1.
Shepherd's Bush
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Shepherds Bush is an area of west London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Although it is residential in character, its focus is the shopping area of Shepherds Bush Green. The main thoroughfares are Uxbridge Road, Goldhawk Road and Askew Road, all containing a number of small and mostly independent shops, pubs. The Loftus Road football stadium in Shepherds Bush is home to Queens Park Rangers, in 2011, the population of the area was 39,724. The district is bounded by Hammersmith to the south, Holland Park and Notting Hill to the east, Harlesden to the north and by Acton, White City forms the northern part of Shepherds Bush. Shepherds Bush comprises the Shepherds Bush Green, Askew, College Park & Old Oak, Kensal Green and White City wards. The areas focal point is Shepherds Bush Green, an area of about 8 acres of open grass surrounded by trees and roads with shops. This position makes it an important node of the bus network and it is also served by five London Underground stations, Shepherds Bush, White City, Shepherds Bush Market, Goldhawk Road and Wood Lane. Originally built in the 1970s with a car park and connecting bridge to the station. The bridge was removed, and the now houses several chain stores, a 12-screen cinema, gym, pub, restaurants, a medical practice. The small shops continue along Uxbridge Road to the west for some distance, many of these establishments cater for the local ethnic minority communities. The Westfield Group opened a centre in October 2008. The same building also houses Escape Studios, an art school providing computer graphics training for the visual effects industry in London. The residential areas of Shepherds Bush are primarily located to the west of the Green, either side of Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk Road to the southwest, and about as far as Askew Road in the west. Much of the housing in this area consists of three- or four-storey terraces dating from the late 19th century, Shepherds Bush is also home to the White City Estate, a housing estate that was originally constructed in the 1930s and further extended after the war in the early 1950s. The name Shepherds Bush is thought to have originated from the use of the land here as a resting point for shepherds on their way to Smithfield Market in the City of London. An alternative theory is that it could have named after someone in the area. Evidence of human habitation can be traced back to the Iron Age, Shepherds Bush enters the written record in the year 704 when it was bought by Waldhere, Bishop of London as a part of the Fulanham estate
2.
Television Centre, London
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Television Centre in White City, West London was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it is one of the most readily recognisable facilities of its type, parts of the building are Grade II listed, including the central ring and Studio 1. Live television events from studios and routing of national and international sporting events took place within the Television Centre before being passed to the Broadcast Centre for transmission and it was announced on 21 September 2010 that the BBC would cease broadcasting from Television Centre in 2013. BBC Worldwide moved into space in the Stage 6 building following extensive refurbishment in 2015. The radio and television news departments moved to Broadcasting House in central London, the building is 4 miles west of central London, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The nearest Underground stations are White City and Wood Lane, London broadcasts at the time came from Alexandra Palace and Lime Grove Studios. It was to be the largest television centre in the world, riverside Studios in Hammersmith were used from 1954. It was planned to be 6 acres, but turned out to be twice as big, on 24 August 1956 the main contract was awarded to Higgs and Hill, which also built The London Studios for ITV in 1972. The building was planned to cost £9M, when it opened, the Director of BBC television was Gerald Beadle, and the first programme broadcast was First Night with David Nixon in Studio Three. In 1997 the BBC News Centre was opened, in a new complex at the front of the building, the building featured a central circular block around which were studios, offices, engineering areas and the News Centre. In the centre of the block was a statue designed by T. B. Huxley-Jones of Helios. At the foot of the statue were two reclining figures, symbolising sound and vision, the components of television, even though there was a foundation stone marked BBC1956 in the basement of the main building, construction began in 1951. With the migration of staff and functions to complexes in Salford and London W1, the overall design from the air appeared to resemble a question mark in shape. The architect, Graham Dawbarn CBE, drew a question mark on an envelope while thinking about the design of the building, an article in The BBC Quarterly, July 1946, proposed a circular design, several years before Dawbarn drew up his plans. The building was commissioned in 1949 with work starting in 1950, work resumed in 1953 on the TVC scenery block and work began in 1954 on the canteen block, which doubled as a rehearsal space. Work on Stage 3, the central office block and studios. The shells of TC1, TC6 and TC7 were constructed around the same time, BBC Television Centre officially opened with TC3 operational on 29 June 1960. Arthur Hayes worked on the building from 1956 to 1970 and was responsible for the creation of the iconic BBC Television Centre lettering on the façade of Studio 1, the lettering was later used all over the building, even in tile work outside lift entrances
3.
Larry Hagman
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Hagman had supporting roles in numerous films, including Fail-Safe, Harry and Tonto, S. O. B. His television appearances also included guest roles on dozens of shows spanning from the late 1950s until his death, and he also worked as a producer and director on television. Hagman was the son of actress Mary Martin and he underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995. He died on November 23,2012, from complications of acute myeloid leukemia, Hagman was born on September 21,1931, in Fort Worth, Texas. His mother, Mary Martin, became a Broadway actress and musical comedy star after his birth and his father, Benjamin Jackson Hagman, who was of Swedish descent, was an accountant and lawyer who worked as a district attorney. Hagmans parents divorced in 1936, when he was five years old and he lived with his maternal grandmother, Juanita Presley Martin, in Texas and California while his mother became a contract player with Paramount in 1938. In 1940, Hagmans mother met and married Richard Halliday and gave birth to a daughter, Heller, Hagman attended a strict academy, Black-Foxe Military Institute. When his mother moved to New York City to resume her Broadway career, a few years later, his grandmother died and Hagman joined his mother in New York. In 1946, Hagman moved back to his hometown of Weatherford, one summer, he worked for oilfield-equipment maker Antelope Tool Company. Although his father wanted Hagman to become a lawyer and join his practice, he was drawn to drama classes and he graduated from high school in 1949, and decided to pursue acting. Hagman began his career in 1950 acting in productions at Margaret Websters school at The Woodstock Playhouse in Woodstock, New York. That summer, during a break from his one year at Bard College, he worked in Dallas as a production assistant and acting in small roles in Margo Joness theater company. He appeared in The Taming of the Shrew in New York City, followed by numerous tent show musicals with St. John Terrells Music Circus in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Lambertville, New Jersey. In 1951, Hagman appeared in the London production of South Pacific with his mother, in 1952, during the Korean War, Hagman enlisted in the United States Air Force. Stationed in London, he spent the majority of his service entertaining U. S. troops in the United Kingdom. After leaving the Air Force in 1956, Hagman returned to New York City and that was followed by nearly a year in another off-Broadway play, James Lees Career. His Broadway debut occurred in 1958 in Comes a Day, Hagman appeared in four other Broadway plays, God and Kate Murphy, The Nervous Set, The Warm Peninsula, and The Beauty Part. During this period, he appeared in numerous, mostly live
4.
EastEnders
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EastEnders is a long running British soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since 1985. Set in the East End of London in the fictional Bough of Walford the programme follows the stories of local residents, the series was initially screened as two 30-minute episodes per week however since 2001, episodes have been broadcast every day apart from Wednesdays and weekends. Same-day repeats and omnibus editions of the series were previously shown on BBC Three however as of 2016 these are broadcast on UK-based TV channel W. They gave the job of creating this new soap to script writer Tony Holland and producer Julia Smith and they created twenty-four original characters for the show, based upon Hollands own family, and people they remembered from their own experiences in the East End. Granada Television gave Smith unrestricted access to the Coronation Street production for a month so that she could get a sense how a continuing drama was produced and they cast actors for their characters, and began to film the show at BBC Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. Julia Smith thought Eastenders looked ugly written down, and capitalised the second e, the central focus of EastEnders is the fictional Victorian square Albert Square in the fictional London Borough of Walford. In the shows narrative, Albert Square is a 19th-century street, named after Prince Albert, thus, central to Albert Square is The Queen Victoria Public House. Fans have tried to establish the location Walford would have within London if it were real, Walford has the postal district of E20. The postcode district was selected as if it were part of the actual E postcode area covers much of east London although the next unused postcode district in the area was. In 1917 the current postal districts in London were assigned according to the name of the main sorting office for each district. If Walford had been assigned in this scheme it would have been given E17, in March 2011, Royal Mail allocated the E20 postal district to the 2012 Olympic Park. The postal district in EastEnders was entirely fictional up to that point, the shows creators opted for E20 instead of E19 as it was thought to sound better. In September 2011 the postal code for Albert Square was revealed in an episode as E20 6PQ, there is also a market close to Fassett Square at Ridley Road. The postcode for the area, E8, was one of the titles for the series. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where Tony Holland lived and a blend of Walthamstow and Stratford—the areas of Greater London where the creators were born, other parts of the Square and set interiors are based on other locations. The fictional local newspaper, the Walford Gazette, in local news events such as the arrests or murders of characters appear. EastEnders is built around the idea of relationships and strong families and this theme encompasses the whole Square, making the entire community a family of sorts, prey to upsets and conflict, but pulling together in times of trouble. Co-creator Tony Holland was from a large East End family, Pauline and Petes mother was the domineering Lou Beale, who lived with Pauline and her family
5.
BBC Scotland
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BBC Scotland is the division of the BBC, and the publicly funded broadcaster for Scotland. Established in 1952, BBC Scotland is based in Glasgow and employs approximately 1,250 staff to produce 15,000 hours of television, BBC Scotland has three TV channels and two radio stations. Some £320 million of licence fee revenue is raised in Scotland, the remainder of licence fee revenue raised in the country is spent on networked programmes. BBC Scotlands TV channels compete with the ITV networks STV and ITV Border for regional programming, the first radio service in Scotland was launched by the British Broadcasting Company on 6 March 1923. Named 5SC and located in Glasgow, the services gradually expanded to include the new stations 2BD, 2DE and 2EH, based at Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh respectively. Around 1927, the new Corporation, as the BBC now was, Television in Scotland began on 14 March 1952 using the 405-line television system broadcast from the Kirk oShotts transmitter. Television upgraded to colour in 1967 with regular colour broadcasts starting from 1971 when BBC Scotlands studios were upgraded. BBC Scotland has increased the number of programmes shown on the network services. BBC Scotland broadcasts three services to Scottish audiences. The latter of these services adheres to network scheduling more frequently than the former, the flagship news programme Reporting Scotland is presented by Jackie Bird and Sally Magnusson. In addition to two channels BBC Scotland also operates the digital channel BBC Alba, broadcasting programming in Gaelic for up to seven hours a day. The channel is a joint partnership between BBC Scotland and MG Alba and is available across the UK on satellite services, the proposed newscast been considered a response to the perennial proposals for a local opt-out of the BBC News at Six. The channel will be allocated £30 million in annual funding, hall also announced that the BBC would increase its spending on factual and drama productions in Scotland by £20 million annually. BBC Scotland also operates two radio stations covering Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, the former broadcasts English programming 24 hours a day on the frequencies 92-95 FM and 810 MW. The station has specific programming opt outs for Orkney and Shetland in addition to regional news opt outs for four additional sub regions - North East, Highlands & Islands, South West and Borders. BBC Radio nan Gàidheal in contrast is a Gaelic-language station broadcasting for the majority of the day on 103. 5-105 FM, BBC Scotland operates a mini site on BBC Online consisting of a portal to Scottish news, sport, programmes and items of cultural interest through BBC Online. The department also provides content from Scotland on these subjects to the website, BBC Scotland previously offered a podcast download of the top news items of the week and the online streaming of several key sections of output. BBC Scotlands headquarters are located at BBC Pacific Quay on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow
6.
Ronnie Barker
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Ronald William George Ronnie Barker, OBE was an English actor, comedian, and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, Barker began acting in repertory theatre and decided he was best suited to comic roles. He had his first success at the Oxford Playhouse and in roles in the West End including Tom Stoppards The Real Inspector Hound, during this period, he was in the cast of BBC radio and television comedies such as The Navy Lark. He got his break with the satirical sketch series The Frost Report in 1966. He joined David Frosts production company and starred in ITV shows including a short film, after rejoining the BBC, Barker found fame with the sketch show The Two Ronnies, with Ronnie Corbett. He starred in the sitcoms Porridge, its sequel Going Straight and he wrote comedy under his own name, though for much of his written material after 1968 he adopted pseudonyms to avoid pre-judgments of his writing talent. He won a BAFTA for best light entertainment performance four times, among other awards, later television sitcoms such as The Magnificent Evans and Clarence were less successful and he retired in December 1987. The following year, he opened a shop with his wife. After 1999, he appeared in smaller, non-comic roles in films and he died of heart failure on 3 October 2005, aged 76. Barker was born on 25 September 1929 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, Barkers elder sister Vera was born in 1926 and his younger sister Eileen was born in 1933. His father was a clerk for Shell-Mex, and this job saw the move to Church Cowley Road in Cowley. Barkers biographer Bob McCabe described his childhood as a time, marred by no ructions or family tensions. As a child, Barker enjoyed dressing up, particularly in his fathers pierrot outfit, as well as films, comics and he developed a love of the theatre, often attending plays with his family. The first play he saw was Cottage to Let and he skipped school to see Laurence Olivier in Henry V. He frequently stood outside stage doors to collect autographs, his first being the actress Celia Johnson, Barker grew up in the Florence Park area of Oxford, and went to Donnington Junior School, and then the City of Oxford High School for Boys. Barkers chemistry textbook at Oxford was previously used by T. E. Lawrence and he found his talent for humour at school and developed his musical ability by singing in the choir at St Jamess, his local church. He got into the form a year early after gaining the School Certificate but he felt what he was learning would be of no use to him in later life. After leaving school he trained as an architect but gave it up after six months, Barker took his sister Veras job as a bank clerk at the Westminster Bank after she had left to become a nurse
7.
George Best
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George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year, the Irish Football Association described him as the greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland. After making his debut for United aged 17, he scored 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years, One of the greatest dribblers of all time, his playing style combined pace, skill, balance, feints, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders. Best unexpectedly quit United in 1974 at age 27, but returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short spells, until retiring in 1984 and these issues affected him on and off the field, at times causing controversy. He said of his career, I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, after football, he spent some time as a football analyst, but his financial and health problems continued into his retirement. He died in 2005, age 59, due to complications from the drugs he needed to take after a liver transplant in 2002. Best was married twice, to two models, Angie Best and then Alex Best. His son Calum Best was born in 1981 from his first marriage, before he died, Best was voted 8th in the World Soccer 100 greatest football players of the 20th century election in 1999 and was voted 16th in the IFFHS World Player of the Century election in 1999. He was on the six man short list for the BBCs Sports Personality of the Century in 1999, Best was one of the inaugural 22 inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004 he was voted 19th in the public UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll and was named in the FIFA100 list of the worlds greatest living players, former Brazilian footballer Pelé stated, “George Best was the greatest player in the world. Best was once quoted as saying, “Pelé called me the greatest footballer in the world and that is the ultimate salute to my life. ”On what would have been his 60th birthday, Belfast City Airport was renamed the George Best Belfast City Airport. According to the BBC, Best was remembered by mourners at his funeral held in Belfast as the beautiful boy beautiful game. Mark Garnett and Richard Weight have explored the enduring appeal of George Best, George Best was the first child of Richard Dickie Best and Anne Best. He was born on 22 May 1946 and grew up in Cregagh, Best was brought up in the Free Presbyterian faith. His father was a member of the Orange Order and as a boy George carried the strings of the banner in his local Cregagh lodge, in his autobiography, Best mentioned how important the order was to his family. Best had four sisters, Carol, Barbara, Julie and Grace, Bests father died on 16 April 2008, at the age of 88, in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, Northern Ireland. Bests mother Anne died from alcoholism-related cardiovascular disease in 1978, at the age of 55, in 1957, the academically gifted Best passed the 11 plus and went to Grosvenor High School, but he soon played truant as the school specialised in rugby. Best then moved to Lisnasharragh Secondary School, reuniting him with friends from primary school and he grew up supporting Glentoran and Wolverhampton Wanderers
8.
David Bowie
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David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music, during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the worlds best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, in the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. Space Oddity became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969, after a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single Starman and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, in 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. Heroes and Lodger followed, each reached the UK top five. He then reached his peak in 1983 with Lets Dance. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with styles, including industrial. He stopped concert touring after 2004, and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006, in 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar. David Robert Jones was born on 8 January 1947, in Brixton, south London and his mother, Margaret Mary Peggy, was born in Kent, and had Irish ancestry, she worked as a waitress. His father, Haywood Stenton John Jones, from Yorkshire, was an officer for the childrens charity Barnardos. The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, near the border of the south London areas of Brixton, Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler. In 1953, Bowie moved with his family to the suburb of Bromley and his voice was considered adequate by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder. Upon listening to Little Richards song Tutti Frutti, Bowie would later say, presleys impact on him was likewise emphatic, I saw a cousin of mine dance to. Hound Dog and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything and it really impressed me, the power of the music
9.
Geoffrey Boycott
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Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. Boycott made his debut in a 1964 Test match against Australia. Journalist Ian Wooldridge commented that Boycott, in short, walks alone, others, however, have stated that the extent of his introverted nature has been exaggerated, and that while he was obsessed with success he was not a selfish player. After 108 Test match appearances for England, Boycott ended his career in 1982 as the leading Test run scorer with over 8,000 Test match runs. When dropped from the Yorkshire team in 1986 he was the leading run scorer in first-class cricket, after his playing career ended, Boycott became an often outspoken and controversial cricket commentator on both radio and television. In 1998, he was convicted in France, of assaulting his former girlfriend Margaret Moore, he was given a suspended sentence, in 2002, after being diagnosed with throat cancer, he underwent successful radiation treatment, and went into remission. He revived his career in 2003, and continues to attract both criticism and praise. He is currently a member of BBC Radio 4 long waves Test Match Special commentary team, Boycott was born in the mining village of Fitzwilliam, near Wakefield and Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the eldest of three sons of Jane and Thomas Wilfred Boycott, a worker from Shropshire. When Boycott was eight years old, he was impaled through his chest by the handle of a mangle after falling off an iron railing near his home, Boycott nearly died, and in the efforts to save his life, his spleen was removed. In March 1950, Boycotts father had an accident while working as a coalminer. His spine was damaged after he was hit by empty coal carts, Thomas Boycott never fully recovered. There he won a Len Hutton batting award for scoring 45 runs, at age 10, he joined Ackworth Cricket Club, demonstrating outstanding ability. At the age of 11 he failed the examinations that would have him to grammar school. A year later, however, he passed his late-entry exams and his cricket prowess was such that he captained the schools Cricket First XI at the age of 15. During winters he attended a cricket school, where he was coached by former county professional Johnny Lawrence. While studying for his O-levels he began to have difficulties reading the blackboard and was devastated when told he would need glasses. His uncle would go on to be an influence on Boycotts early cricketing game whilst playing for Brierley Juniors Football Club
10.
Ken Dodd
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He also created the characters of the Diddy Men. In the 1960s his fame in the UK was such that he rivalled the Beatles as a household name and his records have sold millions worldwide. As of 2017, he continues to tour the UK with his comedy and he was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to entertainment and charity. Kenneth Arthur Dodd was born on 8 November 1927 in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of a merchant, Arthur Dodd. He had a brother, William and a younger sister. He went to the Knotty Ash School, and sang in the church choir of St Johns Church. At the age of seven, Dodd was dared by his friends to ride his bike with his eyes shut. He accepted the dare, crashed and sustained facial injuries which resulted in his distinctive buck teeth and he then attended Holt High School, a grammar school in Childwall, but left at age 14 to work for his father. Not long after, his father bought him a ventriloquists dummy and he started entertaining at the local orphanage, then at various other local community functions. He got his big break at age 26 when, in September 1954, a nervous young man, he sat in a local milk bar for most of the afternoon, going over and over his lines before going to the theatre. He later said, Well at least they didnt boo me off and he continued to perform, and in 1955 he appeared at Blackpool, where, in the following year, he had a part in Lets Have Fun. His performance at the Central Pier was part of a revue with Jimmy James. Also on the bill were Jimmy Clitheroe and Roy Castle. Dodd first gained top billing at Blackpool in 1958 and he has guested on innumerable television and radio shows and made many appearances on BBC TVs long running programme, The Good Old Days. Dodd has been described as the last great music hall entertainer and his stand-up comedy style is fast and relies on the rapid delivery of one-liner jokes. He has claimed that his influences include other Liverpool comedians like Arthur Askey, Robb Wilton, Tommy Handley. He intersperses the comedy with songs, both serious and humorous, in an incongruously fine light baritone voice, and with his original speciality. At the time it was the UKs biggest selling single by a solo artist, Dodd was selected to perform the song on A Jubilee Of Music on BBC One on 31 December 1976, a celebration of the key pop successes of the Queens first 25 years as Britains monarch
11.
Nicolas Cage
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Nicolas Kim Coppola, known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and producer. He has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and he earned his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. In 2002, he directed the film Sonny, for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival, Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire and The Life of David Gale. He has also appeared in National Treasure, Lord of War, Bad Lieutenant, Port of Call New Orleans, Films such as Ghost Rider and Knowing were box office successes. Cage has been criticized in recent years for his choice of roles. However, he starred in The Croods and Joe, both of which were warmly received by critics. Cage was born in Long Beach, California, to August Coppola, a professor of literature, and Joy Vogelsang and he was raised in a Catholic family. His father was of Italian descent and his mothers ancestry was German and his paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata. Cages two brothers are New York radio personality Marc The Cope Coppola and director Christopher Coppola and he attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an age and also attended UCLA School of Theater, Film. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a production of Golden Boy. He cites James Dean as the key inspiration for his career, saying, I saw him in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden. Nothing affected me—no rock song, no classical music—the way Dean affected me in Eden, I was like, Thats what I want to do. To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his film debut with a role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, opposite Judge Reinhold and Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films. He auditioned for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncles film The Outsiders, hintons novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppolas films Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married, Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles
12.
Chevy Chase
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Cornelius Crane Chevy Chase is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. Born into a prominent New York family, he worked a plethora of jobs before moving into comedy. He immediately became a key cast member in the season of Saturday Night Live. He has hosted the Academy Awards twice and briefly had his own talk show. Chase was born in Lower Manhattan, New York, and was raised in Woodstock and his father, Edward Tinsley Ned Chase, was a prominent Manhattan book editor and magazine writer. His maternal grandmother, Cathalene, was a singer who performed several times at Carnegie Hall. Chase was named for his adoptive grandfather Cornelius, while the nickname Chevy was bestowed by his grandmother, as a descendant of the Scottish Clan Douglas, the name seemed appropriate to her. Chase is a 14th-generation New Yorker, and was listed in the Social Register at an early age, according to his brother John, once told me that people who defined themselves in terms of their ancestry were like potatoes – the best parts of them were underground. He disdained the pretension of my mothers side of the family, as embodied by her mother, as a child, Chase vacationed at Castle Hill, the Cranes summer estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Chases parents divorced when he was four, his father remarried into the Folgers coffee family and he has stated that he grew up in an upper middle class environment and that his adoptive maternal grandfather did not bequeath any assets to Chases mother when he died. In a 2007 biography, Chase stated that he was physically and psychologically abused as a child by his mother and stepfather, both his parents died in 2005. Chase attended Riverdale Country School before being expelled and he ultimately graduated from the Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He then attended Haverford College during the 1962–63 term, where he was noted for slapstick comedy, Chase transferred to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where he studied a pre-med curriculum and graduated in 1967 with a BA in English. Chase did not enter medical school, which meant he would be subject to the military draft, Chase played drums with the college band The Leather Canary, headed by school friends Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Chase has called the group a bad jazz band, Becker and he played drums and keyboards for a rock band called Chamaeleon Church, which recorded one album for MGM Records before disbanding in 1969. Chase was a member of an underground comedy ensemble called Channel One which he co-founded in 1967. He also wrote a spoof on Mission, Impossible for Mad Magazine in 1970 and was a writer for the short-lived Smothers Brothers TV show comeback in the spring of 1975. Chase made the move to comedy as a career by 1973, when he became a cast member of The National Lampoon Radio Hour
