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The Players Workshop
Created in 1971 by Josephine Forsberg, The Players Workshop was Chicago's only official school of improvisation for over a decade. Although it was never officially a part of The Second City cabaret theater, The Players Workshop was often referred to as Players Workshop Of The Second City, due to the school's close affiliation with the famous sketch comedy stage. From 1971 through the mid-1990s, performers flocked to The Players Workshop to study improv with Josephine Forsberg, Linnea Forsberg, Martin de Maat, or one of the school's many other instructors, in the hopes of eventually getting onto The Second City mainstage. Players Workshop was also one of Chicago's largest family entertainment production companies, producing original plays and musicals for The Children's Theater of The Second City for over 30 years. Its production of the one-act musical ''Knat Scatt Private Eye'' later went on to be expanded into a full Broadway-style two-act musical which was mounted at The Theate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josephine Forsberg
Josephine Forsberg (January 28, 1921 – October 3, 2011) was an American comedian, teacher and author. Biography Josephine Forsberg, ex-wife of film director Rolf Forsberg, was hired by Paul Sills and Viola Spolin to join the original Second City in 1959 as the female understudy and Spolin's teaching assistant. She became an expert in improvisational techniques for the theater, and by the mid 1960s she had taken over most of Spolin's and Sills's classes, as well as Spolin's children's theater company. From that point on most of the young performers that wanted to go onto the Second City stage studied with Forsberg for at least a year. These included Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Betty Thomas, Shelley Long, George Wendt, David Mamet, and Robert Townsend. In 1971, Forsberg opened up an official school of improvisation called Players Workshop, hiring her nephew Martin de Maat and her daughter Linnea Forsberg to teach alongside her. In terms of accepting students who were not nece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Giuntoli
Neil Giuntoli (born December 20, 1959) is an American actor active since 1987, whose most famous role was in '' Child's Play'' (1988). Giuntoli is also the author and lead actor of the play ''Hizzoner'', a fictional account of former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. The play received the longest run ever granted to a production at Chicago's Prop Theater and was critically well received. Biography Giuntoli is an American actor and a native of Chicago. He is the great-great-great nephew of Anton Cermak, a former mayor of Chicago. He is Jewish. He grew up on Chicago's north side and attended Francis W. Parker High School, after which he joined the Navy and was stationed in Korea as a translator. Upon returning to the United States Giuntoli joined the burgeoning Chicago theater community as an actor and later as a playwright. After a number of very successful productions Giuntoli moved to Los Angeles where he pursued roles in film and television. In television he is best known for his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Wendt
George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom '' Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He also played the role in the short-lived spin-off ''The Tortellis'' and in an episode of ''Wings'', which was made by the same creators. Wendt has also appeared in his own sitcom, '' The George Wendt Show'', following ''Cheers,'' but it was cancelled after only a few episodes. His numerous film roles include '' Fletch'', '' Gung Ho'', '' Dreamscape'', '' House'', '' Forever Young'', '' Hostage for a Day'', '' Man of the House'', and '' Lakeboat.'' Early life George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Loretta Mary ( née Howard) and George Robert Wendt, an officer in the Navy and a realtor. He is one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Townsend (actor)
Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films '' Hollywood Shuffle'' (1987), '' Eddie Murphy Raw'' (1987), '' The Meteor Man'' (1993), '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his eponymous self-titled character, Robert Peterson as the starring role as on The WB sitcom '' The Parent 'Hood'' (1995–1999), a series which he created and of which directed select episodes. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald "Duck" Matthews in his 1991 film '' The Five Heartbeats.'' He later wrote, directed and produced Making The Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films ''Playin' for Love'', '' In the Hive'' and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Thomas
Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 21, 1948) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series '' Hill Street Blues''. As of March 2018, Thomas is one of just two directors (and the only solo director) to have multiple films on the list of seventeen highest-US-grossing female-directed films. Additionally, two of her films are in the top twenty-five highest-US-grossing female-directed films. Early life Thomas was born Betty Lucille Nienhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1947 to Nancy (née Brown) and William H. Nienhauser, Sr. She graduated from Willoughby South High School, Willoughby, Ohio, in 1965. After high school Thomas attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Upon graduating Thomas worked as an artist and taught high school before becoming a part of The Second City, the premiere venue for improvisational theater i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote the first two ''Hotel Transylvania'' films and '' You Don't Mess with the Zohan'', all starring Adam Sandler. Early life Smigel was born in New York City, to Lucia and Irwin Smigel, an aesthetic dentist, innovator and philanthropist. He is Jewish and frequently went to Jewish summer camp. He attended Cornell University, studying pre-dental, and graduated from New York University in 1983 with a degree in political science. Smigel began developing his comedic talent at The Players Workshop in Chicago, where he studied improvisation with Josephine Forsberg. Bob Odenkirk was a fellow student there. Smigel was also a member of the Chicago comedy troupe "All You Can Eat" in the early 1980s. Career Smigel first established ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series '' Strangers with Candy'' (1999–2000) and the prequel film '' Strangers with Candy'' (2005), which she also wrote. Sedaris appeared as Hurshe Heartshe in the Adult Swim comedy series '' The Heart, She Holler'' (2013–2014), as Princess Carolyn in the Netflix animated comedy series ''BoJack Horseman'' (2014–2020), and as Mimi Kanasis in the Netflix sitcom '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' (2015–2020). She received further critical acclaim as the creator and star of the TruTV surreal comedy series '' At Home with Amy Sedaris'' (2017–2020) which earned her two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. Sedaris appeared in various films, including '' Maid in Manhattan'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell Ziskey in ''Stripes'' (1981); he also co-wrote those films. As a director, his films include the comedies ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' (1983), ''Groundhog Day'' (1993), ''Analyze This'' (1999) and '' Analyze That'' (2002). Ramis was the original head writer of the television series '' SCTV'', on which he also performed, as well as a co-writer of ''Groundhog Day'' and '' National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978). The final film that he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in was '' Year One'' (2009). Ramis's films influenced subsequent generations of comedians, comedy writers and actors. Filmmakers and actors including Jay Roach, Jake Kasdan, Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Peter and Bobby Farrelly have cited his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Pudi
Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and one nomination for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. Since 2020 he has starred as Brad Bakshi in the Apple TV+ comedy series ''Mythic Quest''. He was the voice of Huey Duck on the 2017 reboot of '' DuckTales''. Early life Daniel Mark Pudi was born in Chicago on March 10, 1979, the son of programmer and analyst Teresa (née Komendant) and Abraham L. Pudi (1955–2018). His parents immigrated to the U.S. and became naturalized citizens: his mother came from the village of Pokośno, Poland, and his father came from the village of Poduru, India, and was from a Telugu Christian family. Pudi grew up speaking Polish with his mother and grandmother. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago with brother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Odenkirk
Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off '' Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has received five nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. As a producer on ''Better Call Saul'' since its premiere, he has also received six nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. He is also known for the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), which he co-created and co-starred in with fellow comic David Cross. In 2015, he and Cross reunited, along with the rest of the ''Mr. Show'' cast, for ''W/ Bob & David'' on Netflix. Odenkirk wrote for television series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1987–1991) and '' The Ben Stiller Show'' (1992), winning Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1989 and 1993. He also wrote for '' Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Murray (born October 31, 1945), known professionally by his stage name as Brian Doyle-Murray, is an American actor, voice-actor and screenwriter. He has appeared with his younger brother, actor/comedian Bill Murray, in several movies, including ''Caddyshack'', ''Scrooged'', ''Ghostbusters II'', ''Groundhog Day'', and ''The Razor's Edge''. He co-starred on the TBS sitcom ''Sullivan & Son'', where he played the foul-mouthed Hank Murphy. He also appeared in the Nickelodeon animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' as The Flying Dutchman, the Cartoon Network original animated series '' My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' as Coach Tiffany Gills, ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'' as Captain K'nuckles, a recurring role as Don Ehlert on the ABC sitcom '' The Middle'', and Bob Kruger in the AMC dramedy ''Lodge 49''. Doyle-Murray has been nominated for three Emmy Awards in 1978, 1979, and 1980 for his work on '' Saturday Night Live'' in the category Primetime Emmy Award for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1977 to 1980, where he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. He starred in comedy films including ''Meatballs'' (1979), ''Caddyshack'' (1980), '' Stripes'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Scrooged'' (1988), ''What About Bob?'' (1991), ''Groundhog Day'' (1993), '' Kingpin'' (1996), ''The Man Who Knew Too Little'' (1997), ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000), and '' Osmosis Jones'' (2001). His only directorial credit is '' Quick Change'' (1990), which he co-directed with Howard Franklin. Murray's performance in Sofia Coppola's '' Lost in Translation'' (2003) earned him a Golden Globe and a British Academy Film Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He has frequen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
