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Lawrence Gordon (producer)
Lawrence Gordon (born March 25, 1936) is an American producer and motion picture executive. He specializes in producing action-oriented films and other genres. Some of his most popular productions include ''Predator'' (1987), ''Die Hard'' (1988), ''Die Hard 2'' (1990), ''Predator 2'' (1990), ''Point Break'' (1991), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001), and ''Prey'' (2022). Life and career Gordon was raised in a Jewish family in Belzoni, Mississippi. He graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans. After moving to Los Angeles he began his producing career in 1964 working for Aaron Spelling and became writer and associate producer on the TV series '' Burke's Law''. He quickly moved up the ranks and worked as an executive producer at ABC and at Screen Gems. In the 1970s he was a key executive at American International Pictures and received credit as executive producer on John Milius's ''Dillinger'' (1973). He left as worldwide production head in 1973 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yazoo City, Mississippi
Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. It is the county seat of Yazoo County and the principal city of the Yazoo City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Jackson–Yazoo City Combined Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, the population was 11,403. The most important industry in 2021 is a group of federal prisons. History The community now known as Yazoo City was founded in 1824 with the name Hannan's Bluff. It was later renamed Manchester, then changed to Yazoo City in 1841. Yazoo City became the county seat in 1849. A yellow fever epidemic struck Yazoo City in 1853. During the American Civil War, the Confederate ironclad CSS ''Arkansas'' was completed at a makeshift shipyard in Yazoo City after the Confederate loss of New Orleans an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986), ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), ''Dynasty'' (1981–1989), ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), '' Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2007), and ''Charmed'' (1998–2006). He also served as producer of ''The Mod Squad'' (1968–1973), ''The Rookies'' (1972–1976), and '' Sunset Beach'' (1997–1999). Through his production company Spelling Television, Spelling holds the record as the most prolific television producer in US television history, with 218 producer and executive producer credits. ''Forbes'' ranked him the 11th top-earning deceased celebrity in 2009. Early life Spelling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Pearl (née Wald) and David Spelling, Russian Jewish immigrants. His father worked as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as '' Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and ''Dan August'' (1970–1971). Although Reynolds had leading roles in such films as ''Navajo Joe'' (1966) and '' 100 Rifles'' (1969), his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in ''Deliverance'' (1972). Reynolds played the leading role – often a lovable rogue – in a number of subsequent box office hits, such as '' White Lightning'' (1973), '' The Longest Yard'' (1974), ''Smokey and the Bandit'' (1977) (which started a six-year box office reign), '' Semi-Tough'' (1977), ''The End'' (1978), '' Hooper'' (1978), '' Starting Over'' (1979), ''Smokey and the Bandit II'' (1980), ''The Cannonball Run'' (1981), ''Sharky's Machine'' (1981), ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' (1982), and ''Cann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The End (1978 Film)
''The End'' is a 1978 American black comedy, black comedy film directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, written by Jerry Belson, and with music composed by Paul Williams (songwriter), Paul Williams. The film also stars Dom DeLuise along with Sally Field, Strother Martin, David Steinberg, Joanne Woodward, Norman Fell, Myrna Loy, Kristy McNichol, Pat O'Brien (actor), Pat O'Brien, Robby Benson and Carl Reiner. Reynolds later said he "loved" the film. "Nobody wanted to do it. They allowed me to do ''The End'' if I did ''Hooper (film), Hooper'', which made a fortune for Warner Brothers. But ''The End'' eventually made $40 million." Plot Wendell "Sonny" Lawson, an unscrupulous real-estate promoter, learns that he has a fatal blood disease and decides to kill himself rather than enduring a slow, painful death. He takes the time to meet with several friends and family members for the last time, while hiding the fact about his suicide attempt. Sonny ends up in a mental institution, where he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hooper (film)
''Hooper'' is a 1978 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Brian Keith, Robert Klein, James Best and Adam West. The film serves as a tribute to stuntmen and stuntwomen in what was at one time an underrecognized profession. At the time of filming, Field and Reynolds were in a relationship, having met on the set of ''Smokey and the Bandit'' the previous year. Plot Sonny Hooper (Burt Reynolds) is the stunt coordinator on the action film ''The Spy Who Laughed at Danger'', directed by Roger Deal (Robert Klein) and starring Adam West (playing himself). Sonny's antics and wisecracks are a trial for the egotistical director and his officious but cowardly assistant, Tony (Alfie Wise). Years of numerous "gags" and his use of alcohol and painkillers are beginning to take their toll. Sonny lives with his girlfriend Gwen Doyle (Sally Field), whose father Jocko (Brian Keith) is a retired stuntman. Sonny is coerced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that ouldnot be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and final ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony. On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation, which would eventually become Columbia Pictures. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use the image of Columbia, the female personification of the United States, as its logo. In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra. With Capra and others such as the most successful two reel comedy series The Three Stooges, Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hard Times (1975 Film)
''Hard Times'' is a 1975 crime neo noir sport film marking the directorial debut of Walter Hill. It stars Charles Bronson as Chaney, a mysterious drifter freighthopping through Louisiana during the Great Depression, who proves indomitable in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches after forming a partnership with the garrulous hustler Speed, played by James Coburn. Plot In 1933, a man named Chaney ( Charles Bronson) witnesses a bare-knuckled street fight. Intrigued, he has the fast-talking "Speed" set up a fight for him. Chaney bets all of the six dollars he has on himself and quickly dispatches his younger opponent. Chaney and a suitably impressed Speed travel to New Orleans to match Chaney against local fighters at long odds, recruiting genteel but slightly decrepit cutman, Poe (Strother Martin) to tend to his wounds. Chaney easily disposes of his next opponent, a Cajun hitter. When the hitter's sponsor refuses to pay up on the grounds that Chaney is a ringer, Chaney and hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dillinger (1973 Film)
''Dillinger'' is a 1973 American gangster film about the life and criminal exploits of notorious bank robber John Dillinger. It stars Warren Oates as Dillinger, Ben Johnson as his pursuer, FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, and Cloris Leachman as the "Lady in Red" who made it possible for Purvis to kill Dillinger. It also features the first film performance by the singer Michelle Phillips as Dillinger's moll Billie Frechette. The film, narrated by Purvis, chronicles the last few years of Dillinger's life (depicted as a matter of months) as the FBI and law enforcement closed in. The setting is Depression era America, from 1933 to 1934, with largely unromanticized depictions of the principal characters. It was written and directed by John Milius for Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures. Retired FBI Agent Clarence Hurt, one of the agents involved in the final shootout with Dillinger, was the film's technical advisor. The film includes documentary imagery and film footage from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Milius
John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. He was a writer for the first two ''Dirty Harry'' films, received an Academy Award nomination as screenwriter of ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979), and wrote and directed ''The Wind and the Lion'' (1975), ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982), and ''Red Dawn'' (1984). He later served as the co-creator of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). Early life and education Milius was born April 11, 1944, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children to Elizabeth Marie ( Roe; 1906–2010) and William Styx Milius (1889–1975), who was a shoe manufacturer. He is Jewish. When Milius was seven, his father sold Milius Shoe Company, which his grandfather George W. Milius had founded in 1923, and retired. He moved the family to Bel Air, California. John Milius became an enthusiastic surfer. At 14, his parents sent him to a small private school, the Lowel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979. It was formed on April 2, 1954 as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by former Realart Pictures Inc. sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff and their first release was the 1953 UK documentary film ''Operation Malaya''. It was dedicated to releasing low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The company eventually became a part of Orion Pictures, which in turn, became a division of MGM. On October 7, 2020, four decades after the original closure, MGM revived AIP as a label for acquired films for digital and theatrical releases, with MGM overseeing ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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