Divine (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), born Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", Divine often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women's clothing in musical performances. Even so, he considered himself to be a character actor and performed male roles in a number of his later films. He was often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters and starred in ten of Waters's films, usually in a leading role. Concurrent with his acting career, he also had a successful career as a disco singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the most successful and in-demand disco performer in the world."
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a conservative, upper middle class family, he became involved with John Waters and Waters's acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, in the mid-1960s and starred in a number of Waters's early films such as Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). These films became hits on the midnight movie and underground cinema circuit in the U.S., and have since become cult classics, with Divine becoming particularly renowned for playing the role of Babs Johnson in Pink Flamingos, during which he had to perform a series of extreme acts including eating dog excrement. In the 1970s, Milstead made the transition to theater and appeared in a number of productions, including Women Behind Bars and The Neon Woman, while continuing to star in such films as Polyester (1981), Lust in the Dust (1985) and Hairspray (1988). Meanwhile, in 1981 Divine had embarked on a disco career, producing Hi-NRG tracks, most of which had been written by Bobby Orlando, and went on to achieve chart success with hits like "You Think You're A Man", "I'm So Beautiful" and "Walk Like a Man." Divine died from cardiomegaly in 1988.
In religious terms, divinity refers to things which come from a supernatural power or deity, such as God, and are therefore regarded as sacred and holy. Such things are regarded as "divine" due to their transcendental origins, and/or because their attributes or qualities are superior relative to things of the Earth. Divine things are regarded as eternal and based in truth, while material things are regarded as mortal and based in illusion. Such things that may qualify as "divine" are apparitions, visions, prophecies, miracles, and the human soul, or more general things like resurrection, immortality, grace, and salvation. Otherwise what is or is not divine may be loosely defined, as it is used by different belief systems.
The root of the word "divine" is literally "godlike" (from the Latin deus, cf. Dyaus, closely related to Greek zeus, div in Persian and deva in Sanskrit), but the use varies significantly depending on which deity is being discussed. This article outlines the major distinctions in the conventional use of the terms.
An actor (sometimes actress for female; see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic or comic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity. The ancient Greek word for an "actor," ὑποκριτής (hypokrites), means literally "one who interprets"; in this sense, an actor is one who interprets a dramatic character.
After 1660, when women first appeared on stage, actor and actress were initially used interchangeably for female performers, but later, influenced by the French actrice, actress became the usual term. The etymology is a simple derivation from actor with ess added. The word actor refers to a person who acts regardless of gender, and this term "is increasingly preferred", while actress refers specifically to a female person who acts. Actress "remains in general use", although in a survey of a "wide cross-section of current British English", compiled in 2010, actor was almost twice as commonly found as actress. Within the profession, however, the re-adoption of the neutral term dates to the 1950s–60s, the post-war period when women's contribution to cultural life in general was being re-evaluated.Actress remains the common term used in major acting awards given to female recipients.
Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 450 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well. He has held the post of Chairman of the Censor Board and National School of Drama in India.
Anupam Kher was born into a Kashmiri Pandit family and lived in Shimla and was educated at D.A.V. School there. He is an alumnus and a former chairperson of the National School of Drama. Some of his early acting was in plays performed at the Himachal Pradesh University.
Kher made his acting debut in the 1982 Hindi movie Aagman. Then in 1984 came Saaransh, where 28-year old Kher played a retired man who has lost his son. He hosted TV shows such as Say Na Something To Anupam Uncle, Sawaal Dus Crore Ka and the recent Lead India. He has had many comic roles but has also played the villain such as his acclaimed role as terrorist Dr. Dang in Karma (1986). For his role in Daddy (1989) he received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. Kher has won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role five times, more than any other actor.
Paul Ben-Victor (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor.
Ben-Victor was born Paul Friedman, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Leah Kornfeld, a playwright, and Victor Friedman. Ben-Victor debuted on the small screen in 1987 in the made-for-TV movie Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife and on an episode of Cagney & Lacey. Fifteen years after beginning his television career with bit parts, Ben-Victor found himself cast in important roles on HBO dramas The Wire and Entourage, as well as making a 2006 appearance as Coach Lou on My Name is Earl. He portrayed Moe Howard in the 2000 made-for-TV film The Three Stooges.
Ben-Victor has been featured on many television cop dramas like Monk and CSI, and also had a recurring role as two-bit con man Steve Richards on three episodes of NYPD Blue from 1994 to 1997.
Ben-Victor has co-written stage plays with his mother. At least two of their plays have been staged in the Manhattan area, including "Club Soda" and "The Good Steno".
Ben-Victor had a starring role in the Sci-Fi channel television show, The Invisible Man, alongside Vincent Ventresca. The two later guest starred together on the hit TV show Las Vegas. They were reunited again on an episode of the new USA Network series In Plain Sight (Episode 1.2, "Hoosier Daddy"), on which Ben-Victor has a supporting role.
You could be a friend,
Or you could be a foe,
And you could just pretend
That life is one big show
'Cause I wasn't joking
When I said, you'd regret
You cry when they tell you,
Smile when they tell you,
Laugh when they tell you
You'd die if they told you to
Kiss when they tell you,
Love who they tell you to be
What they tell you
'Cause they want to sell you to me
You thought if you were famous you would finally be happy,
But it could only bring you comfort in the form of money,
The sad excuse you used "whatever it takes"
You're an actor, so put on your face
The kind of person everybody's dying to be,
On magazines and movie screens and on the TV,
You've seen yourself so many time's you can't even hide,
You're an actor, so read your next line
And I wasn't joking,
When I said, you'd regret
You cry when they tell you,
Smile when they tell you,
Laugh when they tell you
You'd die if they told you to
Kiss when they tell you,
Love who they tell you to be
What they tell you
'Cause they want to sell you to me