- published: 16 Oct 2015
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Susan Diane Ruttan (née Dunsrud; born September 16, 1948, Oregon City, Oregon) is an American actress, best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on L.A. Law (1986–1993).
Ruttan graduated from University of Oregon and University of California, Santa Cruz.
Ruttan played Roxanne Melman on L.A. Law from 1986 to 1993, when the show was cancelled. She reprised the role in 2002 for a TV reunion, L.A. Law: The Movie. She earned four nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in show.
Ruttan first attracted significant attention playing the scheming wife of George Jefferson's dry-cleaning archrival, Gil Cunningham, on The Jeffersons. Other television appearances included episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, AfterMash, Bosom Buddies, Third Rock from the Sun, Remington Steele, Yes, Dear, Newhart and Gilmore Girls. Buffy creator Joss Whedon cast numerous show alumni in 2008's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, including Ruttan who appeared briefly in a non-speaking role.
Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She began her career on the stage and was nominated for the 1987 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Coastal Disturbances. A four-time Academy Award-nominee for her roles in the films The Grifters (1990), American Beauty (1999), Being Julia (2004) and The Kids Are All Right (2010), she won a BAFTA Award for American Beauty and Golden Globe Awards for Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right. Her other film roles include Valmont (1989), Bugsy (1991), The American President (1995), The Siege (1998), Open Range (2003), and Running with Scissors (2006).
In 2006, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her performance as Jean Harris in Mrs. Harris. That same year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Bening was born in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Shirley Katherine (née Ashley; b. 1929) and Arnett Grant Bening. Her mother was a church singer and soloist, and her father was a sales training consultant and insurance salesman. Her parents, natives of Iowa, were practicing Episcopalians and conservative Republicans. She is of mostly German and English descent. Bening has one sister, Jane, and two brothers, Bradley and Byron. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1959, where she spent her early childhood. In 1965, her father took a job with a company in San Diego, California, and they moved there. She began acting in junior high school, playing the lead in The Sound of Music. She graduated in 1975 from Patrick Henry High School, where she studied drama. She then spent a year working as a cook on a charter boat taking fishing parties out on the Pacific Ocean, and scuba diving for recreation. Bening attended San Diego Mesa College, then completed an academic degree in theatre arts at San Francisco State University.
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, actress, author, and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor, and continues to be a celebrity blogger, lesbian rights activist, television producer, and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family Vacations.
O'Donnell started her comedy career while still a teenager. Her big break was on the talent show Star Search in 1984. After a TV sitcom and a series of movies introduced her to a larger national audience, from 1996 to 2002 she hosted The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which won multiple Emmy Awards. During this time, she wrote her first memoir, Find Me, and developed the nickname "Queen of Nice" as well as a reputation for philanthropic efforts. She used the book's $3 million advance to establish her For All Kids foundation and promote other charity projects, encouraging celebrities on her show to take part.
In 2002 two months before finishing her talk show run, O'Donnell came out, stating "I'm a dyke!" saying that her primary reason was to bring attention to gay adoption issues. O'Donnell is a foster and adoptive mother. She was named The Advocate magazine's 2002 Person of the Year; in May 2003, she became a regular contributor to the magazine.