The Black Marble
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The Black Marble
''The Black Marble'' is a 1980 mystery/romantic comedy film directed by Harold Becker and starring Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss and Harry Dean Stanton. It is based on the 1978 novel by Joseph Wambaugh. Plot Pragmatic Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman of the LAPD is paired with Sgt. Valnikov, a romantic detective of Russian descent who is going through a midlife crisis and who drinks heavily due to the pressures of his job. Together they investigate the kidnapping of a Beverly Hills socialite's valuable pet dog. It was carried out by sleazy gambler Philo Skinner, who runs a beauty parlor for pets and is desperately in need of cash to cancel his debts. The teaming of the officers not only helps Valnikov to put himself together, but the pair also falls in love. While containing more humorous elements than most of Joseph Wambaugh's stories, it continues to explore Wambaugh's common theme of the psychological burdens of police work. The title of the film comes from a phrase used by Nata ...
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Harold Becker
Harold Becker (born September 25, 1928) is an American film and television director, producer, and photographer from New York City, associated with the New Hollywood movement and best known for his work in the thriller genre. His body of work includes films like '' The Onion Field'', '' Taps'', ''The Boost'', ''Sea of Love'', '' Malice'', ''City Hall'' and ''Mercury Rising''. Biography After studying art and photography at the Pratt Institute, Becker began his career as a still photographer, but later tried his hand at directing television commercials, short films and documentaries. Becker made his feature film debut in 1972 when he directed ''The Ragman's Daughter'' with Souter Harris. Becker won the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival Gold Prize for his short film ''Ivanhoe Donaldson''. Filmography Feature films *''The Ragman's Daughter'' (1972) - also producer *'' The Onion Field'' (1979) *''The Black Marble'' (1980) *'' Taps'' (1981) *''Vision Quest'' (198 ...
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Pat Corley
Pat Corley (June 1, 1930 – September 11, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his role as bar owner Phil on the CBS sitcom '' Murphy Brown'' from 1988 to 1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the television drama ''Hill Street Blues'' (1981–87) and supporting roles in a number of films, including '' Night Shift'' (1982), '' Against All Odds'' (1984), and ''Mr. Destiny'' (1990). Early life Corley was born Cleo Pat Corley in Dallas, Texas, the son of Ada Lee (née Martin) and R.L. Corley. He got his start in the entertainment business as a teenage ballet dancer for the Stockton Ballet where he performed for three seasons. While serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Corley helped put on entertainment shows for the brass while stationed in France. After his honorable discharge, he entered Stockton College on the G.I. Bill where he met his future second wife, Iris Carter, a younger student, champion debater and a locally acclai ...
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The Onion Field
''The Onion Field'' is a 1973 nonfiction book by Joseph Wambaugh, a sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department, chronicling the kidnapping of two plainclothes LAPD officers by a pair of criminals during a traffic stop and the subsequent murder of one of the officers. Crime On the night of March 9, 1963, LAPD officers Ian Campbell (age 31) and Karl Hettinger (age 28) were riding in an unmarked police car. They pulled over a 1946 Ford coupe containing two suspicious-looking men at the corner of Carlos Avenue and Gower Street in Hollywood. The two men, Gregory Ulas Powell (age 30) and Jimmy Lee Smith (a.k.a. "Jimmy Youngblood", age 32), had recently committed a string of robberies, and "each had a pistol tucked into his trousers". Powell, the driver, pulled a gun on Campbell, who "calmly told his partner, 'He has a gun in my back. Give him your gun.'" And he did as his partner requested. The two officers were then forced into Powell's car and, within 30 seconds after ...
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Jane Daly (actress)
Jane Daly is an American actress. She is best known for Bob Clark's low-budget zombie movie ''Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things'' and as the original Kelly Harper on the CBS soap opera ''Capitol''. Early life Daly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Edward A. Daly, a World War II Air Force Veteran. and Vice President of Standard Milling Co. and Lillian Mullen Daly, a former beauty queen and USO performer. She was raised in Valley Stream, New York and Miami, Florida, where she attended the University of Miami and graduated magna cum laude in theatre. Career In 1963, at 15 years of age, Daly was crowned Miss Teenage Miami and a finalist in the Miss Teenage America Pageant in Dallas, Texas where she performed Peter Pan before a nationally televised audience. She and her mother became the face of Ivory Liquid in the mother and daughter look-alike national commercial. Another of her early film roles was in Bob Clark’s ''Deathdream'' with John Mar ...
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James Woods
James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' alongside Sam Waterston and Michael Moriarty on Broadway. In 1978, he made his television breakthrough alongside Meryl Streep, playing her husband in the critically acclaimed four-part miniseries ''Holocaust,'' which received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. After his film debut in Elia Kazan's '' The Visitors'', he had supporting roles in films, including Sydney Pollack's ''The Way We Were'' and Arthur Penn's '' Night Moves'' (1975). In 1979, he gained acclaim for his leading role as Gregory Powell in the crime thriller '' The Onion Field''. For the next two decades, Woods went on to work with directors such as David Cronenberg (''Videodrome''), Oliver Stone ('' Salvador'' and ''Nixon''), Ri ...
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Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy (1985–1990); and Jim Ignatowski in the comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), for which he won two Emmy Awards. Lloyd came to public attention in Northeastern theater productions during the 1960s and early 1970s, earning Drama Desk and Obie awards for his work. He made his cinematic debut in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), and his television debut in ''The Adams Chronicles'' the following year. He also starred as Commander Kruge in '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984), Professor Plum in ''Clue'' (1985), Judge Doom in ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and Uncle Fester in ''The Addams Family'' (1991) and its sequel ''Addams Family Values'' (1993). He earned a third Emmy for his 1992 guest appearance as Alistai ...
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Herta Ware
Herta Ware (June 9, 1917 – August 15, 2005) was an American actress and activist. Early life Ware was born Herta Schwartz in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Helen Ware, a musician and violin teacher, and Laszlo Schwartz, an actor who was born in Budapest. Her mother's brother was Harold Ware, who headed the Ware Group, the most extensive Soviet spy ring in American history — and her maternal grandmother was labor organizer and socialist Ella Reeve Bloor, the co-founder of the Communist Labor Party of America and later a member of the central committee of the Communist Party USA. Her father was Jewish and her mother was Christian. Career Ware made her Broadway debut in ''Let Freedom Ring'' (November 6, 1935–February 1936), co-starring husband Will Geer, whom she had married in 1934. The couple appeared together in other New York plays, including ''Bury the Dead'' (1936), ''Prelude'' (1936), ''200 Were Chosen'' (1936) and ''Journeyman'' (1938), and ''Six O'Clock T ...
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Billy Beck
Billy Beck (born Frank Billerbeck; May 26, 1920 – June 29, 2011) was an American clown and character actor. Career Beck began his career as a clown at the legendary Cirque Medrano in Paris, France, in the late 1950s, and appeared in small roles beginning in the 1950s, Beck appeared in the 1954 made for television series Sherlock Holmes, starring Ronald Howard. On TV he portrayed Coco the Clown in episode #24, "The Night Train Mystery", as well as appearing as Rafe in the third season of ''Combat!'' in the episode "The Town That Went Away " (1964) as Rafe and in S11E22's “The Wishbone” as Mr. Tonkins in the TV Western '' Gunsmoke'' (1966). He also appeared in such films as ''Irma la Douce'' (1963), '' The Patsy'' (1964), ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966), ''Nickelodeon'' (1976), '' House'' (1986), and the 1988 remake ''The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. I ...
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Robin Raymond
Robin Raymond (born Rayemon Robin, October 4, 1916 – June 20, 1994) was an American film actress. Early life Raymond graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree and worked as a press agent in Chicago. Personal life Raymond appeared in over 40 films including ''Johnny Eager'' (1942) and as a slave girl in '' Arabian Nights'' (1942). One of her most memorable roles may have been that of a good-hearted burlesque dancer, Tanya Zakoyla, in the film noir ''The Glass Wall'' (1953). She appeared in Episode 32 (Alpine, Texas) of '' Trackdown''. She was sometimes credited as Robyn Raymond. On Broadway, Raymond portrayed Blossom Le Verne in ''See My Lawyer'' (1939). Death Raymond married nightclub owner Norman E. Heeb in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 15, 1941. They were divorced on November 28, 1941. On January 26, 1947, she married multimillionaire Harry A. Epstein in Yuma, Arizona. They were divorced on February 16, 1955. Partial filmography * '' For Love o ...
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Michael Hawkins (US Actor)
Thomas Knight Slater (born on December 26, 1938), known professionally as Michael Hawkins and credited sometimes as Michael D. Gainsborough, is a retired American actor. He is known for playing Frank Ryan on the soap opera '' Ryan's Hope'' (1975–1976). He is the father of actor Christian Slater. Life and career Hawkins was born Thomas Knight Slater in Queens, New York, the son of Helen Margaret (Knight) and Thomas G. Slater. He would later also use the stage name Michael Gainsborough. His uncle was radio personality Bill Slater. He spent the early part of his childhood in Forest Hills section of Queens, as well as in Texas and Tennessee. Later in the 1940s, he lived in the Strathmore section of Manhasset, Long Island. He was athletic and was one of the faster boys at his grade school, Munsey Park School, and started his acting and singing career in a fourth-grade production of the Gilbert Sullivan operetta, HMS Pinafore, as Captain Corcoran. His family left Manhasset in 1 ...
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Anne Ramsey
Angelina Anne Ramsey-Mobley (March 27, 1929 – August 11, 1988) was an American actress. She is best known for her film roles as Mama Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985) and as Mrs. Lift in ''Throw Momma from the Train'' (1987), the latter of which earned her nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award and a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award. Early life Ramsey was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Eleanor (née Smith), the former national treasurer of the Girl Scouts of the USA, and Nathan Mobley, an insurance executive. Her mother was a descendant of Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony), the Pilgrims (William Brewster (pilgrim), William Brewster), and her uncle was U.S. Ambassador David S. Smith. Ramsey was raised in Great Neck, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Bennington College where she became interested in theatre. She performed in several Broadway productions in the 1950s and married actor Logan Ramsey in 1954. They moved to Philadelphia where they f ...
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Lou Cutell
Lou Cutell (October 6, 1930 – November 21, 2021) was an American actor, who was perhaps best known for his appearance as Amazing Larry in the 1985 film '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure''. Life and career Cutell was born in New York City to Sicilian parents. He moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, where he received a bachelor's degree at the University of California. Cutell began his acting career in 1961, appearing in the Broadway play ''The Young Abe Lincoln'' in the role of William Berry Cutell made his television debut in 1964, guest-starring in ''The Dick Van Dyke Show''. From the 1970s to the 1990s Cutell appeared and guest-starred in numerous films and television programs including '' Seinfeld'', ''The Love Boat'', ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'', '' Alice'', ''The Bob Newhart Show'', ''Rhinoceros'', ''The World's Greatest Lover'', '' The Wild Wild West'', ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (and its spin-off ''Lou Grant''), ''Barney Miller'', ''The Black Marble'', ...
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