Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation was released July 31, 2015.
Plot: Ethan and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.
Remembering Geoffrey Lewis, born July 31, 1935 and passed away April 7, 2015.
Geoffrey Bond Lewis was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 films and television shows, and was principally known for his film roles alongside Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. He typically portrayed villains or quirky characters. He played a bodyguard in the Jean-Claude van Damme film Double Impact.
Lewis appeared in TV series such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Barnaby Jones, Mork & Mindy, Lou Grant, Mama’s Family, Magnum, P.I., The A-Team, Titus- 2003 Foxtv. Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, Highway to Heaven and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 1979, he appeared in Salem’s Lot. He also played opposite Polly Holliday in the Alice spin-off Flo (1980–81) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He co-starred with Fred Dryer in Land’s End (1995–96).
His film credits include such movies as Down in the Valley, The Butcher, Maverick, and When Every Day Was the Fourth of July.
Lewis worked frequently with actor-director Clint Eastwood in several films including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Pink Cadillac, Any Which Way You Can, Bronco Billy, Every Which Way But Loose, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and High Plains Drifter.
In the 1980’s, Lewis was also a member of musical storytelling group Celestial Navigations with musician and songwriter Geoff Levin.
On April 7, 2015, he died of a heart attack at age 79 in his Woodland Hills residence.
Happy birthday to Wesley Snipes, born July 31, 1962.
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer and martial artist.
His prominent film roles include New Jack City (1991), White Men Can’t Jump (1993) and the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004).
He formed a production company, Amen-Ra Films, in 1991, and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television.
He has been training in martial arts since the age of 12, earning a 5th dan black belt in Shotokan Karate and 2nd dan black belt in Hapkido.
At the age of 23, Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition. He made his film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats. Later that year, he appeared on the TV show Miami Vice as a drug-dealing pimp in the episode “Streetwise” (first aired December 5, 1986).
In 1987, he appeared as Michael Jackson’s nemesis in the Martin Scorsese–directed music video “Bad” and the feature film Streets of Gold.
That same year, Snipes was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the role eventually went to LeVar Burton.
Happy birthday to Barry Van Dyke, born July 31, 1951.
Barry Van Dyke is an American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke.
He is known to audiences as Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan, a homicide detective and the son of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) on Diagnosis: Murder.
His other television work includes a starring role in Galactica 1980 as Lieutenant Dillon, and appearances in Remington Steele, The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., The Dukes of Hazzard, as Ace Combat Pilot and former M.I.A. soldier St. John Hawke in the fourth and final season of Airwolf, The A-Team, Gun Shy, Murder, She Wrote, Mork & Mindy, and The Redd Foxx Show.
Happy birthday to France Nuyen, born July 31, 1939.
France Nuyen is the French actress who played the title role in “Elaan of Troyius”, a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. She is also remembered for her role as Dr. Paulette Kiem on the NBC series St. Elsewhere.
She was born as France Nguyen Van-Nga in Marseille, France to a French mother and Vietnamese father.
Nuyen made her film debut portraying Liat in the hit 1958 film version of the stage musical South Pacific. Nuyen won the Daniel Bloom Award for her role in South Pacific. Nuyen followed this with a role in the 1958 film adaptation of In Love and War.
Later that same year, Nuyen began starring on Broadway opposite William Shatner in The World of Suzie Wong, with Nuyen playing the title role. She won the 1959 Theatre World Award for her performance in the play, which ran for a total of 508 performances. She was to reprise her role in the 1960 film adaptation of the play and even shot half the film, but she was suddenly replaced with Nancy Kwan. She went on to work with William Shatner again on Star Trek and at least two more times afterward: on a 1972 episode of Kung Fu and in the 1973 CBS TV movie, The Horror at 37,000 Feet.
After ending her run on Suzie Wong, Nuyen starred in such films as Diamond Head and Dimension 5. Nuyen’s television credits included a guest appearance on an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., two episodes of Gunsmoke, and a few episodes of I Spy. It was on this series that Nuyen met actor Robert Culp, whom she married in 1967 and divorced in 1970.
Nuyen has since appeared on television shows such as Hawaii Five-O, The Six Million Dollar Man, Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island, Trapper John, M.D. , Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and the 1990’s version of The Outer Limits. From 1986 through 1988, Nuyen starred as Dr. Paulette Kim on the series St. Elsewhere. In 1990, she had a recurring role on the long-running prime-time soap, Knots Landing.
Her later film credits include Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Joy Luck Club, and The Battle of Shaker Heights. She also starred in the 1994 film A Passion to Kill and in 1995’s Angry Cafe. She was also seen in the 2007 drama The American Standards.
In addition to acting, Nuyen is also a certified psychologist. She received a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology in 1986 and became a psychological counselor for abused women and children, women in prison, and drug abusers. She was named “Woman of the Year” in 1989 for her psychological work, in addition to numerous commendations and awards.
Happy birthday to Michael Biehn, Born: July 31, 1956.
Michael Connell Biehn is an American actor and director. He is best known for his roles in James Cameron’s science fiction action films, including the 1984 science fiction action thriller The Terminator (as Sgt. Kyle Reese), the 1986 science-fiction action horror film Aliens (as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks), and the 1989 science fiction-adventure film The Abyss (as Lt. Coffey). He has also acted in films such as the Western film Tombstone (1993), the action film The Rock (1996), Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001), and the action horror science-fiction film Planet Terror. On television, Biehn appeared in the cast of the Emmy Award-winning 1980s police drama series Hill Street Blues and the short-lived syndicated adventure show Adventure Inc. (2002-2003).
Remembering Ted Cassidy, Born: July 31, 1932 and passed away on January 16, 1979
Theodore Crawford Cassidy, better known as Ted Cassidy, was a very tall (6′ 9″), gravel-voiced actor who played Ruk, the ancient android discovered by Roger Korby, in the Star Trek episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and who also did voice over roles for the series. He was best known, however, for portraying the macabre butler Lurch on the television series, The Addams Family.
Cassidy filmed his scenes between Friday 29 July 1966 and Tuesday 9 August 1966 at Desilu Stage 10. He also recorded the voice-over for Balok’s puppet during this period.
He started working in films in 1960, voicing the Martian in the science fiction film The Angry Red Planet. In 1964, he made his television debut as Lurch on The Addams Family. While auditioning for the role of Lurch, which was supposed to be a non-speaking role, Cassidy ad-libbed the famous “You rang?” line, which was written into the series. Cassidy also played the role of Thing (the disembodied hand) on The Addams Family, a role that was credited to “itself”. The only times Cassidy did not play Thing were in those scenes in which Lurch and Thing appeared together. For these scenes, the show’s associate producer lent a hand by “playing” Thing.
Cassidy’s large size earned him roles as physically impressive characters, such as the villainous Injun Joe on the short-lived television series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the bully Harvey Logan in the classic 1969 Western film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and even as Goliath in James L. Conway’s 1978 mini-series Greatest Heroes of the Bible. In the meantime, his deep bass voice was sought after for voice-over roles, such as Metallus on Space Ghost, the Thing on The Fantastic Four, and Brainiac and the Black Manta on Challenge of the SuperFriends
In 1973, Cassidy played Isiah in Gene Roddenberry’s unsold pilot entitled Genesis II. Cassidy would reprise his role in the pilot’s 1974 re-working Planet Earth. Those two pilots, which featured the exploits of a Rip Van Winkle/Buck Rogers-type hero named Dylan Hunt, served as the basis for Roddenberry’s Andromeda, the lead character of which had the same name.
Besides Star Trek, other shows on which Cassidy has guest-starred included Lost in Space, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, Tarzan, Mannix, Bonanza, and a two-parter on The Bionic Woman. He made his film debut opposite Julie Newmar in 1969’s Mackenna’s Gold and also appeared in such films as 1976’s Harry and Walter Go to New York, 1977’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste and 1978’s Goin’ Coconuts. In addition, he had a role in Susan Oliver’s 1977 short film Cowboysan. Cassidy was an early auditioner for the title role of The Incredible Hulk television series, and wound up providing the opening voice-over narration for each episode of that show, in addition to supplying some part of the Hulk’s roars and growls.
Cassidy died of complications following open heart surgery in 1979, leaving behind a long-time girlfriend and two children. Cassidy’s final work was Filmation’s animated sci-fi TV movie Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All.
In the 1990s, Cassidy’s most famous role, Lurch from The Addams Family, was assumed by TNG guest star Carel Struycken for the Addams Family feature films: The Addams Family in 1991, Addams Family Values in 1993, and Addams Family Reunion in 1998.
Dean George Cain is an American actor, producer, writer, director, and television show host. He is known for his role as Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, host of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and the soap opera series Hit the Floor.
Joanne Rowling, who writes under the pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, film and television producer, screenwriter and philanthropist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history and been the basis for a series of films, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films in the series.
Remembering William Wintersole, born July 30, 1931 and passed away November 5, 2019.
William Wintersole was an American actor who appeared on The Young and the Restless for over 20 years as Mitchell Sherman, as well as on General Hospital as Ted Ballantine.
In The Outer Limits he played Prof. Andrew Whitsett in the episode “The Inheritors: Part I”.
In Star Trek he played Abrom in the Star Trek episode “Patterns of Force”.
A character actor, Wintersole also appeared in television series, including I Dream of Jeannie, Kojak, Little House on the Prairie, Quincy, M.E., Bonanza and The Fugitive.