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Cockfighter
''Cockfighter'' (also known as ''Born to Kill'', ''Gamblin' Man'' and ''Wild Drifter'') is a 1974 drama film by director Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton and featuring Laurie Bird and Ed Begley Jr. The screenplay is based on the 1962 novel of the same title by Charles Willeford. Plot A mute Frank Mansfield is locked inside a trailer preparing his best cock for an upcoming fight. He slices the chicken's beak slightly so that it looks cracked in order to obtain higher betting odds in the upcoming fight. He bets his trailer, his girlfriend, and the remainder of his money with fellow cocker Jack. Mansfield loses the fight because of the cracked beak. Frank visits his home town, his family farm, and his long-time fiancée, Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth has long grown tired of Mansfield's cockfighter ways and asks him to settle down with her. Frank decides in favor of cockfighting, leaves Mary Elizabeth, sells the family farm for money to reinvest in chicken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Willeford
Charles Ray Willeford III (January 2, 1919 – March 27, 1988) was an American writer. An author of fiction, poetry, autobiography, and literary criticism, Willeford is best known for his series of novels featuring hardboiled detective fiction, detective Hoke Moseley. Willeford published steadily from the 1940s, but vaulted to wider attention with the first Hoke Moseley book, ''Miami Blues'' (1984), which is considered one of its era's most influential works of crime fiction. Film adaptations have been made of four of Willeford's novels: ''Cockfighter'', ''Miami Blues'', ''The Woman Chaser'', and ''The Burnt Orange Heresy''. Early life Charles Ray Willeford III was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 2, 1919. Following the death of his father from tuberculosis in 1922, Willeford and his mother moved to the Los Angeles area. After his mother's death in 1927, also from TB, he lived with his grandmother Mattie Lowey on Figueroa Street near Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Expo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Born To Kill (1974 Film)
''Cockfighter'' (also known as ''Born to Kill'', ''Gamblin' Man'' and ''Wild Drifter'') is a 1974 drama film by director Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton and featuring Laurie Bird and Ed Begley Jr. The screenplay is based on the 1962 novel of the same title by Charles Willeford. Plot A mute Frank Mansfield is locked inside a trailer preparing his best cock for an upcoming fight. He slices the chicken's beak slightly so that it looks cracked in order to obtain higher betting odds in the upcoming fight. He bets his trailer, his girlfriend, and the remainder of his money with fellow cocker Jack. Mansfield loses the fight because of the cracked beak. Frank visits his home town, his family farm, and his long-time fiancée, Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth has long grown tired of Mansfield's cockfighter ways and asks him to settle down with her. Frank decides in favor of cockfighting, leaves Mary Elizabeth, sells the family farm for money to reinvest in chickens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird (September 26, 1953 – June 15, 1979) was an American film actress and photographer. She appeared in three films during the 1970s. Two of them were directed by Monte Hellman. She was romantically involved with Hellman and Art Garfunkel, committing suicide in the latter's apartment by taking an overdose of Valium. Early life Bird's mother died by suicide at the age of 26 when Bird was only three years old. Her father was an electrical engineer. She had two elder brothers. Her strict father restricted her social life and she fled home multiple times. In response, her father had put her in an institution for neglected girls. She attended Jamaica High School, in New York City, until she was 15. Career Described by Hollywood columnist Dick Kleiner as "look nglike an innocent Hayley Mills," Bird appeared in just three films: ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971), ''Cockfighter'' (1974), and a small role as girlfriend to Paul Simon's character in the romantic comedy ''Annie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman (; born Monte Jay Himmelbaum; July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the horror film '' Beast from Haunted Cave'' (1959), produced by Gene Corman, Roger Corman's brother. He would later gain critical recognition for the Westerns ''The Shooting'' and ''Ride in the Whirlwind'' (both 1966) starring Jack Nicholson, and the independent road movie ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971) starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. His later directorial work included the 1989 slasher film '' Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!'' and the independent thriller ''Road to Nowhere'' (2010). Early life Monte Hellman was born on July 12, 1929, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to Gertrude (née Edelstein) and Fred Himmelbaum, who were vacationing in New York at the time of his birth. The family ended up settling in Albany, New York, befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Pearcy
Patricia Sue Pearcy is an American film, stage, and television actress. She began her career in theatre, appearing on Broadway and in local theatre companies in Connecticut and Kentucky before making her film debut in Monte Hellman's ''Cockfighter'' (1974). She had supporting parts in ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977) and in several television series. She also appeared in several horror films, including ''Squirm'' (1976) and ''Delusion'' (1981). Early life Percy was born in Bell County, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting in 1967. Career She worked extensively in local theatre in the early 1970s, including at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, where she appeared in productions of ''Solitaire/Double Solitaire'' (1971), which was later staged on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre. and also appeared in numerous plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, including roles in productions of Tom St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). Another of his most acclaimed performances was as officer Sam Wood in '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967). Oates starred in numerous films during the early 1970s that have since achieved cult status, such as ''The Hired Hand'' (1971), ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971), and ''Race with the Devil'' (1975). Oates also portrayed John Dillinger in the biopic ''Dillinger'' (1973) and as the supporting character U.S. Army Sergeant Hulka in the military comedy ''Stripes'' (1981). Another notable appearance was in the classic New Zealand film '' Sleeping Dogs'' (1977), in which he played the commander of the American forces in the country. Early life Warren Oates was born and reared in Depoy, a tiny rural community in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, loca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Finnerty
Warren Finnerty (April 9, 1925 – December 22, 1974) was an American actor best known for his Obie award-winning performance as the character "Leach" in the stage production ''The Connection'' (1959) and its film version. Career After making his film debut in ''Murder, Inc.'' (1960), and in the Off-Off Broadway production of ''The Brig'' in the 1960s, he made a few television appearances before starring in ''The Connection'' (1961), the film adaption of the play in which he reprised his stage role. He continued to work steadily in the 1960s and early 1970s, making appearances on television in ''Bonanza'' and '' Banacek'', and in films such as ''The Pawnbroker'' (1964), ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Easy Rider'' (1969) in which Finnerty plays a rancher whose lifestyle draws the admiration of Wyatt aka "Captain America," the character played by Peter Fonda, ''The Panic in Needle Park'' (1971), '' Kid Blue'' (1973) and ''Cockfighter'' (1974). Finnerty died in 1974 in New Yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Born in New York City, Donahue was the son of a retired stage actress and the manager of the motion-picture department of General Motors. Donahue stated in a 1959 interview: Acting is all I ever wanted. Ever since I can remember, I've studied and read plays. My mother would help me, but my parents didn't want me to become an actor. They preferred something more stable—doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, anything. "I can remember always being exposed to Broadway and theater people", he added in 1984. "I can remember sitting with Gertrude Lawrence while she read her reviews in ''The King and I''." Troy and his family grew up on Middle Road, in Bayport. To please his parents, Donahue attended a New York military academy, where he met Francis Ford Coppola. He was going to atten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Begley Jr
Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988). The role earned him six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also co-hosted, along with wife Rachelle Carson, the green living reality show titled ''Living with Ed'' (2007–2010). Equally prolific in cinema, Begley's films include ''Blue Collar'' (1978), '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''The Accidental Tourist'' (1988), and '' She-Devil'' (1989). He is a recurring cast member in the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, including '' Best in Show'' (2000), ''A Mighty Wind'' (2003), '' For Your Consideration'' (2006), and ''Mascots'' (2016). In 2020 he was cast along his wife Rachelle in the award-winnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Railsback
Stephen Railsback is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films ''The Stunt Man'' and Lifeforce (film), ''Lifeforce'', and his portrayal of Charles Manson in the 1976 television mini-series ''Helter Skelter (1976 film), Helter Skelter''. Career Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in theatre in New York City. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with. He made his film debut in ''The Visitors (1972 film), The Visitors'', directed by Elia Kazan. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as Charles Manson in the 1976 television miniseries ''Helter Skelter (1976 film), 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 To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Earl Jones
Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and professional boxer. One of the first prominent Black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. Jones was best known for his leading roles in films such as ''Lying Lips'' (1939) and later in his career for supporting roles in films such as ''The Sting'' (1973), ''Trading Places'' (1983), '' The Cotton Club'' (1984), and ''Witness'' (1985). He was the father of actor James Earl Jones. Biography Early life Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi; the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia, while others suggest nearby Coldwater. A son of Robert and Elnora Jones, Robert Earl Jones left school at an early age to work as a sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Teague
Lewis Teague (born March 8, 1938) is an American film director, whose work includes ''Alligator'', '' Cat's Eye'', ''Cujo'', ''The Jewel of the Nile'', '' The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!'', ''Navy SEALs'' and '' Wedlock''. Biography Teague was born in Brooklyn, New York. Teague fell in love with films at age 14 when he saw ''The Steel Helmet'' (1951) He dropped out of high school at age 17 and enrolled in the army, serving for three years in Germany. He studied film at New York University, where his short films included ''Sound and the Painter'' (1962) and ''It's About a Carpenter'', which was circulated through public libraries. In 1963 he won a scholarship for being the most promising student at the school. He left the school in 1963 without completing a degree when he was offered a job working on ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. (Teague returned to NYU to complete his degree in 2016, at the age of 78.) Early career Teague had an early directing credit with the episode "The Sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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