Leslie William Nielsen was a Canadian actor and producer. He appeared in 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was born in Saskatchewan, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to study theatre at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his acting debut in 1950. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several drama and romance films produced between the 1950s and the 1970s. Although his notable performances in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure gave him standing as a serious actor, Nielsen gained enduring recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s, after being cast against type for the Zucker and Zucker comedy film Airplane!. In his comedy roles, Nielsen specialized in portraying characters oblivious to and complicit in their absurd surroundings. Nielsen's performance in Airplane! Marked his turning point, which made him "the Olivier of spoofs" according to film critic Roger Ebert, leading to further success in the genre with The Naked Gun film series, based on the earlier short-lived television series Police Squad!, in which Nielsen starred.
Nielsen received a variety of awards and was inducted into the Canada's Walk of Fame and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nielsen was born on 11 February 1926 in Saskatchewan, his mother, Mabel Elizabeth, was an immigrant from Wales, his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, was a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nielsen was born the second of three boys, the elder, Erik Nielsen, was a long-time Canadian Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986. Nielsen's half-uncle Jean Hersholt was an actor known for his portrayal of Dr. Christian in a radio series of that name, the subsequent television series and films. In a 1994 Boston Globe article, Nielsen explained, "I did learn early that when I would mention my uncle, people would look at me as if I were the biggest liar in the world. I would take them home and show them 8-by-10 glossies, things changed quite drastically. So I began to think that maybe this acting business was not a bad idea, much as I was shy about it and without courage regarding it.
My uncle died not too long. I regret that I had not a chance to know him better."Nielsen lived for several years in Fort Norman in the Northwest Territories, where his father was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His father was an abusive man who beat his wife and sons, Leslie longed to escape; when he graduated from high school at 17, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, though he was deaf. Following graduation from Victoria School of the Arts in Edmonton, Nielsen enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as an aerial gunner during World War II, he was too young to be trained or sent overseas. He worked as a disc jockey at a Calgary, radio station, before enrolling at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto. While studying in Toronto, Nielsen received a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse, he noted, "I couldn't refuse, but I must say when you come from the land of the snow goose, the moose, wool to New York, you're bringing every ton of hayseed and country bumpkin that you packed.
As long as I didn't open my mouth, I felt a certain security. But I always thought I was going to be unmasked:'OK, pack your stuff."Well, what's the matter?"We've discovered you have no talent. He moved to New York City for his scholarship, studying theatre and music at the Neighborhood Playhouse, while performing in summer stock theatre. Afterward, he attended the Actors Studio, until his first television appearance in 1950 on an episode of Studio One, alongside Charlton Heston, for which he was paid $75. Nielsen's career began in dramatic roles on television during "Television's Golden Age", appearing in 46 live programs in 1950 alone, he said there "was little gold, we only got $75 or $100 per show." He narrated documentaries and commercials and most of his early work as a dramatic actor was uneventful. Hal Erickson of Allmovie noted. In 1956, he made his feature-film debut in the Michael Curtiz-directed musical film The Vagabond King. In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nielsen remembered Curtiz as "a sadist, a charming sadist, but a sadist".
Nielsen called this film "The Vagabond Turkey". Though the film was not a success, producer Nicholas Nayfack offered him an audition for the science-fiction film Forbidden Planet, resulting in Nielsen's taking a long contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Forbidden Planet became an instant success, roles in other MGM films such as Ransom!, The Opposite Sex and Hot Summer Night followed. In 1957 he won the lead role opposite Debbie Reynolds in the romantic comedy Tammy and the Bachelor, which, as a Chicago Tribune critic wrote in 1998, made people consider Nielsen a dramatic actor and handsome romantic lead. However, dissatisfied with the films he was offered, calling the studios "a Tiffany, which had forgotten how to make silver", Nielsen left MGM after auditioning for Messala in the 1959 Ben-Hur. Stephen Boyd got the role. After leaving the studios, Nielsen landed the lead role in the Disney miniseries The Swamp Fox, as American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. In a 19
Walter Stanley is a former professional American football wide receiver for ten seasons in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions, the Washington Redskins, the New England Patriots, the San Diego Chargers. He played college football at the University of Colorado and Mesa State College and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. Stanley caught 130 passes during his pro career for five touchdowns, he was a standout kickoff returner. In a game between the Packers and Lions played at the Pontiac Silverdome stadium in November 1986, with just 41 seconds to play, Stanley was instructed by Green Bay coach Forrest Gregg to make a fair catch of a Detroit punt. On his own, he caught the ball and took off running, scoring an 83-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a last-minute 44-40 victory. In that same game, Stanley caught a pair of touchdown passes from Packers quarterback Randy Wright. During his college career, Stanley led the Big Eight Conference one season in punt and kickoff returns and all-purpose yardage.
But he was suspended from the Colorado team for disciplinary reasons, ended up transferring to Mesa State. Stanley was selected in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Packers, the 98th player chosen, he is a graduate of South Shore High School in Chicago
The Fighter is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo; the film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky Ward and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund. Adams plays Micky's girlfriend Charlene Fleming, Leo portrays Micky and Dicky's mother, Alice Eklund-Ward; the film was inspired by the 1996 documentary that features the Eklund-Ward family, titled High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell. The film was released in select North American theaters on December 17, 2010, in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2011, it was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning the awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. It was the first film to win both awards since Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986. Micky Ward is an American welterweight boxer from Massachusetts. Managed by his mother, Alice Ward, trained by his older half-brother, Dicky Eklund, Micky became a "stepping stone" for other boxers to defeat on their way up.
Dicky, a former boxer whose peak of success was going the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978, has become addicted to crack cocaine. He is being filmed for an HBO documentary he believes to be about his "comeback". On the night of an undercard fight in Atlantic City, Micky's scheduled opponent is ill, a substitute is found, 20 pounds heavier than Micky, a huge difference in professional boxing, constituting two or three weight classes. Despite Micky's reservations, his mother and brother agree so that they can all get the purse and Micky is defeated. Micky retreats from the world and forms a relationship with Charlene Fleming, a former college athlete who dropped out and became a bartender. After several weeks, Alice arranges another fight for Micky, but Micky is concerned it will turn out the same, his mother and seven sisters blame Charlene for his lack of motivation. Micky mentions he received an offer to be paid to train in Las Vegas, but Dicky says he will match the offer so he can keep training and working with his family.
Dicky tries to get money by posing his girlfriend as a prostitute and once she picks up a client, impersonating a police officer to steal the client's money. This is foiled by the actual police and Dicky is arrested after a chase and a fight with them. Micky tries to stop the police from beating his brother and a police officer brutally breaks his hand before arresting him. At their arraignment, Micky is released. Micky washes his hands of Dicky. On the night of the HBO documentary's airing, Dicky's family, Dicky himself in prison, are horrified to see that it is called Crack in America and depicts how crack addiction ruined Dicky's career and life. Dicky begins trying to get his life together in prison. Micky is lured back into boxing by his father, who believes Alice and his stepson Dicky are bad influences; the other members of his training team and a new manager, Sal Lanano, persuade Micky to return to boxing with the explicit understanding that his mother and brother will no longer be involved.
They place Micky in minor fights to help him regain his confidence. He is offered another major fight against an undefeated up-and-coming boxer. During a prison visit, Dicky advises Micky on how best to work his opponent, but Micky feels his brother is being selfish and trying to restart his own failed career. During the actual match, Micky is nearly overwhelmed, but implements his brother's advice and triumphs. Upon his release from prison and his mother go to see Micky train. Assuming things are as they were, Dicky prepares to spar with his brother, but Micky informs him that he is no longer allowed per Micky's agreement with his current team. In the ensuing argument, in which Micky chastises both factions of his family and his trainer leave in disgust. Micky and Dicky spar. Dicky storms off to get high again, Alice chides Micky, only to be sobered when he tells her that she has always favored Dicky. Dicky returns to his crack house, where he says goodbye to his friends and heads to Charlene's apartment.
He tells her that Micky needs both of them and they need to work together. After bringing everyone back together, the group goes to London for the title fight against welterweight champion Shea Neary. Micky scores another upset victory and the welterweight title; the film jumps a few years ahead, with Dicky crediting his brother as the creator of his own success. The real-life brothers banter as the end credits run. Mark Wahlberg as Micky Ward: Wahlberg elected to star in the film due to his friendship with Ward, with whom he shares an inner-city working class Massachusetts upbringing in a family with eight siblings. Wahlberg was a huge fan of Ward's, calling him a "local sports hero"; the actor was attracted to the film's central theme, an ordinary person in "an against-all-odds story", which he explored in Invincible. To mimic Ward's habits and mannerisms, Wahlberg had him "on set, watching me every single day". During pre-production, the Ward brothers temporarily moved into Wahlberg's home. To add to the film's realism, Wahlberg refused a stunt double and took real punches during the fight scenes, which resulted in him nearly getting his nose broken a couple of times.
Wahlberg underwent a strict bodybuilding exercise regimen, dedicating over four years of training to obtain a muscular physique to convincingly play Ward. "The last six movies I did I was secretly preparing for The Fighter at the same time", the actor continued, "so I would leave three hours early for work and go to the gym a
Brevet Major John Simpson Knox was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Born in Glasgow on 30 September 1828, Knox joined the British Army at the age of 14, he was under-age, but was unusually tall, he was promoted to corporal before reaching the age of 18. By the time of the Crimean War he was serjeant in the Scots Fusilier Guards; the British and French forces began to land on the Crimean Peninsula on 14 September 1854. On 19 September the combined forces moved off toward Sebastopol and on 20 September came the first major engagement of the campaign, the Battle of the Alma; the Scots Fusilier Guards were part of the 1st Division, brigaded with 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards and 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, the division's other brigade was the Highland Brigade. The division was at the extreme left of the Allied line, in reserve to the Light Division.
The two divisions halted a short distance before the Alma River, the Russians having taken up defensive positions just the other side of river. Here, on the further side of the river the British troops faced first fording the river itself, climbing the bank on its far side after a small amount of level ground, a further low, but steep bank, a gradual upward slope, at the top of which the Russians had built an earthworks armed with artillery; the British contingents were ordered forward at about 14:45, the French having managed to force a crossing further downstream, near the river's mouth. The Light Division crossed first, but were thrown into confusion by the Russian artillery, began to withdraw; the Guards' Brigade was ordered forward, crossed the river. The battalions began re-establishing their ranks on the other side having scrambled up both of the banks on that side of the river; the brigadier ordered them forward without delay, the Scots, in the middle of the Guards' line obeyed. They began their advance, but the retreating troops of the Light Division broke their line, some of the Scots Guards joined the retreat.
Officers and others, prominent among them Knox, regained control, rallied much of the battalion. It was this action, the first of those for which he was awarded the VC. Four other Scots Guards were to be awarded the VC for their actions that day. In a letter to his family, he described the battle: The scene that met my gaze was the most awful description: it made me shudder; the bodies of our opponents were so thick on the ground that for some distance I had to go on tiptoe to pass without touching … the enemy cheered, endeavoured to drive us back. He was commissioned into the 93rd Regiment of Foot as an ensign on 27 February 1855. On 20 April 1855 he was transferred to the Rifle Brigade as a lieutenant, his original commission was backdated to 5 November 1854. On 18 June 1855, Knox volunteered for the ladder party in the attack on the Redan, an attempt to finish the Siege of Sevastopol, he was struck by a Russian cannonball, removing part of his left arm, his actions that day contributed toward his receiving the VC.
His Crimea Medal shows that he fought at the Battle of Balaclava and the Battle of Inkerman. On 29 January 1856 Queen Victoria signed the warrant creating the Victoria Cross with the intention of rewarding acts of valour in the Crimean War. Knox's own VC was not gazetted until 24 February 1857, by which time he had been made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by an Imperial decree of 16 June 1856, his VC citation read: War Office, 24th February, 1857. THE Queen has been graciously pleased to signify Her intention to confer the Decoration of the Victoria Cross on the undermentioned Officers and Men of Her Majesty's Navy and Marines, Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Men of Her Majesty's Army, who have been recommended to Her Majesty for that Decoration,—in accordance with the rules laid down in Her Majesty's Warrant of the 29th of January, 1856—on account of acts of bravery performed by them before the Enemy during the late War, as recorded against their several names, viz.:— 2nd Bat. Rifle Brigade Lieutenant John Knox When serving as a Serjeant in the Scots Fusilier Guards, Lieutenant Knox was conspicuous for his exertions in reforming the ranks of the Guards at the Battle of the Alma.
Subsequently, when in the Rifle Brigade, he volunteered for the ladder-party in the attack on the Redan, on 18 June, behaved admirably, remaining on the field until twice wounded. He was among the 62 men at the first presentation of the VC, made by Queen Victoria in Hyde Park, London on 26 June 1857, his action at the Alma was the earliest for which a VC was awarded to a member of the British Army—earlier actions leading to the award of a VC were carried out by members of the Royal Navy. Despite the loss of his arm, he continued to serve, was appointed an Instructor of Musketry on 7 January 1858, promoted captain on 30 April. On 15 June 1866 he was appointed Inspector of Musketry for the South Western District, he returned to regimental duties from 22 January 1872, on his retirement from the army on 8 June 1872 was granted a brevet majority. He took up residence at Cheltenham where he died on 8 January 1897, was buried in the town's cemetery where three other VC recipients lie. In March 2010 it was announced that his VC is to be sold at auction in May by medal and coin specialists Spink's, with an estimated price of £100,000–120,000.
His VC was sold along with his Crime
Confessions of a Nice Girl is the third studio album by American country music artist Katie Armiger. It was released by Cold River Records in 2010. Three singles were released from this album in 2010: "Kiss Me Now", "Leaving Home" and "Best Song Ever", the latter of, her best charted single to date, it peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2011. The album was re-released in late 2011 with new bonus tracks, including "I Do But Do I," which served as the album's fourth single. "Scream" was released in October 2011 as the fifth single. "Best Song Ever" – 2:33 "Kiss Me Now" – 3:09 "That's Why" – 4:01 "Nice Girl" – 2:50 "Cry, Cry" – 4:18 "Ain't Gonna Happen" – 3:40 "I Will Be" – 3:33 "Scream" – 3:43 "Ain't So Sweet" – 3:24 "Can You Handle It" – 3:36 "Leaving Home" – 3:31 "Can't Keep Myself From Loving You" - 3:31 "Strong Enough" - 3:43 Credits adapted from AllMusic
James Raymond Simpson is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in television series such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Late Show with David Letterman, Breakout Kings, House of Cards and Leonard, Black Mirror, Unsolved. Simpson has appeared in film such as Loser, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Invention of Lying, Date Night, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, White House Down, Under the Silver Lake. James Raymond Simpson was born in Hackettstown, New Jersey, on November 21, 1975, he has two older brothers. He attended Hackettstown High School. After graduating from Bloomsburg University with a BA in theater, he acted for four seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In 2000, Simpson made his feature film debut in the teen comedy Loser; this was followed by various roles on television, including the Stephen King miniseries Rose Red and appearances on 24, NYPD Blue, Cold Case, Carnivàle. Subsequent film roles included Herbie: Fully Loaded, Seraphim Falls, Zodiac.
In 2008, Simpson starred as Philo T. Farnsworth in The Farnsworth Invention on Broadway, his portrayal was described as "superb" by The Chicago Tribune, earned him a Theatre World Award. From 2008 to 2009, Simpson made several guest appearances as an intern named Lyle on The Late Show with David Letterman. During that time, he appeared in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, My Name is Earl and Psych, as well as having supporting roles in the films The Invention of Lying, Date Night. Other notable credits include the cult comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, on which he has appeared as Liam McPoyle over several seasons, the A&E series Breakout Kings, where he starred as Lloyd Lowery. From 2012–2014, Simpson appeared in the films Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Truth About Emanuel, White House Down, he appeared as Gavin Orsay, a recurring character, on the Netflix series House of Cards. For this, Simpson—along with the rest of the main cast—was nominated on two occasions for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
In 2016, Simpson starred in the first season of SundanceTV's series Leonard. That same year, he appeared in a principal role on the first season of HBO's series Westworld, his portrayal of William, a visitor to the titular futuristic Wild West-themed amusement park populated by androids, was described as "spellbinding" by Variety. For his work on Westworld, he was once again nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. For his performance in the second season, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In 2017, Simpson starred in "USS Callister", the first episode of the fourth season of the anthology sci-fi drama series Black Mirror. For his performance, he received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. Simpson met New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey in 2001, they became engaged in 2005 and married in a chapel near Queenstown on April 14, 2007.
Lynskey filed for divorce from Simpson on September 2012, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in May 2014. Simpson married British actress Sophia Del Pizzo in April 2019. Jimmi Simpson on IMDb Jimmi Simpson on Twitter