Caroline "Carrie" Snodgress (October 27, 1945 – April 1, 2004) was an American actress.

Snodgress was born in Park Ridge, Illinois. She attended Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge then Northern Illinois University before leaving to pursue acting. Snodgress trained for the stage at the Goodman Theatre, in Chicago. After a number of minor TV appearances, her film debut was an uncredited appearance in Easy Rider in 1969 and a credited appearance in 1970 in Rabbit, Run opposite James Caan.

Her next film, Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), earned her a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress and two Golden Globe wins, as Best Actress in a Comedy or a Musical (an odd category, given the dramatic nature of the film) and New Star of the Year - Actress. She left acting soon after to live with rock musician Neil Young and care for their son Zeke, who was born with cerebral palsy. She returned to acting in 1978 in The Fury.

According to Sylvester Stallone,

The first choice for Adrian (in the movie Rocky) was a girl named Carrie Snodgress, who I wanted badly because, at the time, I wanted Adrian's family to be Irish and Harvey Keitel would be the brother. She said there wasn't enough money in it (we were getting paid $360 before taxes), so I said “I'll give you my share, I truly want you.” She passed to do a part in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, which never happened for her.

Neil Percival Young,OC,OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.

Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and second as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

Young's work is characterized by his distinctive guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature alto or high tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his idiosyncratic electric and clawhammer acoustic guitar playing are the defining characteristics of a varyingly ragged and melodic sound. While Young has experimented with differing music styles, including swing and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into two primary styles: acoustic (folk and country rock) and electric (amplified hard rock, very often in collaboration with the band Crazy Horse). Young has also adopted elements from newer styles such as alternative rock and grunge. His influence on the latter caused some to dub him the "Godfather of Grunge".

Steve Railsback (born 16 November 1948) is an American theatre, film and television actor, born in Dallas, Texas.

Railsback was born Stephen Hall Railsback, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Emerett Spencer (née Sanford) and Clyde Webb Railsback.

Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in the late sixties and early seventies spent ten years working in theatre in New York. He made his film debut in The Visitors, directed by Elia Kazan. He played the parts of two notorious serial killers, appearing as Charles Manson in the 1976 television mini-series, Helter Skelter, and as Ed Gein in the 2000 film In the Light of the Moon. He also served as executive producer of the latter film. Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in The Stunt Man with Peter O'Toole, the astronaut in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce, Duane Barry in two episodes of The X-Files and Joseph Welch in the Pilot episode of Supernatural. In 2008, he appeared in the science fiction/horror movie film Plaguers.

Darren McGavin (May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006) was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears. He appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the 1950s television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. From 1959-1961, McGavin starred in the NBC western series Riverboat, first with Burt Reynolds and then with Noah Beery, Jr., and in later years, he had a recurring role in the sitcom Murphy Brown, as the title character's father, for which he received an Emmy Award.

McGavin was born William Lyle Richardson in Spokane, Washington, a son of Grace Watson (née Bogart) and Reed Daniel Richardson. He graduated from Puyallup High School.

In magazine interviews in the 1960s, he said his parents divorced when he was very young. His father, not knowing what else to do, put him in an orphanage at the age of 11. McGavin began to run away, sleeping on the docks and in warehouses. He lived in three orphanages. The last was the Dyslin Boys Ranch in Pierce County, Washington, a boys' home, which turned out to be a safe haven. Farm chores were assigned, and he lived with several other boys who had also been abandoned. McGavin commented that the owners of the home helped him develop a sense of pride and responsibility that turned his life around. McGavin did not serve in the military during World War II because he had bad knees, though he did make a training film for the military on venereal disease.

Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (born March 5, 1938) is an American actor, architect, and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s.

After playing college football for Northwestern in the late 1950s, he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers #2 overall. When during training camp he was switched to their defense, his attitude over the switch prompted him to hit his assignment too hard, the 49ers coach asked him to quit "hammering" his players. The nickname "The Hammer" stuck with him ever since. He played a year for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League in 1960. He then switched to the new American Football League. Williamson played four seasons for the AFL’s Oakland Raiders, making the AFL All-Star team in 1961, 1962, and 1963. He also played three seasons for the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.

During his time with the Chiefs, Williamson became one of football’s first self-promoters, coining the nickname “The Hammer”—because he used his forearm to deliver karate-style blows to the heads of opposing receivers. Prior to Super Bowl I, he garnered national headlines by boasting that he would knock Green Bay Packers starting receivers Carroll Dale and Boyd Dowler out of the game, stating “Two hammers to (Boyd) Dowler, one to (Carroll) Dale should be enough”. His prediction turned out to be ironic, because Williamson himself was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter, his head meeting the knee of Packer running back Donny Anderson. Williamson finished his eight-season NFL/AFL career in 1967 with 36 interceptions, which he returned for 479 yards and 2 touchdowns, in 104 games. After a brief stint with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes in the 1968 season, he retired permanently from pro football.