Randall Wallace (born July 28, 1949) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and songwriter who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart. His work on the film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay Adapted Directly for the Screen. He directed The Man in the Iron Mask, We Were Soldiers, and Secretariat.

Early life[link]

Born in Jackson, Tennessee, Wallace began writing stories at the age of seven. Wallace graduated from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended Duke University, where he studied Russian, religion, and literature and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He put himself through a graduate year of seminary by teaching martial arts. Wallace holds a black belt in karate.^[1]

Career[link]

After managing an animal show at Nashville’s Opryland, Wallace moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in singing and songwriting. He began writing short stories, novels and scripts for movies. Wallace was taken under the wing of leading television producer Stephen J. Cannell and spent several years writing for television in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He gained recognition and commercial success by penning the screenplay for Braveheart (1995), which was inspired by a trip to Scotland to learn more about his Scottish roots. While there, he discovered the legend of the medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace. Braveheart became Wallace’s first screenplay to be produced after it drew the interest of director and star, Mel Gibson. It ended up as one of the most successful films of 1995, earning the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director as well as garnering other Oscar, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild Award for Best Screenplay nominations.

Wallace made his directorial debut with his own screenplay in The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons and Gérard Depardieu. Shortly after, he wrote the screenplay for Pearl Harbor (2001), directed by Michael Bay and starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale.

This was followed by Wallace’s second film as director We Were Soldiers. Moved by its starkly honest account of a singular battle in the Vietnam War, Mel Gibson re-teamed with Wallace to star in the film. Wallace trained with career soldiers at U.S. Army Ranger School in order to understand the motivation of his characters.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Wallace directed Disney’s Secretariat, the true story of the racehorse that won the Triple Crown in 1973. The film chronicled the struggles and courage of owner Penny Chenery-Tweedy, portrayed by Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Lane. Wallace also wrote the end title song, It’s Who You Are, which was released with the Secretariat soundtrack.^[2]

He is currently writing the sequel to Homefront for Crytek.

Wallace has been developing a movie about the Vikings with Mel Gibson.^[3]

Other work[link]

Wallace is also the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and the lyricist of the acclaimed hymn "Mansions of the Lord", performed as the closing music for President Ronald Reagan's national funeral.

In 2008, Wallace wrote several songs with singer/songwriter Richard Marx. One of those songs, "Flame In Your Fire", appears on Marx's album Emotional Remains.

In interviews he has acknowledged a deep commitment to Christianity, which he credits as an influence on his approach to filmmaking.^[1][4]

He appeared in the seventh season of HBO’s hit comedy series Entourage as himself.

In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Wallace is the founder of Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity and the father of two sons. In 1999, he formed his own company, Wheelhouse Entertainment, which is focused on creating entertainment for worldwide audiences based on the classic values of love, courage and honor.

Wallace was the speaker at the Fellowship Foundation National Prayer Breakfast on 3 February 2011.^[5]

Wallace also served as the commencement speaker at the Liberty University graduation ceremony on May 14, 2011.^[6]

Filmography[link]

• Braveheart (1995) – writer
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) – writer, director and producer
• Pearl Harbor (2001) – writer and executive producer
• We Were Soldiers (2002) – writer, director and producer
• Fight or Die (2008) – executive producer, narrator
• Secretariat (2010) – director

References[link]

External links[link]

• Randall Wallace at the Internet Movie Database

Collin Raye
Raye performing in Washington, D.C. in October 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Floyd Collin Wray[1][2][3]
Also known as	Bubba Wray
Born	August 22, 1959[4] or 1960[5][6] (disputed) De Queen, Arkansas, USA[4]
Genres	Country
Instruments	Vocals, bass guitar
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Epic, Aspirion, Country Roads, Starpointe, Saguaro Road
Associated acts	Susan Ashton, Jim Brickman, Paul Worley, The Wrays
Website	www.collinraye.com

Floyd Collin Wray (born August 22, 1959 or 1960,^{[note 1]} in De Queen, Arkansas) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Collin Raye. He made his debut on the American country music scene in 1991 with the release of his debut album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit in "Love, Me". All I Can Be was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification in the United States for sales of one million copies each.

He maintained several Top Ten hits throughout the rest of the decade and into 2000. 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label.

Between 1991 and 2007, Raye charted 30 singles on the U.S. country charts; he has also charted twice on the Adult Contemporary format as a duet partner on two Jim Brickman songs. Four of Raye's singles have reached Number One on the Billboard country music charts: 1992's "Love, Me" and "In This Life", 1994's "My Kind of Girl", and 1998's "I Can Still Feel You". He has also recorded a total of eleven studio albums, counting a Christmas album and a compilation of lullabies, in addition to releasing a Greatest Hits compilation, a live album, and a live CD/DVD package. His most recent album, Never Going Back, was released via Saguaro Road Records on April 28, 2009.

Early years[link]

Floyd Collin Wray was born in De Queen, Arkansas on August 22.^[4][7] His mother, Lois Wray, was a local musician; in the 1950s, she served as an opening act for several Sun Records artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.^[8] Later, she became a solo musician in her own right; she would occasionally bring both Floyd and his brother Scott onstage to sing harmony vocals.^[4] By the 1980s, the two brothers began a country-rock band called the Wray Brothers Band, in which Collin assumed the stage name Bubba Wray.^[4] The Wray Brothers Band performed primarily in the state of Texas, and later in Reno, Nevada, eventually releasing singles on independent labels. By 1986, the band (which had shortened its name to The Wrays) signed to Mercury Records, releasing four singles. After the singles performed poorly on the charts, The Wrays disbanded.^[4]

Solo career[link]

Beginnings[link]

After altering the spelling of his last name to Raye, Collin was signed to a record deal with Epic Records in 1990.^[4] His debut single, "All I Can Be (Is a Sweet Memory)", entered the charts in 1991, reaching a peak of #29 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.^[6] Raye's first album, also titled All I Can Be, was released soon afterward.

The follow-up single, a ballad co-written by Skip Ewing and titled "Love, Me," reached Number One on the country music charts in early 1992, holding the peak position for three weeks. All I Can Be was then certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's final single was "Every Second," which peaked at #2 on Billboard.^[6]

[edit] In This Life and Extremes

Raye's second album, titled In This Life, was released in 1992. The album's title track, which served as its lead-off single, not only went to the top of the Billboard country charts, but also became a hit on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts. In late 1992, Raye made an appearance on the Carl Weathers television drama series "Street Justice", where he gave a live performance of "In This Life". The first season episode, entitled "Country Justice", was directed by David Winning. The album produced three additional Top Ten country hits, and was also certified platinum.

1993 saw the release of Raye's third album. Titled Extremes, it received critical acclaim for its more socially aware content, most evidently in the second single, "Little Rock", a story of a recovering alcoholic.^[9] The song's accompanying music video also promoted Al-Anon, an international support group for friends and family of alcoholics.^[4] Overall, Extremes produced five straight Top Ten hits on the country charts, including the Number One single "My Kind of Girl" in 1994; it also became Raye's third consecutive platinum album.

[edit] I Think About You and The Best of Collin Raye: Direct Hits

I Think About You was the title of Raye's fourth album. Released in 1995, it produced six singles overall and became Raye's fourth consecutive platinum-certified album.^[9] The album's title track was a Top Five hit on the country charts; in addition, its music video won a Video of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music.^[10]

In 1996, Raye also released a Christmas album titled Christmas: The Gift. He also appeared on Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a Beach Boys album featuring lead vocals by country musicians. A year later, his first Greatest Hits package was issued; titled The Best of Collin Raye: Direct Hits, it comprised several of his hit singles from the past five years, as well as four new songs, of which three released as singles. "What the Heart Wants" and "Little Red Rodeo" both reached Top Five on the country music charts, while "The Gift", a collaboration with Jim Brickman and Susan Ashton, was a Top Five hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. Direct Hits received a gold certification from the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies in the United States.

[edit] The Walls Came Down

The Walls Came Down was the title of Raye's fifth studio album. Released in 1998, it produced his fourth and final Billboard Number One single in "I Can Still Feel You".^[4] "Someone You Used to Know" and the Radney Foster-penned "Anyone Else" were both Top Five hits as well. "Start Over Georgia", the fourth single (co-written by Raye's brother), peaked at #39. Also included on The Walls Came Down was a ballad entitled "The Eleventh Commandment", in which Raye addressed the issue of child abuse. Although not released as a single, "The Eleventh Commandment" was made into a music video, which featured a number for a child abuse hotline at the end.^[11]

The same year, he appeared on compilation CD Tribute To Tradition (released on Columbia label) with cover versions of Cold Cold Heart (country classic recorded by Hank Williams in 1957) and Honky Tonk Heroes (Like Me) (a major hit for Waylon Jennings in 1973, written by Billy Joe Shaver). Raye duets with Joe Diffie on the latter song.

Counting Sheep, a special album composed of lullabies for Raye's children, was released in 2000.

2000s[link]

2001 saw the release of Tracks, Raye's sixth album. Its first release, the primarily spoken-word "Couldn't Last a Moment", was a Top Five hit on the country charts. "Tired of Loving This Way", which followed, was a duet with singer and actress Bobbie Eakes. Although it was Raye's first single to miss the Top 40 entirely, it provided Eakes with her first and only appearance on the country music charts.^[12]

Can't Back Down, Raye's last album for Epic, was released in 2001. Neither of the album's two singles entered Top 40 on the country music charts. Because of a conflict with his label, Raye asked out of his contract that year.^[13][14] Although he did not have a record label at the time, he entered the Adult Contemporary charts for the third time in 2003, as a duet partner on Jim Brickman's single "Peace (Where the Heart Is)". 2004 saw the release of Raye's first live album, Live at Billy Bob's Texas, and a promotional single titled "World History 101" was released in 2005.^[5]

2005-present[link]

In 2005, Raye signed to the independent Aspirion label, releasing his Twenty Years and Change album. Two singles were released from the album, although neither single charted. The same year, Raye appeared in television commercials for Fruit of the Loom underwear, in which he sang the jingle "You Can't Over-Love Your Underwear" (with the "Apple" character lip-syncing the song in the commercial) ^[13] and was a guest vocalist on the single "Merry Christmas Angel" by Brit, a tribute song to the events of September 11. Another studio album, Fearless, was released in 2006 on Country Roads Records, although it did not produce any singles.

In 2007, a CD/DVD combination titled The Power in You was released, followed by an EP titled Selected Hits. The latter includes "That's My Story", "Little Rock", "I Think About You" and "Love, Me", as well as two new tracks: "A Soldier's Prayer" and "Quitters", the latter of which was co-written by Canadian country singer George Canyon. Both of the new tracks were released as singles in 2007, and the former peaked at #59 on Hot Country Songs.

Raye's next album, Never Going Back, was released on April 28, 2009 on the Saguaro Road label. Its first single is "Mid-Life Chrysler". It also includes the track "She's With Me," which is a tribute to Raye's granddaughter, Haley, who died from a severe but undiagnosed brain disorder.^[15]

Musical stylings[link]

Raye is known primarily for his country pop ballads, such as "Love, Me" (a popular choice at funerals)^[4] and "In This Life" (one of the most popular wedding songs of the 1990s).^[4]

Raye is also known for dealing with social issues in his material. "Little Rock", for example, tells of a recovering alcoholic; its music video included the number for Al-Anon, as a means of public service announcement. "What If Jesus Comes Back Like That", from his I Think About You album, is a power ballad that poses questions about the return of Jesus Christ in the modern world.^[9] In "The Eleventh Commandment", a track from The Walls Came Down, Raye addresses child abuse, suggesting "honor thy children" as an eleventh commandment to accompany the Ten Commandments.^[16] In the song's music video, a telephone number for the child abuse hotline ChildHelp USA was included.^[11]

Social activism[link]

Raye became the national spokesperson for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network in September 2011.^[17][18]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• All I Can Be (1991)
• In This Life (1992)
• Extremes (1993)
• I Think About You (1995)
• Christmas: The Gift (1995)
• The Walls Came Down (1998)
• Counting Sheep (2000)
• Tracks (2000)
• Can't Back Down (2001)
• Twenty Years and Change (2005)
• Fearless (2006)
• Never Going Back (2009)
• His Love Remains (2011)

[edit] Billboard number-one hits

• "Love, Me" (3 weeks, 1992)
• "In This Life" (2 weeks, 1992)
• "My Kind of Girl" (1 week, 1995)
• "I Can Still Feel You" (2 weeks, 1998)

Notes[link]

1. ^ Although multiple online sources all indicate Raye's date of birth as 1959, Raye's MySpace lists his date of birth as 1960. Furthermore, the 2004 Deseret News article cited in this article indicates the singer as having turned 44 that year.

References[link]

External links[link]

• CollinRaye.com
• Collin Raye on Myspace

Robert Davi
Robert Davi
Born	Robert John Davi (1953-06-26) June 26, 1953 (age 59) Astoria, Queens, New York, USA
Years active	1977-present
Spouse	Christine Bolster (1990-present) (separated)

Robert John Davi (born June 26, 1953)^[1] is an American actor and jazz singer. He has played such roles as Vietnam veteran and Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard, the villainous Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and Al Torres in Showgirls. However, Davi is perhaps best known for playing drug lord Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill as well as FBI Special Agent Baily Malone in the NBC television series Profiler. Classically trained as a singer, Davi launched his professional singing career in 2011 performing Frank Sinatra classics. ^[2] He opened as a headliner at The Venetian, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 23, 2012. ^[3][4]

Early life[link]

Davi was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, the son of Maria (née Rulli) and Sal Davi.^[1] His mother was an Italian American and his father was a native of Southern Italy; Davi spoke Italian during his childhood.^[1] He attended Seton Hall, a Catholic high school in Patchogue (Long Island), New York.^[1] He graduated from Hofstra University, the same alma mater as fellow James Bond villain Christopher Walken. Davi was drawn to Hofstra because of the school's Shakespearean 'round' theatre.

Acting career[link]

Davi made his motion picture debut in Contract On Cherry Street, in which he shared the screen with, Frank Sinatra. Since then he's continued to work with the biggest names in Hollywood – Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Benicio del Toro, James Franco, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, and Roberto Benigni, among others. He's been in such movies as The Goonies, Die Hard, Showgirls, Son of the Pink Panther, and in the 1989 Bond film Licence to Kill as the villain Franz Sanchez, a South American drug lord and murderer, who was killed at the end of the film after being soaked in gasoline and set alight by Bond.^[5]

On TV, he starred as Commander Acastus Kolya on Stargate Atlantis, appeared in two-part episodes of Criminal Minds, and played Supervisory Special Agent Baily Malone of the FBI Violent Criminal Apprehesion Program / VICAP in 88 episodes of his own NBC series, Profiler. In 1989 Davi appeared as Mafia Albert Cerrico in the TV series Wiseguy, in the 10 episode Mafia arc titled Garbage Wars. He also sang in the first installment of the arc, called Le Lacrime de Amore Pt I.

In 2011, Davi appeared alongside Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken in the gangster movie Kill the Irishman. The film, in which Davi played Mafia hitman Ray Ferritto, is a biopic of Danny Greene, an Irish-American mob boss who warred with the Cleveland crime family during the 1970s. Currently, Davi can be seen in Game of Death with Wesley Snipes.

Directing career[link]

In 2007, Davi made his directorial debut with The Dukes, a parable for today about how the current economic crisis is affecting the everyman. The story follows the members of a once successful Doo Wop group who, like most of the world, have fallen on hard times. The film is about chasing the American Dream, even when the reality of that dream is changing faster than you can run. It stars Chazz Palminteri, Robert Davi, and Peter Bogdanovich. The Dukes was acclaimed and was selected for the premiere section at the Rome Film Festival, along with other filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Sidney Lumet, and Gavin Hood. Davi was the only first-time director in the premiere section. The film was then invited to the Monte Carlo Comedy Film Festival, where it received awards for best first-time director and best screenplay. Following this, The Dukes was invited to the Alpe d'Huez International Comedy Film Festival in France, amongst others.

Recording career[link]

Even as far back as high school, Davi received acclaim for his singing, being awarded first place in the prestigious New York State School Music Association’s – Solo Competition, singing Vincent Youmans’ Without A Song. As a young man, Davi studied classically under several of the top vocal teachers, Samuel Margolis and Danial Ferro of Juilliard and later, opera great Tito Gobbi. Davi did in fact damage his voice, claiming he was baritone with the heart of a tenor and had pushed too hard, too early. ^[6] However, it isn't until recently that he has become successful as a singer. With a thirty-piece orchestra, Davi recorded his first album at the famous Capitol Records Building in Hollywood (where Frank Sinatra recorded on many occasions). The album contains all new arrangements by composer Nic. tenBroek; it is produced by Phil Ramone, engineered by Dan Wallin, and mixed by Al Schmitt. The album, “Davi Sings Sinatra - On The Road To Romance,” was released Oct 24th 2011.

Personal life[link]

Davi is an outspoken conservative and often speaks at Republican gatherings. He has been invited to comment on numerous political shows and backed John McCain during his presidential campaign. He narrated several film montages that aired during the 2008 Republican National Convention.^[7] Davi also spoke at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C.

Davi is a devout Roman Catholic and regularly speaks of God or relates passages from the Bible in speaking.^{[8][not in citation given]} He is a frequent guest on Fox News's late-night satire program Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.

Davi's children are Sean Christian Davi (b. 1981), with Jeri McBride, and Ariana Marie Davi (b. April 3, 1990), Frances Davi (b. 1992), Isabella Davi, and Nicholas Edward Davi (twins, born on January 11th 2001), with Christine Bolster.

Filmography[link]

• Contract on Cherry Street (1977) (TV) - Mickey Sinardos, Greek hijacker
• Charlie's Angels (1978) (TV series) - Ritchie
• And Your Name Is Jonah (1979) (TV) - Dickie
• From Here to Eternity (1979) (mini TV series) - Guard
• The Legend of the Golden Gun (1979) (TV) - William Quantrill
• City Heat (1984) - Nino
• The A-Team (1984) - Boyle (episode "Sheriffs of Rivertown")
• The Goonies (1985) - Jake Fratelli
• Hunter (1985) (TV series) - Sonny Dunbar
• The Equalizer (1986) (TV series) - Michael Riegert
• Raw Deal (1986) - Max Keller
• Wild Thing (1987) - Chopper
• Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami (1988) (TV) - Salim Ajami
• Action Jackson (1988) - Tony Moretti
• L.A. Law (1988) (TV series) - Dominic Simonetti
• Die Hard (1988) - FBI Special Agent Johnson
• Traxx (1988) - Aldo Palucci
• Licence to Kill (1989) - Franz Sanchez
• Wiseguy (1989) (TV series) - Albert Cerrico
• Peacemaker (1990) - Det. Sgt. Frank Ramos
• Deceptions (1990) (TV) - Jack 'Harley' Kessler
• Maniac Cop 2 (1990) - Det. Sean McKinney
• Predator 2 (1990) - Captain Phil Heinemann
• Amazon (1990) - Dan
• Legal Tender (1991) - Fix Cleary
• Under Surveillance (1991) -
• White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991) (TV) - Lucky Luciano
• FBI: The Untold Stories (????) (TV series) - Donnie Brasco
• The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991) - Robert Masterson
• Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue (1992) - Sully
• Center of the Web (1992) - Richard Morgan
• Illicit Behavior (1992) - Lt. Matt Walker
• Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) - Martin Pinzon
• Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993) - Det. Sean McKinney
• Night Trap (1993) - Mike Turner
• Son of the Pink Panther (1993) - Hans Zarba
• Quick (1993) - Matthew Davenport
• No Contest (1994) - Sergeant Crane
• The Dangerous (1994) - Billy Davalos
• Blind Justice (1994) - Alacran
• The November Men (1994) (uncredited) - Robert Davi
• Cops and Robbersons (1994) - Osborn
• Cyber Vengeance (1995) - R.D. Crowley
• VR.5 (1995) (TV series) - Simon Buchanan
• Codename: Silencer (1995) - Eddie Cook
• Delta of Venus (1995) (voice) - The Collector
• Showgirls (1995) - Al Torres
• Absolute Aggression (1996) - R. D. Crowley
• For Which He Stands (1996) - Carlito Escalara
• The Zone (1995) - Rowdy Welles
• An Occasional Hell (1996) - Trooper Larry Abbott
• The Beneficiary (1997) (TV) - Gil Potter
• The Bad Pack (1998) - McQue
• Batman Beyond (1999) (TV series) (voice) - Dr. Mike Morgan
• My Little Assassin (1999) (TV) - Frank Sturgis
• The Pretender (1999–2000) (TV series) - Agent Bailey Malone
• Profiler (1996–2000) (TV series) - Agent Bailey Malone
• Soulkeeper (2001) - Mallion
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002) - Merlin/Milner
• Verdict in Blood (2002) (TV) - Wade Waters
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) (VG) (voice) - Colonel Juan Garcia Cortez
• The 4th Tenor (2002) - Ierra
• The Hot Chick (2002) - Stan, April's Dad
• Hitters (2002) - Nick
• One Last Ride (2003) - Father
• Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss (2004) (TV) - Ivan Nagy
• Karen Sisco (2004) (TV series) - Denton
• Halo 2 (2004) (VG) (voice) - Rtas 'Vadumee (SpecOps Leader)
• Breaking Vegas (2005) (TV series) - Narrator
• In the Mix (2005) - Fish
• Huff (2006) (TV series) - Dickins
• Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006) (VG) (voice)
• Stargate: Atlantis (2004–2006, 2008) (TV series) - Commander Acastus Kolya
• The Dukes (2007) - Danny (also: directorial debut)
• Halo 3 (2007) (VG) (voice) - Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadumee
• An American Carol (2008) - Aziz
• American Summer (2009) - Himself
• The Butcher (2009) - Murdoch
• Magic Man (2009) - Simpson
• Spring Break '83 (2010) - Dean Whitter
• Magic (2010) - Dr. David Ortero
• One in the Gun (2010) - Vincent
• Ballistica (2010) - Macarthur
• Apocalypse Island (Documentary) (2010) - Narrator
• Game of Death (2010) - Frank Smith
• Doonby (2011) - Sheriff Woodley
• Kill the Irishman (2011) - Ray Ferritto
• Swamp Shark (2011) - Sheriff Watson

References[link]

External links[link]

• Robert Davi at the Internet Movie Database

Raymond Arroyo is a New York Times bestselling author, and a producer. He is the news director and lead anchor of EWTN News, the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network, a Catholic broadcast network founded by Mother Angelica, a nun of the Poor Clare order. He is creator and host of the news magazine The World Over Live.

Biography[link]

Personal Life[link]

Raymond Arroyo is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Rebecca and their three children.

Career[link]

Arroyo graduated from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts where he studied with Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, and others. Prior to working at EWTN, Arroyo worked at the Associated Press, the New York Observer, and for the political columnist team of Evans and Novak. He is best known as host of the EWTN news program The World Over Live, where he has interviewed many Catholic figures including the first and,to this date, only English language conversation ever recorded with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI. Other interviews include Mel Gibson, who was interviewed on the set of his film The Passion of the Christ. > Arroyo's biography of EWTN's founder, Mother Angelica, was a New York Times bestseller, as were each of his following books. He is also the editor of Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality (Doubleday), "Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures" (Doubleday), "The Prayers and Personal Devotions of Mother Angelica" (Doubleday), and co-author of, "Of Thee I Zing: America's Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots" (Threshold Editions). He has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Access Hollywood, "Hannity and Colmes", “CNN Headline News”, and other television shows. He is a frequent guest, and occasional substitute host, of "The Laura Ingraham Show" on radio. His writings have been published by Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Financial Times, and The National Catholic Register.^[1]

Books[link]

• Arroyo, Raymond (2005). Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles. Doubleday Religious. ISBN 978-0-385-51092-9. 
• Arroyo, Raymond (2007). Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles. Image Books. ISBN 978-0-385-51093-6. 
• Arroyo, Raymond (2007). Madre Angelica: La historia notable de una monja, de su nervio, y de una red de milagros. Image Books. ISBN 978-0-385-52116-1. 
• Mother Angelica (2007). Raymond Arroyo. ed. Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality. Doubleday Religious. ISBN 978-0-385-51985-4. 
• Mother Angelica (2008). Raymond Arroyo. ed. Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons From the Scriptures. Doubleday Religious. ISBN 978-0-385-51986-1. 
• Mother Angelica (2010). Raymond Arroyo. ed. The Prayers and Personal Devotions of Mother Angelica. Doubleday Religious. ISBN 978-0-307-58825-8. 
• Ingraham, Laura (2011). Of Thee I Zing: America's Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots. Contr. Raymond Arroyo. Threshold. ISBN 978-1-4516-4204-9. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website

Diane Lane
Lane at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
Born	(1965-01-22) January 22, 1965 (age 47) New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Christopher Lambert (1988–1994; divorced; 1 child) Josh Brolin (2004–present)
Website
http://www.dianelane.com/ (offline)

Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American film actress.

Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine. She has since appeared in several notable films, including the 2002 film Unfaithful, which earned her Academy Award, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Lane has been married to actor Josh Brolin since 2004. She was previously married to actor Christopher Lambert from 1988 to 1994.

Early life[link]

Lane was born in New York City. Her mother, Colleen Farrington, was a nightclub singer and Playboy centerfold (Miss October 1957), who was also known as "Colleen Price". Her father, Burton Eugene Lane, was a Manhattan drama coach who ran an acting workshop with John Cassavetes, worked as a cab driver, and later taught humanities at City College.^[1] When Lane was 13 months old, her parents split up. Her mother went to Mexico and obtained a divorce while retaining custody of her daughter until the child was six.^[1] Her father got custody of her after Farrington moved to Georgia. Lane and her father lived in a number of residential hotels in New York City and she would ride with him in his taxi.^[2]

When Lane was fifteen years old, she declared her independence from her father and ran away to Los Angeles for a week with actor and friend Christopher Atkins. Lane later remarked, "It was reckless behavior that comes from having too much independence too young."^[2] She returned to New York and moved in with a friend's family, paying them rent. In 1981, she enrolled in high school after taking correspondence courses. However, Lane's mother kidnapped her and took the teenager back to Georgia. Lane and her father challenged her mother in court and six weeks later she was back in New York. Lane did not speak to her mother for the subsequent three years, but they have since reconciled.^[2]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Lane's maternal grandmother, Eleanor Scott, was a thrice-married Pentecostal preacher of the Apostolic denomination, and Lane was influenced by the theatrical quality of her grandmother's sermons.^[3][4] Lane began acting professionally at the age of six at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York, where she appeared in a production of Medea. At 12 she had a role in Joseph Papp's production of The Cherry Orchard with Meryl Streep.^[1] Also at this time, Lane was enrolled in an accelerated program at Hunter College High School and was put on notice when her grades suffered from her busy schedule.^[1] At 13 years old, she turned down a role in Runaways on Broadway to make her feature film debut opposite Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance.^[2] Lane won high praise from Olivier who declared her 'The New Grace Kelly'.^[5] At the same time Lane was featured on the cover of Time, which declared her one of Hollywood's "Whiz Kids."^[6][7]

In the early 1980s, Lane made a successful transition from child actor to adult roles. Her breakout performances came with back-to-back adaptations of young adult novels by S. E. Hinton, adapted and directed by Francis Ford Coppola: The Outsiders in 1982 and Rumble Fish in 1983. Both films also featured memorable performances from a number of young male actors who would go on to become leading men in the next decade (as well as members of the so-called "Brat Pack"), including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, the late Patrick Swayze, Mickey Rourke, Nicolas Cage, and Matt Dillon.^[1] Lane's distinction among these heavily male casts advanced her career while affiliating her with this young generation of male actors. Andy Warhol proclaimed her, "the undisputed female lead of Hollywood's new rat pack."^[8]

However, the two films that could have catapulted her to star status, Streets of Fire (she turned down Splash and Risky Business for this film)^[5][9] and The Cotton Club, were both commercial and critical failures, and her career languished as a result.^[1] After The Cotton Club, Lane dropped out of the movie business and lived with her mother in Georgia.^[10] According to the actress, "I hadn't been close to my mom for a long time, so we had a lot of homework to do. We had to repair our relationship because I wanted my mother back".^[11]

Lane at the 41st Emmy Awards on September 17, 1989.

Lane returned to acting to appear in The Big Town and Lady Beware, but it was not until 1989's popular and critically acclaimed TV miniseries Lonesome Dove that Lane made another big impression on a sizable audience,^[10] and was nominated for an Emmy Award^[12] for her role. She was given positive reviews for her performance in the independent film My New Gun, which was well received at the Cannes Film Festival. She went on to appear as actress Paulette Goddard in Sir Richard Attenborough's big-budget biopic of Charles Chaplin, 1992's Chaplin.^[8] Lane won further praise for her role in 1999's A Walk on the Moon, opposite Viggo Mortensen. One reviewer wrote, "Lane, after years in post-teenaged-career limbo, is meltingly effective."^[13] The film's director, Tony Goldwyn, described Lane as having "...this potentially volcanic sexuality that is in no way self-conscious or opportunistic."^[14] Lane earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. At this time, she was interested in making a film about actress Jean Seberg in which she would play Seberg.^[15]

Recent work[link]

In 2000, Lane had a supporting role as Mark Wahlberg's love interest in The Perfect Storm. In 2002, she starred in Unfaithful, a drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and adapted from the French film The Unfaithful Wife. Lane played a housewife who indulges in an adulterous fling with a mysterious book dealer. The film featured several sex scenes. Lyne's repeated takes for these scenes were very demanding for the actors involved, especially for Lane, who had to be emotionally and physically fit for the duration.^[16] Unfaithful received mostly mixed to negative reviews, though Lane earned widespread praise for her performance. Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman stated that "Lane, in the most urgent performance of her career, is a revelation. The play of lust, romance, degradation, and guilt on her face is the movie's real story."^[17] She followed that film up with Under the Tuscan Sun, based on the best-selling book by Frances Mayes.

In 2008, Lane reunited with Richard Gere for the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe. It is the third film Gere and Lane filmed together. The film was based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Sparks. Lane also co-starred in Jumper, and Untraceable in the same year. She then appeared in Killshot with Mickey Rourke, which was given a limited theatrical release before being released on DVD in 2009. While promoting Nights in Rodanthe, she expressed frustration with being typecast and stated that she was "gunning for something that's not so sympathetic. I need to be a bitch, and I need to be in a comedy. I've decided. No more Miss Nice Guy."^[18] The actress has even contemplated quitting acting and spending more time with her family if she is unable to get these kinds of roles. She said in an interview, "I can't do anything official. My agents won't let me. Between you and me, I don't have anything else coming out."^[18]

In 2010, Lane starred in Secretariat, a Disney film about the relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and his owner, Penny Chenery, whom Lane portrayed.^[19] In 2011, it was announced that Lane would play Martha Kent in Zack Snyder's Superman film, " Man of Steel," that will be released in theaters on June 14th, 2013. Snyder said of her casting, "We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."^[20]

Awards[link]

Four days before the New York Film Critics Circle's vote in 2002, Lane was given a career tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. A day before that, Lyne held a dinner for the actress at the Four Seasons Hotel. Critics and award voters were invited to both.^[21] She went on to win the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2003, she was named ShoWest's 2003 Female Star of the Year, ^[22] and was also a co-recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award honoring outstanding women in entertainment.^[23]

Lane ranked at #79 on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars. She was ranked #45 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women in 2005,^[24] #85 in 2006^[25] and #98 in 2007.^[26]

Personal life[link]

Marriages and family[link]

Lane with husband Josh Brolin in December 2009.

Lane met actor Christopher Lambert in Paris while promoting The Cotton Club in 1984.^[2] They had a brief affair and split up. They met again two years later in Rome to make a film together, entitled After the Rain, and in two weeks they were a couple again. Lane and Lambert married in October 1988 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[2] They had a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine Lambert (born September 5, 1993), and were divorced following a prolonged separation in 1994.^[27]

Lane became engaged to actor Josh Brolin in July 2003^[28] and they were married on August 15, 2004.^[29] On December 20 of that year, she called police after an altercation with him, and he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Lane declined to press charges, however, and the couple's spokesperson described the incident as a "misunderstanding."^[30]

Charity work[link]

Lane is also involved in several charities, including Heifer International, which focuses on world hunger, and Artists for Peace and Justice, a Hollywood organization that supports Haiti relief. However, she tries not to draw attention to her humanitarian efforts: "Sometimes I give with my heart. Sometimes I give financially, but there's something about [helping others] that I think ought to be anonymous. I don't want it to be a boastful thing."^[31]

Filmography[link]

References[link]