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Oscar (1991 Film)
''Oscar'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is a remake of the 1967 French film of the same name, but set in Depression-era New York City. ''Oscar'' stars Sylvester Stallone, in a rare attempt at a comedic role, as Angelo "Snaps" Provolone, a mob boss who promises his dying father that he will leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Alongside Stallone, the film's cast includes Marisa Tomei, Ornella Muti, Tim Curry and Chazz Palminteri. Its score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. According to Landis, ''Oscar'' was stylistically influenced by older Hollywood comedies, particularly those belonging to the "screwball" genre, which were popular during the period in which the film takes place. ''Oscar'' was released in the United States on April 26, 1991, and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot In the prologue, gangster Angelo "Snaps" Provolone promises his dying father that he will give up a li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Landis
John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (film), ''The Blues Brothers'' (1980), ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981), ''Trading Places'' (1983), ''Three Amigos'' (1986), ''Coming to America'' (1988) and ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' (1994), for directing Michael Jackson's Michael Jackson videography, music videos for Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video), "Thriller" (1983) and "Black or White" (1991). Early life Landis was born into a American Jews, Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Shirley Levine (''née'' Magaziner) and Marshall Landis, an interior designer and decorator. Landis and his parents relocated to Los Angeles when he was four months old. Though spending his childhood in California, Landis still refers to Chicago as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952) Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an American actor. He is best known for his –nominated performance in '''', the 1993 film '' A Bronx Tale'', based on his play of the same name, and his recurring role as Shorty in '' |
Yvonne De Carlo
Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and later acted on television and stage. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, De Carlo was enrolled by her mother in a local dance school when she was three. By the early 1940s, she and her mother had moved to Los Angeles, where De Carlo participated in beauty contests and worked as a dancer in nightclubs. She began working in motion pictures in 1941, in short subjects. She sang "The Lamp of Memory" in a three-minute Soundies musical and in 1942 signed a three-year contract with Paramount Pictures, where she was given uncredited bit parts in important films. Her first lead was for independent producer E. B. Derr in the James Fenimore Cooper adventure '' Deerslayer'' in 1943. She obtained her breakthrough role in '' Salome, Where She Danced'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Lesser
Robert Lesser or Bobby Lesser (born October 22, 1942) is an American actor. Lesser was born in New York City, and lives in Santa Barbara, California. His earliest work dates back to 1967 with "David Holzman's Diary", directed by Jim McBride. His latest movies include the Japanese film "Best Wishes for Tomorrow" and post-production "Painting in the Rain". Lesser has worked with Bruce Willis, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew Broderick, Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, and Richard Mulligan. He is well known in the Santa Barbara theater community. In 2011, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' published an open letter from Lesser to the Internet Movie Database after they repeatedly refused to correct his birthdate, which they had listed as May 28, 1938. They have since corrected the date. Selected theaters *The New York Shakespeare Festival's Richard the Third, on Broadway *The Soft Touch directed by Alan Arkin *Rubbers and Yanks 3 Detroit 0 Top of the Seventh, American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art LaFleur
Art LaFleur (September 9, 1943 – November 17, 2021) was an American character actor and acting coach. Life and career LaFleur was born in Gary, Indiana. He played football in 1962 as a redshirt at the University of Kentucky under Coach Charlie Bradshaw as chronicled in a 2007 book, ''The Thin Thirty''. He was a sportscaster on ESPN and on CBS. LaFleur has had many guest-starring roles on television series, including ''Angel'' and '' JAG''. In 1983, he was cast in the ABC sitcom pilot ''Another Ballgame'' alongside Alex Karras and Susan Clark. The series went through many development changes before its fall premiere, with Emmanuel Lewis being added to the show and LaFleur being dropped from the regular cast. Once the final change to the series title was made (to '' Webster''), LaFleur was kept only as a guest star in the pilot. In 1993, LaFleur played baseball player Babe Ruth in ''The Sandlot''. He had another notable role as the eccentric and obsessive character Red Swee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurtwood Smith
Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in ''Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), as well as for his many appearances in science fiction films and television programs (''Lou Grant'', ''Star Trek'', ''The X-Files''). He also starred in the seventh season of '' 24''. He voiced Gene on ''Regular Show'' (2012–2017), Leslie Claret on ''Patriot'' (2015–2018), and Old Man Peterson on ''The Ranch'' (2017–2020). Early life Smith was born in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, the son of Mabel Annette Lund (née Larson) and George Smith. Smith's mother was a fan of a country singer named Kurt (or Curt) in the early 1940s. However, she thought "Kurt Smith" was too short a name, so she added "wood" ("she just tacked it on to the end", he said); Smith has said that he is likely the only Kurtwood. Smith's father was a Major during the Second ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linda Gray
Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940) is an American film, stage and television actress, director, producer and former model, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman's character J.R. Ewing on the CBS television drama series ''Dallas'' (1978–1989, 1991, 2012–2014), for which she was nominated for the 1981 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The role also earned her two Golden Globe Awards. Gray began her career in the 1960s in television commercials. In the 1970s, she appeared in numerous TV series before landing the role of Sue Ellen Ewing in 1978. After leaving ''Dallas'' in 1989, she appeared opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1991 film ''Oscar''. From 1994 to 1995, she played a leading role in the Fox drama series ''Models Inc.'', and also starred in TV movies, including '' Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter?'' (1993) and '' Accidental Meeting'' (1994). She went on to reprise the role of Sue El ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films ''Hail the Conquering Hero'' and ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from 1944, both of which have been preserved by the National Film Registry. During this era, he also had success on Broadway, with performances in plays like '' Too Many Girls'' (1940). Bracken's later movie roles include ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' (1983), ''Oscar'' (1991), '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992), '' Rookie of the Year'' (1993), and ''Baby's Day Out'' (1994). Life and career Edward Vincent Bracken was born in Astoria, Queens, New York on February 7, 1915, the son of Joseph L. and Catherine Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical '' Too Many Girls'' in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation. He had performed in a short film series called ''The Kidd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Spano
Vincent M. Spano Jr. (born October 18, 1962) is an American film, stage and television actor; he is also a film director and producer. Early life Spano was born in Brooklyn, New York to Italian-American parents Vincent Sr. and Theresa. Career His career started when he was 14 years old in the Broadway drama ''The Shadow Box''. InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed November 24, 2011 He was originally credited as Vincent Stewart because his first agent felt the name Spano was "too ethnic", and he was even instructed to sign autographs using that stage name. At age 16, in respect for his Italian heritage, Spano began using his real name and has done so ever since then. His debut in '' |
Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in ''Animal House'' (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in '' Local Hero'' (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner in ''Crossing Delancey'' (1988), Lt. Mitch Kellaway in '' The Mask'' (1994), and glove manufacturer Lou Levov in '' American Pastoral'' (2016). He directed the short film ''By Courier'' (2000), for which he was nominated along with producer Ericka Frederick for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. On television, Riegert had a recurring role as crooked Newark Assemblyman and later State Senator Ronald Zellman in seasons three and four of the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (2001–2002), appeared as George Moore in the first season of the FX series ''Damages'' (2007), and portrayed Seth Green's father in the comedy series '' Dads'' (2013–2014). He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the HBO film ''Barba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which led to the offer of a movie contract from 20th Century Fox in 1935. As a handsome, debonair leading man in 40 films over the next 14 years, he starred in comedies, dramas, and musicals. In the 1950s he worked on Broadway and in television, and was the host of NBC's ''International Showtime'' from 1961 to 1965. Returning to film work in his later years, Ameche enjoyed a fruitful revival of his career beginning with his role as a villain in ''Trading Places'' (1983) and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in '' Cocoon'' (1985). Early life Don Ameche was born as Dominic Felix Amici on May 31, 1908, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His father, Felice Amici, was a bartender from Montemonaco, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dialectology
Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features. Dialectology treats such topics as divergence of two local dialects from a common ancestor and synchronic variation. Dialectologists are ultimately concerned with grammatical, lexical and phonological features that correspond to regional areas. Thus they usually deal not only with populations that have lived in certain areas for generations, but also with migrant groups that bring their languages to new areas (see language contact). Commonly studied concepts in dialectology include the problem of mutual intelligibility in defining languages and dialects; situations of diglossia, where two dialects are used for different functions; dialect continua including a number of partially mutually intelligible dialects; and pluric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
