 9/11 Commission Report as "completely illegitimate" and called for re-opening the investigation. He said: "I saw the way they all came down and I am baffled. My first reaction is that buildings don't fall down like that." He also criticized the 9/11 truth movement, saying "There's so much information that's been put out there by truth for 9/11 and ... so much of it has been stretched that a lot of people are grabbing hold of the more sensational parts of what doesn't jibe..."^[22]

[edit] Opposition to fracking

On October 4, 2010, Ruffalo, who makes his home with his family in Callicoon, New York, appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss hydraulic fracturing and the The FRAC Act of 2009.^[23] Ruffalo stated in the December 2010 issue of GQ magazine that after he organized screenings in Pennsylvania of a documentary about natural-gas-drilling called Gasland, he was placed on a terror advisory list.^[24] The Department of Homeland Security denied that they had him on a list.^[25]

On July 13, 2011, Ruffalo appeared on Countdown With Keith Olbermann to discuss fracking, most particularly in New York. "This is an industry that is the dirtiest, slimiest, most arrogant, and negligent that you can imagine," Ruffalo says. Ruffalo taped an "online segment extra" for Countdown, during which time Keith Olbermann offered him the opportunity to become an official Countdown Contributor. Ruffalo gratefully accepted.^[26]

On March 28, 2012, Ruffalo appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss his continued opposition to fracking and promote waterdefense.org.^[27]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mark Ruffalo at the Internet Movie Database
• Mark Ruffalo at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mark Ruffalo at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• People in Film: Mark Ruffalo at Focus Features
• Clips from Ruffalo interview on Inside the Actors Studio
• Mark Ruffalo Producer Profile for The 1 Second Film

Lou Ferrigno
Ferrigno at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan, October 10, 2010
Personal Info
Born	(1951-11-09) November 9, 1951 (age 60) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1]
Weight	285 lb (130 kg)[1]
Professional Career
Pro-debut	NABBA Mr. Universe, 1972
Best win	IFBB Mr. Universe, 1973–1974, two years consecutively
Active	Retired 1995

Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno (born November 9, 1951)^[2]) is an American actor, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron. As an actor, he is best known for portraying the titular role in the CBS television series The Incredible Hulk and for voicing the character in subsequent animated and computer-generated incarnations. He has also appeared in European-produced fantasy-adventures such as Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules, and as himself in the sitcom The King of Queens and the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man.

Early life[link]

Lou Ferrigno was born in Brooklyn, New York to Victoria and Matt Ferrigno, a police lieutenant.^[3] He is of Italian descent. Soon after he was born, Ferrigno says he believes he suffered a series of ear infections and lost 75 to 80% of his hearing, though his condition was not diagnosed until he was three years old.^[4][5] Ferrigno started weight training at age 13, citing body builder and Hercules star Steve Reeves as one of his role models.^[6] He was also a fan of the Hercules films that starred Reeves—and would later play Hercules as well. Ferrigno's other personal heroes as a child were Spider-Man and the Hulk.^[7] Ferrigno attended St. Athanasius Grammar School^[8] and Brooklyn Technical High School, where he learned metal working.^[8]

Bodybuilding career[link]

After graduating from high school in 1969, Ferrigno won his first major titles, IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe, four years later. Early in his career he lived in Columbus and trained with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He then came third the following year, and his attempt to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger was the subject of the 1975 documentary Pumping Iron.

These victories, however, did not provide enough for him to earn a living. His first paying job was as a $10-an-hour sheet metal worker in a Brooklyn factory, where he worked for three years. He did not enjoy the dangerous work, and left after a friend and co-worker accidentally cut off his own hand one day.^[9]

Following this, Ferrigno left the competition circuit for many years, a period that included a brief stint as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. He had never played football, and was cut after two games.^[10]

During competition, Ferrigno at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) weighed 285 lb (130 kg) in 1975,^[1] and 316 lb (143 kg) in 1992.

Ferrigno competed in the first World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, where he finished fourth in a field of eight competitors.^[11]

In the early 1990s, Ferrigno returned to bodybuilding, competing for the 1992 and 1993 Mr. Olympia titles. Finishing 12th and 10th, respectively, he then turned to the 1994 Masters Olympia,^{[citation needed]} where his attempt to beat Robbie Robinson and Boyer Coe was the subject of the 1996 documentary Stand Tall. After this, he retired from competition.^{[citation needed]}

Acting career[link]

1977–2008[link]

In 1977, Ferrigno was cast in the title role opposite Bill Bixby as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk. Although Ferrigno and Bixby did not share lines on camera (except for one episode, "King of the Beach"), the two were friends, with Ferrigno describing Bixby as a "mentor" and "father figure" who took Ferrigno under his wing. Ferrigno also singles out the instances in which Bixby directed Ferrigno in some episodes as particularly memorable.^[12] Ferrigno continued playing the Hulk role until 1981—although the last two episodes were not broadcast until May 1982. Later, he and Bixby co-starred in three The Incredible Hulk TV movies.

In November 1978 and again in May 1979 Ferrigno appeared in Battle of the Network Stars.

In 1983, Ferrigno appeared as John Six on the short lived medical drama Trauma Center.^[13]

Ferrigno played himself during intermittent guest appearances on the CBS sitcom, The King of Queens, beginning in 2000 and continuing until the program's conclusion in 2007. He and his wife Carla were depicted as the main characters' next-door neighbors. Because of his role as the title character on The Incredible Hulk, he is often the target of Hulk jokes by Doug and his friends.

He made cameo appearances as a security guard in both the 2003 film Hulk and the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, in which he also voiced the Hulk.^[14]

2009–present[link]

Ferrigno at the 2007 Scream Awards.

Ferrigno appeared as himself in the 2009 feature film comedy I Love You, Man.

Ferrigno trained Michael Jackson on and off since the early 1990s, and in 2009, he helped Jackson get into shape for a planned series of concerts in London.^[15]

Ferrigno took part in a Smosh video, titled "I love Lou Ferrigno", in which he is tracked down by one of Smosh's members, Anthony, in Hollywood. The skit ends with Ferrigno knocking Anthony unconscious, in response to Ian's claim that Anthony stole Ferrigno's Butterfinger.

In February 2006, Ferrigno was sworn in as a Los Angeles County, California reserve sheriff's deputy.^[16]

Ferrigno sells his own line of fitness equipment through his company, Ferrigno Fitness. In a January 2009 taping, Ferrigno Fitness provided equipment to The Price Is Right, hosted by Drew Carey for use as a One Bid prize, and demonstrated the equipment himself.^{[episode needed]}

In 2010, Ferrigno appeared in "My Two Chads", an episode of Sonny with a Chance, appearing as himself in an episode of the fictional series MacKenzie Falls.

In November 2010, Ferrigno was sworn in as a member of a Maricopa County, Arizona volunteer sheriff posse, which also includes actors Steven Seagal and Peter Lupus, in order to help control illegal immigration in the Phoenix Valley area.^[17]

Ferrigno was a contestant on season five of the NBC reality television series The Celebrity Apprentice, which premiered in February 2012. He appeared on the program in order to raise money for his charity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Ferrigno was Team Unanimous' project manager for the task depicted in the fifth episode, "I'm Going to Mop the Floor With You", which was to create a viral video to promote O-Cedar's ProMist Spray Mop, placing him in competition with actress Tia Carrere, the project manager of the women's team, Forte. In addition to the usual $20,000USD awarded to the charity of the project manager of the winning team, O-Cedar pledged an additional $30,000 for that task. Team Unanimous' video—in which Ferrigno appeared dancing while mopping—won the task, winning the $50,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association.^[18] He was fired in the ninth episode, "Ad Hawk", which involved creating a 60-second commercial for Entertainment.com.^[19]

Ferrigno's voice was once again utilized for the Hulk in the 2012 film The Avengers.^{[20][20][21][20][21]}

Personal life[link]

Due to ear infections suffered soon after birth, Ferrigno lost 75 to 80% of his hearing and has been using hearing aids since the age of 5. ^[22] Ferrigno says his hearing loss helped shape his sense of determination in his youth, saying, "I think that if I wasn't hard of hearing I wouldn't be where I am now. Early on, as a youngster it was difficult, but I’m not ashamed to talk about it because many people have misconceptions about hearing loss; like who has hearing loss and what it’s like not to hear, so I do talk about it. I think my hearing loss helped create a determination within me to be all that I can be, and gave me a certain strength of character too. Anytime I do a movie or a TV show, I make them aware of my hearing loss at the beginning, and that makes it much easier for all of us to communicate and get the job done."^[4]

Ferrigno married Susan Groff in 1978, divorcing a year later. On May 3, 1980, he married psychotherapist Carla Green, who then also began serving as his manager; she later became a personal trainer. They have three children, Shanna, born 1981; Louis, Jr., born 1984; and Brent, born 1990. Shanna has a recurring role as Nurse Janice in Days of our Lives, and appeared in the NBC series Windfall, as well as the television movie Within, and in 2005 she appeared in the E! reality television series, Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive. Louis, Jr. was a linebacker for the University of Southern California Trojans football team.^[23]

Competitions[link]

• 1971: Pro Mr. America – WBBG, Teen 1st^[24]
• 1971: Teen Mr. America – AAU, 4th, Most Muscular 5th
• 1972: Pro Mr. America – WBBG, 2nd
• 1972: NABBA Mr. Universe, Tall 2nd
• 1973: IFBB Mr. America, Overall Winner^[24]
• 1973: IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner^[24][25]
• 1974: IFBB Mr. International^[24]
• 1974: IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner^[24][25]
• 1974: Mr. Olympia, Heavyweight 2nd
• 1975: Mr. Olympia, Tall class, 3rd place^[24]
• 1992: Mr. Olympia, 12th^[24]
• 1993: Mr. Olympia, 10th^[24]
• 1994: Olympia Masters, 2nd^[24]

Magazine covers[link]

• Muscle & Fitness (March, 1982; September, 1982; March, 1983; January, 1986; June, 1987; July, 1988; April, 1989; March, 1993; March, 1994; April, 1996)
• Flex (November, 1983; August, 1985; August, 1989; August, 1992; October, 1992; June, 1993; March, 1994; November, 1994)
• Muscle Builder (May, 1974; July, 1974; April, 1977; September, 1977; July, 1979; March, 1980; May, 1980)
• Iron Man (July, 1973; August, 1988; October, 1992; November, 1994; April, 2009)
• Bodybuilding Lifestyle (December, 1991; May, 1992)
• Muscle Mag International (March, 1979; December, 1983; November, 1994)
• Muscular Development (February, 1981; October, 1992; April, 2009; 2012)^{[volume & issue needed]}
• Muscle Training Illustrated (May, 1972)
• Natural Bodybuilding (February, 1983)
• Strength & Health (November, 1983)

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of strongmen

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lou Ferrigno

• Official website
• Official FaceBook Fan page
• Official YouTube channel
• Lou Ferrigno at the Internet Movie Database

Eugene Jeffrey "E.J." Gold (born 1941) is an artist, author, jazz musician and spiritual teacher in the "Fourth Way" tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff. Gold's large-scale JazzArt paintings have served as backdrops for Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Oscar Peterson, and Toots Thielemans.^[1] His artwork has appeared in the set of Sister, Sister, International Association for Jazz Education,^[2] Jazz at Lincoln Center, and other jazz venues. Gold has written and self published over 50 books. In addition to starting an online science fiction museum, he is a voting member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His science fiction stories and articles have been published in a number of monthlies including Omni Magazine. In 1992, his artwork was part of a collaborative show with writer Margaret Randall at the Cedar Tavern in New York City.

Early life and career[link]

Gold is the son of Horace Gold, founding editor of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. He collaborated on several novels with his father during the 1960s, and they worked on television scripts during this same period. He grew up in New York City and has stated he is friends with many of the writers from science fiction's golden age. He has appeared on panels with Isaac Asimov, Harlan Ellison, and Alfred Bester at science fiction conventions.

As a child, he created and presented his artwork at the Children's Art Carnival at the Museum of Modern Art (1944–49). He has numbered among his friends many of the artists of the Woodstock Art Association where he spent his summers. In the summer of 1953 he attended Camp Woodlands, in Phoenecia, NY. In 1956, he moved to Hollywood, where his mother worked as a story editor for the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock television shows. He attended Los Angeles City College, Otis Art Institute and showed at Robert Comara and Joan Ankrum Galleries with friend/mentors Fritz Schwaderer and Peter Jan Hirschfeld.

Happenings[link]

In the 1960s, Gold worked as a jazz musician, composer, and as a photographer for Tiger Beat magazine. His photos of Harry Nilsson were used by RCA for album covers. He edited Mod Teen Magazine in the 1960s. He also worked as a continuity writer for the Bob Crane radio show on KNX.

Gold staged the "Saints' March" Art Happening where 40 saints were dropped from the official Vatican calendar of saints. The event generated news items in Time magazine and Newsweek leading to several television interviews with Joe Pyne and Richard Dawson.

By the early 1970s, Gold emerged as a sculptor and painter associated with the "California Nine" group.^[3]

Spiritual teaching[link]

Gold has for many years acted as an independent spiritual teacher whose work and style bear a strong affinity with the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way school of thought. Gold's particular style, as evinced in his published writings such as The American Book of the Dead, also demonstrate a strong influence of Tibetan tantric teachings such as the concept of bardo or "in-between" states. The fundamental emphasis of Gold's teaching, like that of Gurdjieff, is on the concept of spiritual "Work" in daily life and a constant effort to increase and maintain heightened awareness in all activities. The state of an individual "in the Work" is thus contrasted to what is taken to be the state of the "ordinary" unawakened individual, who is presumed to go through life in a condition of quasi-automatism or mere social conditioning ("asleep," in the metaphorical terminology of this tradition.)^[4]

Current works[link]

Today, Gold is one of the older online gamers and he has participated in the production of Quake 2, Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair, Necronomicon, and other online first-person shooters. He has worked with Quake's Capture The Flag and with Team Fortress, both online team games used as teaching tools.^[5]

Gold also hosts workshops in onstage comedy and theatre. He is responsible for the creation of the "You Can Paint" art instruction series which is now used at a few universities and art associations. He has also personally conducted public art classes into the 21st century.^[6]

Gold has created a line of hand-crafted fiber art beads and his painted celebrity-gear clothing line has been shown at various performance venues. His comedic/tragic play "Creation Story Verbatim" has been performed at several colleges.

Major publications[link]

Science fiction[link]

• E.J. Gold. (2007). DarkSide DreamWalker. Nevada City, Calif.: Gateways/IDHHB Pub.. ISBN 0-89556-140-9. 
• Avram Davidson ... (2002). RetroVisions Science Fiction. Nevada City, Calif.: Gateways Books and Tapes. ISBN 0-89556-175-1. 
• SlimeWars: The Epic. 
• Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine (current editor of galaxyezine.org)

Fine art[link]

• Amazing Sculpture You Can Do. 
• Awesome Graphite Landscapes. 
• Charcoal Nudes. 
• Draw Good Now. 
• interpretive drawings by E.J. Gold ; poetry by Iven Lourie ; commentaries by Linda Corriveau. (1991). Miro's Dream. Nevada City, CA: Gateways. ISBN 0-89556-055-0. 
• Mysteries of Still Life. 
• E.J. Gold ; text by Linda Corriveau ; photoart by Nona Hatay. (1990). Pure Gesture. Nevada City, CA: Gateways. ISBN 0-89556-087-9.  see also: Manifesto of Reductionism ^[7]

Consciousness, death and dying[link]

• Alchemical Sex. 
• E.J. Gold. (1975). American Book of the Dead. San Francisco: And/Or Press. ISBN 0-915904-12-8.  E.J. Gold ; illustrations by George Metzger. (1978). American Book of the Dead (revised). S.l.: I.D.H.H.B. & Doneve Designs. ISBN 0-89556-007-0.  E.J. Gold (1981). New American Book of the Dead. Nevada City, Calif.: IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-029-1.  written and illustrated by E.J. Gold. (1987,1999). American Book of the Dead (revised). Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-051-8.  written by E.J. Gold. (1995). American Book of the Dead (revised). HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-251310-9. 
• Angels Healing Journey. 
• Autobiography of a Sufi. 
• Bardo Stations: A Guidebook for the Afterlife. 
• The Book of Sacraments. 
• Brother Godfrey's Journal. 
• E.J. Gold. (1986). Creation Story Verbatim. Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-047-X.  (Also appears in script format for play.)
• E.J. Gold and friends. (2001). The Great Adventure. Nevada City, CA: Gateways Books and Tapes/I.D.H.H.B.. ISBN 0-89556-110-7. 
• The Hidden Work. 
• E.J. Gold. (1985). The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus. Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-046-1. 
• The Invocation of Presence. 
• The Joy of Sacrifice. 
• The Lazy Man's Guide to Death and Dying. 
• E.J. Gold. (1991). Life in the Labyrinth. Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-048-8. 
• The Original Handbook for the Recently Deceased Workbook, Manual, Practicum.  (with Dr. Claude Needham)
• E.J. Gold. (1989). Practical Work on Self. Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-056-9. 
• Secret Talks on Voluntary Evolution. 
• The Seven Bodies of Man. 
• Secret Talks With Mr. G.. 
• Shakti: The Gestalt of Zap. 
• Songs My Dead Mother Sang Me.  (with Parker Dickson, et al.)
• Tanks for the Memories.  (with Dr. John C. Lilly)
• E.J. Gold. (1989). Visions in the Stone: Journey to the Source of Hidden Knowledge. Gateways/IDHHB. ISBN 0-89556-057-7.  (Introduction by Robert Anton Wilson.)

Secret Talks volumes[link]

• Volume I: The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus. 
• Volume II: Work on Self. 
• Volume III: Prayer-Absolute and Sacred Obligation. 
• Volume IV: Visions in the Stone (formerly Journeys to Inaccessible Monasteries). 
• Volume V: Work of Groups. 
• Volume VI: The Seven Bodies of Man. 
• Volume VII: The Great Laws. 
• Volume VIII: Science of Objective Hypnotism. 
• Volume IX: Objective Magic and Ritual. 
• Volume X: The Creation Story Verbatim. 

References[link]