Whether it was a sexy role in “Summer School†(1987), a smart role on “Ally McBeal†(Fox,1997-2000) or a troubled role on “Melrose Place†(Fox 1992-97), earthy blonde beauty Courtney Thorne-Smith delighted fans for almost twenty years, providing her own wit, depth and charm to “good girl†parts, which in lesser hands, could have come across as thankless and bland.
Thorne-Smith was born on Nov. 8, 1967 in San Francisco, CA and later graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, CA. She realized her love of acting while performing in a kindergarten production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.†Her father, a computer market researcher, and her mother, a therapist, divorced when she was seven years old, leaving her to live with one or both of them at different stages of her childhood and teenage years. She began her career with the Ensemble Theatre Company in Mill Valley, CA while still a student in high school.
Well-known for his trademark rapid-fire wisecracks, actor-comedian Chris Tucker broke into movies in the mid-1990s, following a successful career in stand-up. After his scene-stealing turn in director F. Gary Gray’s 1995 cult comedy hit “Friday,” Tucker took on the role of his career as Jackie Chan’s comic foil and partner in the action-comedy, “Rush Hour” (1998). Thanks to the worldwide success of “Rush Hour,” Tucker became the fastest actor ever to make Hollywood’s elite “$20 Million Club” – a princely sum he received for appearing in the 2001 sequel. Despite wracking up a prolific flurry of credits at the start of his career, Tucker’s output slowed to a trickle by the early 2000s, limiting his film roles strictly to the “Rush Hour” franchise.
In an age when celebrities seem willing to confess every and all of their foibles and failings, Chris O'Donnell seems like an anomaly. Variously labeled by the press as "The Last Boy Scout" or "Mr. Squeaky Clean", he is an actor whose ordinary, decent personal life has translated to the screen in wholesome, regular guy roles. Blandly attractive, but possessing enough gravity to be a compelling screen presence, he has provided able support to some of cinema's powerful personalities (e.g., Jessica Lange, Al Pacino) as well as proving a successful light comedian, It was only when he attempted to translate his straight-laced, preppy persona and instinctual approach to performing into a dramatic leading man (as in 1997's "The Chamber") that he stumbled.
The third son of actor Martin Sheen, intense, square-jawed Charlie Sheen exploded into the public's consciousness as the narrator-grunt of Oliver Stone's autobiographical Vietnam War picture "Platoon" (1986), a deja vu of sorts that returned him to the Philippines, the scene of his first feature film (as an extra), Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979), starring his father. That performance coupled with his role as Michael Douglas' unscrupulous protégé whose naked ambition leads him into conflict with his blue-collar father (played by his real-life dad) in Stone's "Wall Street" the following year, catapulted him to the status of one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. Since then, Sheen has worked prolifically, but for much of the 90s, it was his profligacy that earned the biggest headlines and arguably prevented him from fulfilling his early promise.
Tonight is the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest will get a little help with his hosting duties by several reality tv stars such as Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Tom Bergeron. The live telecast of the Emmy’s will air from L.A.’s Nokia Theatre on Sunday, September 21 on CTV. We will update you here with the 2008 Emmy Award Winners!
