Sylvester Stallone: ABD'li sinema oyuncusu, senarist ve yönetmen. Adını daha çok aksiyon filmleriyle duyuran Sylvester Stallone 6 Temmuz 1946 tarihinde Amerika'nın New York eyaletinde doğmuştur. Gerçek adı Sylvester Enzio Stallone olan aktörün doğumu esnasında meydana gelen bazı sorunlardan dolayı yüzününün sol alt kısmında kısmi bir felç oluştu. Bu felç yüzünden bir süre konuşma bozukluğu ve sol gözün kayması gibi sorunlar yaşadı. Devam eden bu sorunları yüzünden uzun süre karikatüristlere malzeme olmuştur. Stallone, dikkat çekmek için çaba sarf etmemesine rağmen öğrencilik döneminde 12 kez okul değiştirmiş ve bu okullardan davranış bozukluğu olduğu gerekçesiyle atılmıştır. 1967 yılında Miami Üniversitesi tiyatro bölümünde eğitim görmeye başladı ama 1969'da mezun olamadan ayrıldı.

Sylvester Stallone meşhur olmadan önce Studs ve Party A Kitty adındaki pornografik filmlerde boy göstermiştir. Profesyonel bir oyuncu olarak oynadığı ilk filmi 1971 yılındaki Bananas'tır, ama asıl çıkışını 1976 yılında çevirdiği Rocky filmiyle yakalamıştır. Bu filmde İtalyan asıllı bir boksör olan Rocky Balboa'nın hayatı anlatılmış ve filmin gişe başarısı beklenenin üstünde çıkınca projeye devam kararı alınmıştır. Rocky adının, 1956 yılında boksu namağlup bir şekilde bırakan ağırsiklet boks şampiyonu Rocky Marciano'dan esinlenerek verildiği düşünülmektedir. Stallone,Rocky efsanesi ile sadece oyunculuğunu değil aynı zamanda senaryo yazarlığı ve yönetmenlik gibi özelliklerini sergilemiş oluyordu. Rocky serisinin bütün filmlerini kendisi kaleme almış ve serinin 2,3,4 ve 6. bölümlerinde yönetmenlik koltuğuna oturmuştur. Bu filmlerde Rocky İtalyan asıllı olmasına rağmen şortu Amerikan bayrağına bürünmüştür. Aynı zamanda Rocky serisi filmlerde Stallone kendi düşüncelerini yansıtmaktadır. Bir maçta siyahi bir boksörü devirirken diğer bir serideki filmde Rus boksörü ringde nakavt etmiştir. Rus ideolojisi ve Amerika'da yaşayan zencilerle olan fikirlerini filmlerinde ringe taşımış ve bu karşılaşmalardan Rocky Balboa (A.B.D.) galip ayrılmıştır.

Sylvester Stallone, Rocky ile çıkış yaşamasına rağmen onu tüm dünyanın gözünde kahraman yapan 1982 yılında çevrilen İlk Kan filmindeki John Rambo karakteridir. Öyleki ter içerisinde kalmış vücudundaki tüm damarlarının göründüğü sonuna kadar gerilmiş kaslara ve yaptığı işlere bakıldığında (tek başına Afganistan'a girmek gibi...) hayran kalmamak mümkün değildi. Bu filmdeki hayranlık yine Stallone için bir devam filminin kapısını aralamıştır. 1985 ve 1988 yıllarında 3'er sene arayla gelen Rambo serisi beyaz perdeyi dolayısıyla hayranlarını yalnız bırakmamıştır. 2007 yılında serinin 4.filminin gösterilmesi beklenmektir.

Empire dergisinin 1997 yılındaki Ekim ayı sayısında Tüm Zamanların En İyi 100 Film Yıldızı sıralamasında 92.sırada yer aldı.

19 Ocak 2007 tarihinde Sözde Ermeni Soykırımı ile ilgili yapmış olduğu açıklamalar basında geniş yer aldı. Oyuncu, Alman yazar Franz Werfel'in büyük tartışmalara neden olan kitabı Musa Dağı'nda 40 Gün'ü beyaz perdeye uyarlayacağını ve Türklerin bu konunun üzerini sürekli olarak kapattığını öne süren açıklamalar yaparak dikkatleri üstüne çekmiştir.

Stallone ilk olarak Sasha Czazk ile evlendi. Bu evliliğinden Sage ve Seargeoh adında iki oğlu olmuştur. 1985 yılında boşandılar. Sonrasında Stallone manken Bridgette Nielsen ile evlendi ve 1.5 yıl sonra boşandılar. Jennifer Flavin adlı mankenle evlenerek 3. kez dünyaevine giren aktörün bu evliliktende Sofia adında bir kızı var.

• Filmlerinde hiçbirşeyden korkmayan Sylvester Stallone, böceklerden özelliklede hamam böceğinden aşırı derecede kormaktadır.
• The Godfather için teklif alan Stallone, kendine güvenemediği gerekçesiyle bu teklifi geri çevirmiştir.
• Leonardo Da Vinci' yi kişisel kahraman olarak görüyor
• İlk evliliğinden olan oğlu Seargeoh'a otistik, son evliliğinden olan Sofia'ya ise kalbi delik teşhisi konuldu.
• Annesi, Jackie Chan hayranı ve Chan ile Stallone çok sıkı dostlar.
  
• Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis ile Planet Hollywood restoranlarının ortaklarındandır.

Bananas (1971)
Klute (1971)
Rebel (1973)
The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
No Plice to Hide (1975)
The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)
Farewell,My Lovely (1975)
Capone (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Rocky (1976)
Cannonball (1976)
Paradise Alley (1978)
F.I.S.T. (1978)
Rocky 2 (1979)
Escape to Victory (1981)
Nighthawks (1981)
First Blood-Rambo (1982)
Rocky 3 (1982)
Staying Alive (1983)
Rhinesatone (1984)
Rocky 4 (1985)
Rambo 2 (1985)
Cobra (1986)
Over the Top (1987)
Rambo III (1988)
Lock Up (1989)
Tango&Cash (1989)
Rocky 5 (1990)
Oscar (1991)
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
Demolition Man (1993)
Clifhanger (1993)
A Century Of Cinema (1994)
The Specialist (1995)
Assasins (1995)
Judge Dredd (1995)
Daylight (1996)
Cop Land (1997)
The Good Life (1997)
AntZ (1998) seslendirme
Get Carter (2000)
Eye See You (2001)
Driven (2001)
D-Tox (2002)
Avenging Angelo (2002)
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Rambo 4 (2007) yapım aşamasında

Garry Shandling (born November 29, 1949) is an American comedian. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show.

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Early life and career
• 2 Stand-up comedy
• 3 TV series
• 4 Other work
• 5 Shandling in popular culture
• 6 Footnotes
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Shandling was born to a Jewish American family in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He had an older brother, Barry, who passed away from cystic fibrosis when Garry was 10. He attended Palo Verde High Magnet School. After graduation, he attended the University of Arizona, at first majoring in electrical engineering, but eventually completing a degree in marketing and pursuing a year of post-graduate studies in creative writing.

In 1973, Shandling moved to Los Angeles, California, made contact with comedian George Carlin after catching one of his shows, worked at an advertising agency for a time, then sold a script for the popular NBC sitcom Sanford and Son. Shandling's script became the November 1975 "Sanford and the Rising Son," the episode in which Ah Chew (played by Pat Morita) turned junk-yard owner Fred Sanford's house into a Chinese restaurant. Shandling continued to do comedy scriptwriting for sitcoms including Welcome Back, Kotter and Three's Company.

In 1977, Shandling was involved in an auto accident that put him in critical condition for weeks. He later turned the accident into part of his stand-up comedy act.

In 1978, Shandling performed his first stand-up routine at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. His persona of was that of an anxiety-ridden, grimacing, guarded, confused man who seemed always on the verge of losing control. After a couple of years on the road, a talent scout from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson caught his act and booked him to appear as a guest host on March 18, 1981. Shandling began substituting for Carson on a regular basis along with Jay Leno until 1985.

He is ranked #30 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.

Shandling and co-writer Alan Zweibel went on to create the surreal comedy series It's Garry Shandling's Show in 1985, which ran 72 episodes on the Showtime cable television network through 1990, with edited reruns playing on the Fox network beginning in 1988.

The series, a popular critical hit, became known for its Brechtian use of what is known in theater as "breaking the fourth wall", a concept in which characters turn away from the action and comment directly on the proceedings or make asides to the audience. While Groucho Marx was a pioneer of the technique in the 1930s movie Animal Crackers, and television had occasionally broken the fourth wall since at least the 1950s TV series starring Ernie Kovacs and the team of George Burns and Gracie Allen, and sporadically afterward, Shandling's series employed the idea as a central conceit, and influenced such future wall-breaking series as The Bernie Mac Show.

In 1992, Shandling had another critical and commercial success creating the mock behind-the-scenes talk show sitcom The Larry Sanders Show, which ran 89 episodes through 1998 on the cable network HBO, garnering 56 Emmy Award nominations and three wins.

In 1993, NBC offered Shandling $5 million[citation needed] to take over the late-night comedic talk show Late Night when host David Letterman announced his highly publicized move to CBS, but Shandling declined. The Larry Sanders Show later spoofed the network's efforts to find a Letterman successor.

Shandling has appeared occasionally in movies, beginning with a cameo as dental patient Mr. Vertisey in The Night We Never Met. He played supporting roles in the 1994 films Love Affair and Mixed Nuts (a.k.a. Lifesavers), Dr. Dolittle (1998) as the voice of a live-action pigeon, the David Rabe play adaptation Hurlyburly (1998), and Trust the Man. He wrote and starred in director Mike Nichols' What Planet Are You From? (2000), and co-starred with Warren Beatty and others in Town & Country. Again voicing an animal, Shandling co-starred as Verne the turtle in the computer animated comic strip adaptation Over the Hedge (2006)

Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 1995, and the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004.

Today (2007) it is not uncommon for Shandling to enjoy a fine beverage. He is especially partial to the better ginger ales.

In 2006, comedian Ricky Gervais interviewed Shandling for a British documentary citing him as a comic influence.[1] The reviews of British TV critics were mixed â€" one Guardian reviewer described it as "the uneasiest interview ever",[2] another as Gervais' most interesting[3] but the general consensus was that it felt "awkward",[4][5][6] a hallmark of each man's comedic style.[7][8]

In the Butthole Surfers song "Revolution Part 2," Gibby Haynes sings a long chorus of Shandling's name interspersed with those of other famous actors.[9][10] Haynes said that Shandling was "just one of those people who haunt me."[11]

• AllMovie.com: Garry Shandling
• Museum of Broadcasting: It's Garry Shandling's Show / The Larry Sanders Show
• The New York Times (Jan. 28, 2007): "Hey Now: It's Garry Shandling's Obsession", by Jacques Steinberg
• The BBC.co.uk Guide to Comedy: It's Garry Shandling's Show
• Filmbug.com: Garry Shandling
• Newsday (April 15, 2007): "Fast Chat - Garry Shandling", by Frank Lovece
• Jewish Journal (March 3, 2000): "What Planet is Garry Shandling From?", by Naomi Pfefferman

• Garry Shandling at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com: It's Garry Shandling's Show

Kevin Nealon (born November 18, 1953 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American comedian and actor best known for the characters he played on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, and his role on the series Weeds.

• 1 Early career
• 2 Film and television roles
• 3 Wiretapping
• 4 Personal life
• 5 Animal rights support
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Nealon graduated from Notre Dame Fairfield in 1971 and then graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing from Sacred Heart University, and worked in a variety of part-time jobs while doing stand-up comedy. He debuted on network television doing a stand-up routine for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1984. In 1986, Saturday Night Live recruited his friend Dana Carvey, and Carvey in turn recommended Nealon. Both joined the cast that year, and Nealon became a full-time performer in the 1987-1988 season, and remained for nine seasons.

Nealon was also a member of the Connecticut Yankees RFC based in Norwalk, CT.

Nealon's SNL characters include Mr. Subliminal (or Subliminal Message Man), "Franz" (of Hans and Franz) along with Dana Carvey, Mr. No Depth Perception, the anchor of Weekend Update (where his catchphrase was "That's news to me"), and many others. Nealon imbued all these characters with a characteristic deadpan delivery.

In 1991, he starred in the holiday movie, All I Want for Christmas. More recently Nealon has appeared in the movies Happy Gilmore, Anger Management, Little Nicky, Daddy Day Care, Good Boy! and Grandma's Boy.

Nealon is now a regular cast member on the Showtime comedy series Weeds and the host of the poker show Poker Royale: The WPPA Championship.

In Fall 2005 he appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he played himself (Season 5, Episode 4).

He has also appeared as a patient in a mental institution on the first season of Monk.

"Deja Vu" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 9 July 1999, during the fifth season. Nealon played Dr. Mark Crest.

On a 1985 syndicated episode of the game show Sale of the Century, a relatively unknown Nealon is spotted as one of the friends congratulating and celebrating with champion Tim Holleran, who won everything on stage to win $166,875, including $90,000 in cash.

On February 22nd 2006, Nealon [1] contributed a story to the New York Times about being wiretapped by Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who has been indicted on racketeering and conspiracy charges.

It was also revealed in a separate court case on February 27, 2006, that investigators working for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus may also have targeted Nealon for wiretapping [2].

Nealon is married to actress Susan Yeagley. Yeagley gave birth to their first child, son Gable Ness Nealon, on Monday, January 29, 2007 in Santa Monica, California[3].

Nealon is an old boy for Connecticut Yankees RFC.

Nealon and his ex-wife (Linda Dupree, she palyed one of the mud wrestlers fighting John Candy in Stripes) had been active in the animal rights movement, supporting fund-raising events for the Amanda Foundation, the Washington Wildlife Protection Association, The Ark Trust's Genesis Awards and also Meat Out.

He is a vegan and lives in the Los Angeles area.

• Kevin Nealon at the Internet Movie Database