Skip Williamson (producer)

Skip Williamson is an American Grammy-nominated music producer, feature film producer, and publisher. After establishing the independent label, Will Records, he partnered with Lakeshore Entertainment to form Lakeshore Records. Williamson is also a co-publisher and Chief Creative Officer of "Revolver".
Career.
Before entering the entertainment industry, Williamson served as a strategist on Wall Street, constructing corporate prospectuses for mergers and acquisitions.
In 1994, under the moniker Will Records, Williamson started producing underground albums out of his garage, including early work by Grandaddy, AK1200, and Candiria. He produced numerous albums for films, earning a pair of Grammy nominations for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media on "Napoleon Dynamite" (2005) and "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006).
During his 13-year tenure as partner at Lakeshore Entertainment, Williamson also produced several films, including the "Underworld" franchise (2003-2016), "Crank" (2006) and "Gamer" (2009), and "Million Dollar Baby".


Jim South

James Marvin Souter, Jr. (1939-2020), known professionally as Jim South, was an American recruiter and agent in the pornography industry.
Early life.
South sold insurance in Dallas for a few years and moved to Los Angeles in 1968. He opened a fashion modeling agency first, then formed the World Modeling Talent Agency in Sherman Oaks, California in 1976. The agency represented many performers and models who worked in adult movies and magazines.
Career.
World Modeling became infamous for unknowingly representing a then underaged Traci Lords. Through South's agency, 15-year-old Lords started nude modeling; she had introduced herself with a fraudulent identification card on the name Kristie Elizabeth Nussman that made her 22 years old. Lords became the September 1984 "Penthouse" "Pet of the Month," for which she earned $5,000, and first performed in pornographic movies in October 1984.
Following the May 1986 revelation that most of Lords' porn work was illegal, South was arrested on March 4, 1987, and was among those later charged by the U.S. government with pandering and child pornography. The charges were eventually dismissed after the discovery that the government had issued Lords a passport under the name Kristi Nussman.
In an interview, South said, "The only reason [the charges were dropped] was that the federal government that saw the very same ID I saw gave Traci a passport to go to Europe to make an X-rated movie." That movie, "Traci, I Love You", which was made in Cannes soon after Lords' 18th birthday, is her only legal porn film in the United States.
In interviews and her book, Lords held him in perpetual contempt for what she sees as his (and others') unapologetic role in her sexual exploitation. She stated that she named him "Tim North" in her autobiography not for legal reasons but as a means to protect people from him, and to avoid giving him and his company any publicity, which could draw young women into the sex industry. Lords wrote that South gave her cocaine and champagne during her first nude photo shoot at World Modeling, a charge that South denies.
In 1991, porn producers discovered that Alexandra Quinn, a World Modeling talent, had entered porn in 1990 at age 17. Quinn pretended that she was born in 1968, the same year as Traci Lords' birth. Unlike the Lords case, Quinn did not generate a scandal with media coverage, nor did anyone face legal action.
World Modeling went out of business in November 2006 because of declining profits. Over a year later on December 5, 2007, South announced the reopening of World Modeling with a change of direction as well as an intent to reduce the number of young women he represents.
Business model.
South's female clients could earn up to $1,500 for a day's work (usually two scenes). Exotic acts, involving multiple partners or "bizarre fetishism" could fetch $3,500. South did not work on percentage basis, but was rather paid $65 a day per performer by the film's producer. In rare cases, when having negotiated an exclusive deal, he would get a cut from the profits.
Personal life.
South claimed he maintained a strict "no dating" policy with his clients, preferring his relationship with his talents to be strictly professional. South married his wife in 1975, and he had two sons. He died on August 28, 2020.


James T. Aubrey

James Thomas Aubrey Jr. (December 14, 1918 – September 3, 1994) was an American television and film executive. As president of the CBS television network from 1959 to 1965, with his "smell for the blue-collar", he produced some of television's most enduring series on the air, including "Gilligan's Island" and "The Beverly Hillbillies".
Under Aubrey's leadership, CBS dominated American television, leading the other networks NBC and ABC, by nine points and seeing its profits rise from $25 million in 1959 to $49 million in 1964. "The New York Times Magazine" in 1964 called Aubrey "a master of programming whose divinations led to successes that are breathtaking". Aubrey had replaced CBS Television president Louis G. Cowan, who was dismissed after the quiz-show scandals. Aubrey's tough decision-making earned him the nickname "Smiling Cobra" during his tenure.
Despite his success in television, Aubrey's abrasive personality and ego led to his firing from CBS, amid charges of misconduct. Aubrey offered no explanation following his dismissal, nor did CBS President Frank Stanton or Board Chairman William Paley. "The circumstances rivaled the best of CBS adventure or mystery shows," declared "The New York Times" in its front-page story on his firing, which came on "the sunniest Sunday in February" 1965.
After four years as an independent producer, Aubrey was hired by financier Kirk Kerkorian in 1969 to preside over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's (MGM) near-total shutdown, during which he cut the budget and alienated producers and directors, but brought profits to a company that had suffered huge losses. In 1973, Aubrey resigned from MGM, declaring his job was done, and then kept a low profile for the last two decades of his life.
Early life and career.
Born in LaSalle, Illinois, James Thomas Steven Aubrey was the eldest of four sons of James Thomas Aubrey Sr., an advertising executive with the Chicago firm of Aubrey, Moore, and Wallace Inc., and his wife, the former Mildred Stever. He grew up in the affluent Chicago suburb of Lake Forest and attended Lake Forest Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Princeton University. All four boys, James, Stever, David, and George, went to the same schools; his brother Stever became a successful advertiser at J. Walter Thompson before heading the F. William Free agency. While at Princeton, all four brothers were members of the Tiger Inn eating club. "My father insisted on accomplishment," Aubrey recalled in 1986.
At Princeton, Aubrey was on the football team, playing left end. "The New York Times Magazine" described Aubrey as "6-foot 2-inch with an incandescent smile", with "unrevealing polar blue eyes". "Life" magazine described him as "youthful, handsome, brainy, with an incandescent smile, a quiet, somewhat salty wit, and when he cared to turn it on, considerable charm. He was always fastidiously turned out, from his Jerry the Barber haircut to his CBS-eye cufflinks." One producer said, "Aubrey is one of the most insatiably curious guys I know." He graduated in 1941 with honors in English and entered the United States Army Air Forces. As part of his degree, Aubrey completed a 196-page long senior thesis titled "Fielding's Debt to Cervantes and the Picaresque Tradition."
During his service in World War II, Aubrey rose to the rank of major and taught military flying to actor James Stewart, who was a licensed civilian pilot. While stationed in Southern California, he met Phyllis Thaxter, an actress signed to MGM, whom he married in November 1944. Thaxter's first role was as Ted Lawson's wife in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944), and her final film was as Martha Kent, in the 1978 "Superman". They had two children, Susan Schuyler "Skye" Aubrey (born "circa" 1946) and James Watson Aubrey (born "circa" 1953). The couple divorced in 1962.
After being discharged from the Air Force, Aubrey stayed in Southern California; before his marriage, he intended to return to Chicago. In Los Angeles, he sold advertising for the Street & Smith and Condé Nast magazines. His first broadcasting job was as a salesman at the CBS radio station in Los Angeles, KNX, and soon went to the network's new television station, KNXT. Within two years, Aubrey had risen to be the network's West Coast television programming chief. He met Hunt Stromberg Jr., and they developed the popular Western series "Have Gun, Will Travel". They sent their idea to the network's chief of programming, Hubbell Robinson, and as journalists Richard Oulahan and William Lambert put it, "the rest is TV history." Aubrey was promoted to manager of all television network programs, based in California, until he went to ABC in 1956.
On December 16, 1956, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) president Oliver E. Treyz announced Aubrey would immediately become the network's head of programming and talent. ABC, the weakest of the three networks at the time, was a contender with a roster of affiliates and programs comparable to the early days of the Fox network. Aubrey later said, "at that time, there was no ABC. The headquarters was an old riding stable, but I went because [ABC chairman] Leonard Goldenson in effect said, 'Look, I don't know that much about TV, I'm a lawyer.' And he let me have autonomy." As vice president of television, a title which Aubrey gained before March 1957, he brought to the air what he recalled as "wild, sexy, lively stuff, things that had never been done before"; shows such as the Walt Disney anthology television series produced by The Walt Disney Company and shows produced by Warner Bros. Television such as "Maverick", a Western starring James Garner, and "77 Sunset Strip", a detective show starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Oulahan and Lambert said that Aubrey scheduled "one lucrative show after another [...] and for the first time, the third network became a serious challenge to NBC and CBS." Among the successes he scheduled were: "The Donna Reed Show", a domestic comedy; "The Rifleman", a Western with Chuck Connors, and "The Real McCoys", a rural comedy with Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna.
President of CBS: 1959–1965.
Despite his success at ABC, Aubrey saw a limited future at the network and asked to return to CBS. He returned on April 28, 1958, initially as an assistant to Frank Stanton, the president of CBS Inc., which owned the network. Thomas W. Moore would later replace Aubrey at ABC. At CBS, Aubrey was appointed as vice president for creative services in April 1959, replacing Louis G. Cowan, whom CBS promoted to network president.
Aubrey was named executive vice president on June 1, 1959, a newly created position that was the number-two official at the network. His responsibilities involved general supervision of all departments of the CBS Television Network. On December 8, 1959, Cowan resigned, having been damaged from his connection to the quiz-show scandals. Cowan had created the show "The $64,000 Question," and owned the company that produced it for the network, although Cowan denied he knew anything about the rigging of the program. Cowan's letter of resignation to Stanton declared, "you have made it impossible for me to continue." Aubrey was appointed to president the same day and elected to the board of directors on December 9, 1959.
Aubrey served as a successful president of the CBS Network for the next five years, increasing ratings and profits, from $25 million to $39 million. In the 1963–64 season, all 12 of the top daytime programs and 14 of the top-15 primetime shows were on CBS—the lone evening exception was NBC's "Bonanza", the first color one hour Western ranked number two. Oulahan and Lambert would later write in "Life" magazine:
In the long history of human communications, from tom-tom to Telstar, no one man ever had a lock on such enormous audiences as James Thomas Aubrey Jr. during his five-year tenure as head of the Columbia Broadcasting System's television network [...] He was the world's No. 1 purveyor of entertainment.
Aubrey's formula.
His formula was characterized by a CBS executive as "broads, bosoms, and fun," resulting in such shows as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Gilligan's Island", despised by the critics including CBS chairman William S. Paley, but extremely popular with viewers. His former manager at ABC, Oliver Treyz, said of his programming: "Jim Aubrey was one of the most effective ever, from the standpoint of delivering what the public wanted and making money. He was the best program judge in the business." While Aubrey had great sense for what would be popular with viewers, he also showed contempt for them. "The American public is something I fly over," he once said.
Author David Halberstam called Aubrey, "The hucksters' huckster [...] whose greatest legacy to television was a program called "The Beverly Hillbillies", a series so demented and tasteless that it boggles the mind". Columnist Murray Kempton described "The Beverly Hillbillies" as "a confrontation of the characters of John Steinbeck with the environment of Spyros Skouras," the chairman of 20th Century Fox. Despite the criticism of "Hillbillies", the program was popular with audiences. Nielsen ratings showed that 57 million viewers were watching the show—one in three Americans. Skouras was forced out of Fox by the company's board of directors in July 1962; Aubrey was rumored to be his successor, but he openly denied he had any intention of leaving CBS.
Another part of Aubrey's formula was ensuring that the commercial interests of CBS's sponsors were kept foremost in their minds. In 1960, he elaborated on this idea more when he told the Office of Network Study:There is relatively little that is incompatible between our objectives and the objectives of the advertisers... Before sponsorship of a program series commences there is often a meeting between production personnel and representatives of the advertiser at which time the general areas of the advertiser's interest and general attitudes are discussed. A breakfast food advertiser may, for example, wish to make sure the programs do not contain elements that make breakfast distasteful. A cigarette manufacturer would not wish to have cigarette smoking depicted in an unattractive manner. Normally, as long as these considerations do not limit creativity, they will be adhered to.
Dominance and controversy.
CBS became so influential that when the fall schedules were announced, ABC and NBC would wait until CBS announced its rota before making plans to keep up, effectively making Aubrey programmer for all three networks. CBS enjoyed success with rural-themed sitcoms such as the "Hillbillies", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Mister Ed", "Green Acres," and "Petticoat Junction". Paley highly disliked the CBS hit "The Munsters", part of a trend of fantasy shows at the time that included CBS's "My Favorite Martian" and "Gilligan's Island". Aubrey's "unwritten code" for programs was described in "Life" magazine:
Feed the public little more than rural comedies, fast-moving detective dramas, and later, sexy dolls. No old people; the emphasis was on youth. No domestic servants, the mass audience wouldn't identify with maids. No serious problems to cope with. Every script had to be full of action. No physical infirmities.
Exceptions existed, such as "The Defenders" with E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as socially conscious attorneys, which ran for four years, or "East Side/West Side" with George C. Scott as a New York City social worker, which was cancelled after just one season despite receiving eight Emmy Award nominations. Aubrey defended charges of pandering to the public. "I felt that we had an obligation to reach the vast majority of most of the people," he said. "We made an effort to continue purposeful drama on TV, but we found out that people just don't want an anthology. They would rather tune in on "Lucy"." Receptive of the nation becoming tired of high-culture programming and turning to sitcoms, Aubrey contributed to the "vast wasteland" of inferior TV.
In 1962, a United States Senate committee investigating juvenile delinquency held hearings on sex on television and called executives from the three networks. The chairman, Senator Thomas J. Dodd, blasted "an unmistakable pattern", and informed the executives "you all seem to use the same terminology—to think alike—and to jam this stuff down the people's throat." Dodd accused Aubrey of putting "prurient sex" in the program "Route 66" to boost ratings, and confronted him with the "bosoms, broads, and fun" quotation from a memorandum by CBS executive Howard G. Barnes following a meeting with the program's producers. Aubrey denied saying the phrase. He said that people in the business often shorthanded "wholesome, pretty girls" as "broads", and "attractive" as "bosoms". Another memorandum summarizing the same meeting, written by Screen Gems executive William Dozier, wrote: "There is not enough sex in the programs. Neither lead has gotten involved even for a single episode with the normal wants of a young man, namely to get involved with a girl or even to kiss her."
Management style.
Aubrey was known for his fast decision-making, controlling and workaholic tendencies, putting in 12-hour days, six days a week. He endlessly read scripts, screened episodes, and ordered reshoots or changes made in the furniture and dressing of a set. Author Murray Kempton wrote that he would see six films every weekend and read three books on transcontinental flights. Kempton quoted a CBS executive, saying:
He read everything. Like he saw every movie. But he had the smallest world there could be. He'd watch a movie, and while everyone else was involved in the story, he'd say out loud "that kid could be the lead in a television program." He read everything sure. All the new fiction. What he didn't like was Bellow, Updike, Cheever, Salinger, Capote, and Mailer. He didn't know how to use them.
Oulahan and Lambert claimed, "Aubrey exercised his tremendous power with the canny skill and the ruthlessness of a Tatar khan." By 1959, Aubrey's treachery led the producer John Houseman to dub him "the Smiling Cobra". In December 1962, CBS announced it was spending $250,000 an episode on Houseman's hour-long drama on American history for the next season, "The Great Adventure", but on July 25, 1963, CBS announced Houseman had resigned. The producer told "The New York Times", "The kind of show they want is not what I wanted to produce", but attributed his departure to a simple difference of opinion, the "Times" reporter stating Houseman "expressed no criticism of CBS." The show ran for one season, 1963–64.
In his book "Only You, Dick Daring!", Merle Miller described how he spent five-and-a-half months trying to make a show with CBS for the 1963–64 season based on an idea of Aubrey's about a county agent. Aubrey would walk out of meetings without offering any constructive comments on Miller's program and the 19 rewrites he did of the pilot episode. Miller was assured by executives that Aubrey's silence meant things were fine; Kempton quoted a CBS producer telling Miller "this has nothing to do with a good script or a bad script. It has to do with pleasing one man, Jim Aubrey. Don't ever forget it", and Miller later learned of efforts by Aubrey to force him out. A pilot for the show, "Calhoun" and "County Agent", starring Jackie Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, was shot and put on the fall schedule, but the series was cancelled before it aired. Miller quoted an independent producer: "Aubrey's the most important man in television, in the history of television, maybe in the history of entertainment. He out-Mayers Louis B. Mayer ten times over."
Aubrey's success caused him instability and he became more arrogant. He was abusive to the network's affiliates, advertisers, producers, and talent. Friends including producers Dick Dorso of United Artists, Martin Ransohoff of Filmways, and David Susskind, who had each sold several series to CBS, found themselves excluded. "He's a friend of mine, but he cut me stone cold last year," Susskind said. "I was hanging there with my pants down, wondering what I'd tell the stockholders." Gossip columnist Liz Smith, who worked at CBS, called him a "a mean, hateful, truly scary, bad, outré guy." Studio executive Sherry Lansing, a close friend of Aubrey's for two decades, told the "Los Angeles Times" in 1986:Jim is different. He does his own dirty work. Jim is one of those people who are willing to say, "I didn't like your movie." Directness is disarming to people who are used to sugar-coating. It's tough for people who need approval to see somebody who doesn't. Myths and legends begin to surround that kind of person.
In the 1950s, entertainer Garry Moore wanted to make a comeback on CBS but Aubrey told him "not a chance." However, long after Aubrey left the company, in the fall of 1966, Moore did get a chance with a short-lived revival of his weekly variety series. John Frankenheimer, critically acclaimed as the number-one director of live TV dramas during the 1950s, was forced out by Aubrey in 1960. Frankenheimer found a new career as a film director, for which he is now arguably best known, although he had wanted to continue in television. Frankenheimer once publicly called Aubrey a "barbarian".
The star of CBS's "The Lucy Show" had disputes with Aubrey. "Lucille Ball couldn't say his name without calling him an S.O.B.," Stanton said, though Kempton quoted her after Aubrey's firing as saying "he was the smartest one up there." Aubrey also rescheduled Jack Benny's long-running series without consulting him. Benny, a friend of Paley's since luring the comedian to CBS in 1948, objected to his new lead-in on Tuesdays for the 1963–64 season, "Petticoat Junction", instead of the previous season's "The Red Skelton Hour". Then in the summer of 1963, Aubrey told Benny his show would not be renewed at the end of the forthcoming season; Aubrey thought Benny was no longer current. "You're through, old man", Aubrey told him. Benny took his show back to NBC, but ended the show after only one season, proving Aubrey's point if not his tactics. Aubrey also had disagreements with Red Skelton, Danny Thomas, Judy Garland, and Arthur Godfrey.
Alleged favoritism
Allegations of favoritism in purchasing programs were made against Aubrey. His friend Keefe Brasselle, who had minor film roles in the 1940s and 1950s, and met Aubrey when they both worked at KNXT, had no experience as a producer. "A 1965 edition of George Raft," said David Susskind, as there were also rumors Brasselle had ties to the Mafia. Nevertheless, Aubrey scheduled three shows from Brasselle's Richelieu Productions for the 1964–65 season, without pilot episodes. The shows were "The Baileys of Balboa", a sitcom with Paul Ford; the newspaper drama "The Reporter"; and "The Cara Williams Show", a sitcom starring Williams. Brasselle would personally supervise "The Reporter", shot in New York City. Costs skyrocketed on Brasselle's shows; after nine episodes, "The Reporter" was $450,000 over-budget, and ran only for three months. "Baileys" ran until April 1965, and "Cara Williams" finished after one season; all three shows were commercial failures. When Aubrey was later asked why he aired three untested programs, he responded with "arrogance, I guess".
In his book "The Other Glass Teat", media critic Harlan Ellison alleges that a Mafia don had put out a contract on Aubrey for beating his daughter during consensual sex at a Las Vegas hotel, and that Brasselle demanded the shows in exchange for his using his own Mafia connections to smooth things over. Aubrey's critics acknowledged that he could be charming and went to great lengths to please performers. To keep Jackie Gleason happy when he moved his show from New York City to Miami Beach in 1963, Aubrey had CBS buy Gleason's $350,000 futuristic home in Peekskill, New York; "The New York Times" called it "a flying saucer-like cabana". The network was still trying to sell it years later.
News and sports.
Aubrey fought constantly with officials of CBS News, especially its chief, Fred W. Friendly, who was just as demanding and controlling as Aubrey. Friendly felt Aubrey was unconcerned with public affairs; in his memoir, "Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control", Friendly recounts one budget meeting in which Aubrey talked at length about the high costs of airing news, which could be cheaply replaced with entertainment programs. However, Paley supported the news and protected Friendly's division from Aubrey's proposed budget cuts. In 1962, Aubrey ordered that there would be fewer specials, entertainment and news, because he felt interruptions to the schedule alienated viewers by disrupting their routine viewing, sending them to the competition. Friendly resented this move.
In the fall of 1962, "CBS Reports", a news-documentary program on Wednesdays was blamed by the press for the sharp drop-off in the ratings of "The Beverly Hillbillies," the comedy had been number one in its first two seasons, but dropped to 18th when "CBS Reports" became the "Hillbillies" lead-in for its third season. "Hillbillies" had aired at 9:00 before moving up a half hour in 1964; CBS responded by moving "CBS Reports" to Mondays.
On May 9, 1963, Aubrey warned the network's affiliates the high cost of rights for professional sports could price them off television; nevertheless, in January 1964 CBS agreed to pay $28.2 million to air the games of the National Football League for two years, 17 games each season. "We know how much these games mean to the viewing audience, our affiliated stations, and the nation's advertisers," Aubrey told "The New York Times". In April, he agreed to extend the deal for another year for $31.8 million. In the spring of 1964, "The New York Times Magazine" declared CBS "for the 10th year in a row [...] was the undisputed champion of the television networks." The "Times" quoted an analyst who said CBS was "almost comparable to what General Motors did in autos or what General Electric [did] in electrical equipment."
Dismissal.
On April 16, 1964, celebrity tabloid "Close-Up" reported that Aubrey was taking kickbacks from producers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made inquiries, and CBS learned that despite his $264,000 annual salary from the company, Aubrey's apartment on Manhattan's Central Park South was owned by Martin Ransohoff, the head of Filmways, the producer of many CBS programs. Although he had a chauffeur-driven car paid for by the network, Brasselle's Richelieu Productions was paying for another chauffeured car for Aubrey. CBS had no knowledge of the apartment or car; the company was also concerned about the money spent to buy Gleason's former home.
In late 1964, Aubrey approached Stanton with a proposal. Claiming he had investors lined up and ready to buy the company, Aubrey said once in control, they would fire Paley, install Stanton as chairman, and promote Aubrey to Stanton's post, CBS corporate president. This did not come to pass, but Aubrey's contempt for Paley had no boundaries, with Aubrey even showing his disregard for Paley in public. The Internal Revenue Service tax lien against Aubrey for $38,047.93 was another irritant for Paley. Aubrey seemed to have lost his touch; the early ratings for the 1964–65 season showed that new programs were flops. Paley ordered Stanton to fire Aubrey, and he did so on February 27, 1965, though the announcement was delayed until the following Sunday afternoon. Stanton's statement read, "Jim Aubrey's outstanding accomplishment during his tenure as head of the C.B.S. television network need no elaboration. His extraordinary record speaks for itself." Aubrey offered no explanation following his dismissal, nor did Stanton or Paley give an explicit reason.
"The New York Times Magazine" wrote"," "Aubrey was torpedoed at last [...] by a combination of his imperiousness, the ratings drop, and a vivid after-hours life culminating in a raucous Miami Beach party—details of which no one ever agrees on—the weekend he was fired." Aubrey had been in Florida for Jackie Gleason's 49th birthday party. Aubrey said, "I don't pretend to be any saint. If anyone wants to indict me for liking pretty girls, I'm guilty". After his divorce in 1962, he was able to "live the high life around New York, Hollywood, Miami, and in Europe with such companions as Judy Garland, Julie Newmar, Rhonda Fleming—and with other dolls who were only faces and figures, not names." His parties and dating history became a topic of discussion in several towns. Paul Rosenfield of the "Los Angeles Times" described the temptation of gossip columnists to write about Aubrey, but the material about him could not be verified—"tempting, but mostly unprintable".
Aubrey's successor was announced as John A. Schneider, the general manager of WCBS-TV in New York City, who had no experience in network television. Aubrey became depressed, and Stanton feared he was suicidal. Wall Street was also affected as CBS stock fell by nine points over the following week. The stock tumble "puts my net value to the network at $20 million," Aubrey said. He continued to be a CBS employee until April 20.
Following his dismissal, Jack Gould, television critic for "The New York Times", opined:[Aubrey] symbolized an era in television that has been and is too much rooted in calculated and insensitive preoccupation with making more money this year than last [...] Automated situation comedies that wooed the young and did not drive away the old were the mainstay of his philosophy and they paid off.
Post-CBS: 1966–1968.
Aubrey left CBS with $2.5 million in network stock, and moved to the Sunset Strip and set up a production company, The Aubrey Company. His attorney, Gregson E. Bautzer, in 1967 tried to buy ABC for another client, the Las Vegas-based millionaire Howard Hughes. Aubrey was to run ABC after the takeover, but the reclusive Hughes refused to testify in person at hearings before the FCC, which had to approve the purchase, and the deal collapsed.
Aubrey's outsized reputation, appearance and womanizing, and his dramatic exit from CBS inspired characters in three novels. His former friend Keefe Brasselle wrote "The CanniBalS: A Novel About Television's Savage Chieftains" (1968), the title of which had very unsubtle capitalization and was, in Nora Ephron's assessment, "unreadable." Harold Robbins's "The Inheritors" (1969) and Jacqueline Susann's "The Love Machine" (1969) also contained characters based on him. In Susann's book, Aubrey is network executive Robin Stone. Paul Rosenfield said Aubrey had "quietly cooperated" with Susann, "giving her background on TV," although Susann's husband, Irving Mansfield, had been a busy TV producer himself, before switching to managing his wife's career full-time. Susann said Aubrey, her neighbor, was "one of those people who are born to run the works. A natural for a novel."
In June 1967, Aubrey signed a two-year contract to produce films for Columbia Pictures. Despite being rumored as a candidate for many posts in the entertainment industry, Aubrey told Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" he had "no desire ever again to become involved in the corporate side of the entertainment business", and had been, in Canby's words, "dabbling in a number of enterprises, including the acquisition of films for TV, real estate, and cultured pearls." In 1965, Oulahan and Lambert wrote he had "extensive investments in everything from copper mines to a chain of waffle shops." His first project for Columbia was to be an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith book, "Those Who Walk Away". "The criterion is profitable entertainment," he told Canby.
President of MGM: 1969–1973.
Aubrey resurfaced in 1969 when Las Vegas businessman Kirk Kerkorian took control of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), ousting Canadian liquor magnate Edgar M. Bronfman, who had gained control earlier that year. Aubrey's attorney Gregson E. Bautzer also represented Kerkorian, and Bautzer recommended Aubrey for the MGM post. Aubrey was announced as MGM president on October 21, 1969; he was Kerkorian's third choice after producers Herb Jaffe and Mike Frankovich both declined the post, while producer Ray Stark was also considered. Aubrey replaced the fired Louis F. Polk Jr., who had been MGM president since only January 14. Aubrey was the studio's third president that year. Polk told "The New York Times", "no one likes to leave a job unfinished," and said he had started much-needed reforms at the studio, which suffered a $35 million loss in the fiscal year ending August 31, 1969.
Aubrey received a salary of $4,000 a week, but had no contract. He said in 1986, "I wanted Kirk to be able to say, 'Get lost, Jim,' without obligation if it didn't work." Like most of the big studios in the 1960s, MGM was struggling and Kerkorian said his new president would bring the company back to its former glory. Instead, Aubrey largely liquidated the company as Kerkorian transformed it into hospitality-oriented with construction of the MGM Grand Hotel. "We've been using old-fashioned methods here," Aubrey said. He later said in 1986, that the company was "total disarray. Until you were in a position to lift up the rug, there was no way to know how much disarray. The crown jewel of studios had become a shambles."
Within days of Aubrey assuming the role, he cancelled 12 films to cut costs, among them Fred Zinnemann's "Man's Fate", which was about to begin principal photography. Aubrey terminated 3,500 employees when he relocated headquarters from New York City to Culver City to be closer to production facilities, a move which was announced on April 29, 1970. He ordered the sale of MGM's historical collection of costumes and props such as the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz", Vivien Leigh's dresses from "Gone with the Wind", and the suit Spencer Tracy wore in "Inherit the Wind". The suit was eventually bought by one of Charles Manson's defense attorneys who wore it regularly to court. Most of the studio's Culver City backlot and its 2,000 acre (8 km2) ranch in the Conejo Valley were sold to real estate developers; these actions were already planned under Polk. Aubrey was criticized for disposing the company's archives and halting productions. He recalled in 1986, "the buck had to stop somewhere, and it was with me. Nostalgia runs strong out here, so we were criticized for selling Judy Garland's red shoes. To us they had no value, and they had no intrinsic value."
His actions had a positive effect on the company's finances. In his first nine months on the job, he cut MGM's debt by $27 million, nearly one-quarter of the total, and the company posted profits of $540,000 for those nine months compared to a $18.3 million loss in the preceding period.
Streamlining.
Losses were great because Polk wrote off as total losses many films made under his predecessors; the company posted a $35.4 million loss in the fiscal year ending August 31, 1969. "Basically what we're really concentrating on at the moment is to really streamline this operation. There isn't much else to do when you're losing as much money as we are", Aubrey told "The New York Times" in December 1969. Aubrey said, "we have determined that we're not going to continue to produce on the basis of 40 acres and acres and acres of standing sets. Young people who are the major movie audience today, refer to that as the plastic world and that is almost a deterrent in the business today."
Aubrey announced plans for rapid production of films that cost no more than $2 million each, but many of these bombed with critics and audiences. One success, however, was the Richard Roundtree film "Shaft", which cost $1 million and grossed around $12 million at the box office. Agent Sue Mengers said he was a very tough deal-maker; "I'd rather go to bed with him than negotiate with him." Early in, Aubrey cancelled the production of two Julie Andrews films, "She Loves Me" and "Say It With Music", citing that the fad for musicals had ended. He also unsuccessfully attempted to cancel or downsize David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter" in 1970, because it was over budget.
In the first half of fiscal 1970, the company made $6.5 million profit despite sizable write-offs. The company had significantly cut its operating losses from $6.5 million to $1.6 million. Aubrey told the press in April 1970 that the company would have made money if not for four films: Herbert Ross's musical adaptation of James Hilton's novel "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark; Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point", a film Pauline Kael called "a huge, jerry-built crumbling ruin of a movie"; the adventure "Captain Nemo and the Underwater City" with Robert Ryan and Chuck Connors, and Sidney Lumet's "The Appointment" with Omar Sharif, Anouk Aimée, and Lotte Lenya. These four pictures cost almost $20 million to produce and failed to break even. In that same month, Vincent Canby wrote in "The New York Times," "the fickle tastes of the movie-going audience have made a large part of [studios' film] inventory obsolete."
By the end of the fiscal year, the company made a profit of $1.5 million, a remarkable turnaround for a company which posted a $35 million loss one year before. In January 1971, Aubrey declared, "we are pleased that the company has been turned around. Through the policies of this management, including a complete reorganization, substantial economies, consolidation of operations and through better performance of recent films, we have been able to operate substantially in the black." In that same month, Aubrey announced the company was in merger talks with 20th Century Fox, days after Fox fired its top executives, Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown. Two weeks later, he announced the talks had ended. However, Darryl F. Zanuck, chairman and CEO of Fox, publicly denied any negotiations. "There have not been and are not now and are not scheduled for the future any discussions concerning a merger or any other type of combination between our two companies," he told the press.
Practical approach.
Aubrey was hands-on with MGM's work, personally making edits to films. "The New York Times Magazine" wrote, "Aubrey's heavy involvement with every creative detail of MGM's pictures far surpassed his immersal in CBS's scripts." After making edits to the film "Going Home" starring Robert Mitchum, director Herbert B. Leonard publicly protested. "He unilaterally and arbitrarily raped the picture", he told "Time" magazine in 1971. Director Blake Edwards was angry with changes Aubrey made to the film "Wild Rovers" with William Holden, telling "The New York Times Magazine", "Cuts? He doesn't know as much as a first-year cinema student. He cut the heart right out of it." Television producer Bruce Geller, who created the "" series, had his name removed from the credits of his first film, "Corky", because of Aubrey's edits. The producer of the film "Chandler", Michael S. Laughlin, and its director, Paul Magwood, took out a full-page advert in the trade papers declaring:
Regarding what was our film "Chandler", let's give credit where credit is due. We sadly acknowledge that all editing, post-production as well as additional scenes were executed by James T. Aubrey Jr. We are sorry.
Laughlin told "Time" magazine, "You just can't deal with Aubrey. He realizes that litigation can be a great expense, and that because of legal delays, the film will have disappeared long before your case comes to court." Aubrey engaged in another infamous feud with Sam Peckinpah, who in 1973 began work on the Western "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". Aubrey cut Peckinpah's budget early in production, disallowing him to reshoot crucial footage, pushing back the release date to Memorial Day, and cutting nearly 20 minutes of the film. Editor Roger Spottiswoode said, "Aubrey was ordering scenes cut out for no other reason except he knew Sam didn't want them cut." Film critic John Simon wrote Aubrey "deserves to be made a honorary or, rather, dishonorable member of the film editor's union."
MGM had disagreements with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its film rating system which had been instituted in 1968. MGM resigned from the MPAA in 1971 over the issue of ratings and "exorbitant dues charges," Aubrey said. In October 1971, MGM announced that it was to build the world's largest hotel in Las Vegas (MGM Grand Hotel), and was to enter the cruise ship business. The next month, the company announced fiscal 1971 profits of $16.3 million, a sharp rise from the $1.6 million in fiscal 1970, and the highest in a quarter century.
After four years at MGM, Aubrey announced his resignation, declaring, "The job I agreed to undertake has been accomplished." Kerkorian was named as his successor on October 31, 1973. "Time" magazine declared, "Under Aubrey, MGM churned out profitable, medium-budget schlock like "Skyjacked" and "Black Belly of the Tarantula"; directors often charged him with philistine meddling, and he alienated many of them", but "as a financial auteur, Aubrey may have deserved an Oscar."
Final years: 1974–1994.
In the mid-1970s, Aubrey and Sherry Lansing were struck by a car while crossing Wilshire Boulevard. The pair sustained injuries; Lansing was on crutches for a year and a half, and Aubrey nursed her back to health. "He came every day. He would say, 'You're not going to limp.' My own mother and father couldn't give me more support," Lansing told "Variety" magazine in 2004.
Aubrey became an independent producer after leaving MGM, producing 10 unmemorable films. His biggest success was a 1979 television film about the "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" starring Jane Seymour. In the mid-1980s, he was chairman of Entermark, a production company that made low-budget films and was backed by several wealthy Texans, including former Governor John Connally. "Our theory is that with today's ancillary rights, there is real profit in a movie that costs $3 million. We don't need to gross $40 million, or open on Christmas Day," he said. To publicize this venture, he granted a rare interview with the "Los Angeles Times" in 1986"." Paul Rosenfield found him unrepentant:
Aubrey doesn't deny that he shoots from the hip, in a style that can unhinge the fragile egos of show business. "If I was in the tire business," reasoned Aubrey, "I wouldn't be hurt if the customer didn't buy my tires. I'd think, 'So what?' But in my business, if I don't buy the script, then the writer kicks the dog and beats his wife. So you learn to pay attention to personal relationships. But that doesn't mean you lie to people. I've been the screwer and the screwee, and I know which is better. It's better to be the screwer, and it's very difficult to do that with honesty, but it's how I prefer to be treated. I don't want power now, or authority, so I suppose my candor can't hurt me.
Gossip columnist Liz Smith reported this profile of Aubrey had led to rumors he would again return to head CBS after Paley was forced out in 1986 when Laurence Tisch acquired the network. Aubrey worked as a consultant for Brandon Tartikoff during the 1980s and early 1990s, while Tartikoff worked to restore the reputation of NBC. Aubrey died of a heart attack in 1994.


Max Deen Larsen

Max Deen Larsen (6 March 1943 – 12 January 2018) founder and director of the in Baden, Austria.
Biography.
Deen, son of Max and Maida Larsen, was born in Richfield, Utah. He has lived in Baden by Vienna since 1973. Larsen received his degrees in literature and philosophy at Reed College, Yale University and the Universität Wien.
He taught poetry at the Yale School of Music and at the Vienna Music Academy, history of opera at Stanford in Austria and was adjunct professor of music at the University of Alberta in Canada. He also taught at other schools and academies. Deen Larsen was the founder and director of the Franz Schubert Institute Baden.
Deen Larsen was buried on January 30, 2018 at the Municipal Parish Cemetery (Stadtpfarrfriedhof Baden) in Baden Austria.


Randy Jackson

Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American musician, singer, record producer, entrepreneur, and television personality.
Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bass guitar for an array of jazz, pop, rock, and R&B performers. He moved on to work in music production and as A&R at Columbia Records and MCA Records. Jackson is best known from his appearances as the longest-serving judge on "American Idol" and executive producer for MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew".
In May 2020, Jackson was rehired as bassist for Journey following their sudden split with legacy member Ross Valory. Jackson had previously filled the role on the band's 1986 album "Raised on Radio" and its tour.
Early life.
Jackson was born June 23, 1956, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Julia, a homemaker, and Herman Jackson, a plant foreman. He graduated from Southern University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in music.
Music career.
In the early 1980s, he played on three albums for Jean-Luc Ponty and with the rock band Taxxi. From 1986 to 1987, he was a session musician for the rock group Journey. Jackson played on Journey's 1986 album "Raised on Radio." He moved to Italy in the late 1980s and played on a record by Italian pop star Zucchero. The record, "Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band", was produced by Corrado Rustici who played guitar with Jackson on many albums in the early 1980s. He also played with Billy Cobham.
In 1985, Keith Richards was asked to provide music for the Whoopi Goldberg comedy vehicle "Jumpin' Jack Flash". Richards assembled an all-star band which included Aretha Franklin on piano and lead vocals and Jackson on bass guitar. This song was the fourth track on Aretha's 1986 album titled "Aretha". Jackson can be seen in the song's video.
In the late 1980s, Jackson was still doing sessions. He was notably on the first solo album by famed session guitarist Steve Lukather. Jackson was a featured bass guitarist on five songs on Maze's 1989 "Silky Soul" album. He also performed on several of Kenny G's albums.
Jackson was the bass guitarist on the 1991 self-titled Divinyls album (which features the song "I Touch Myself") as well as featured bassist on several tracks of Tracy Chapman's 1992 release, "Matters of the Heart". He performed on the singles "Bang Bang Bang", "Open Arms", and "Dreaming on a World". That same year, Jackson also played bass on Bruce Springsteen's song "Human Touch."
Jackson has recorded, produced, or toured with many well-known artists and bands, ranging from Mariah Carey (he has worked with her throughout her career, been her musical director for a number of her tours; he has formed part of her band during numerous performances including Live 8 in London in 2005) to 'N Sync, Whitney Houston, (produced) Dionne Farris' (critically acclaimed debut CD, Wild-Seed Wild-Flower), Céline Dion, Fergie (dating back to her days in Wild Orchid), Stryper, and Madonna (he played some bass on her album "Like a Prayer" although not on the single of the same name).
Jackson played numerous times in Ponty's backing band. His credits as a session musician range from playing with Aldo Nova, George Benson, Blue Öyster Cult, Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Bolton, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Billy Cobham, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock, Ernie Isley, Billy Joel, Brent Bourgeois, Journey, Richard Marx, George Michael, Stevie Nicks, Imogen Heap, Bruce Springsteen, and Roger Waters to playing at the Grand Ole Opry with The Charlie Daniels Band. His production/songwriting work in the San Francisco Bay Area with Narada Michael Walden and Walter Afanasieff led Jackson to be in demand as a producer as well.
On March 11, 2008, Jackson released an album produced entirely by himself, titled "Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1". The album's release was preceded by the single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" sung by Paula Abdul. In 2009, Randy began working with former Idol finalist Kimberley Locke, producing her 4th album. The lead single, "Strobe Light", was released March 16, 2010. In February 2010, Jackson participated in We Are the World 25 for Haiti as part of the chorus.
Jackson is the manager for the Charlotte-based band Paper Tongues. With the help of Jackson, they signed with a major label, A&M/Octone Records. He has also worked as an executive, spending eight years as vice president of artists and repertoire (A&R) at Columbia Records and four years heading A&R at MCA Records.
Radio program.
Jackson also hosts a radio top 40 countdown known as "Randy Jackson's Hit List", which is syndicated by Westwood One. Every week, Jackson counts down his top 30 Urban AC and Mainstream AC hits. He also gives behind-the-scenes information on "American Idol" on the internet radio station Artist Underground.
Television.
"American Idol".
Starting in 2002, Jackson was one of the panel judges on the Fox Network reality television series "American Idol", along with Paula Abdul (2002–2009), Simon Cowell (2002–2010), Kara DioGuardi (2009–2010), Ellen DeGeneres (2010), Jennifer Lopez (2011–2012), Steven Tyler (2011–2012), Nicki Minaj (2013), Mariah Carey (2013), and Keith Urban (2013). As a result of Cowell's departure, Jackson was left as the sole original judge on "American Idol". His role was originally going to be reduced to that of a mentor, so the 2013 season would have all new judges, but it was later decided that he would remain as a judge for season 12. On May 9, 2013, Jackson announced that he would be leaving "American Idol" after twelve seasons due to him wanting to focus on other business ventures. On September 3, 2013, it was announced that Jackson would replace Jimmy Iovine as the in-house mentor on "American Idol". He departed the series for good in November 2014.
"America's Best Dance Crew".
Jackson produced "America's Best Dance Crew", an American group dance competition and reality television show, which premiered on February 7, 2008 on MTV and was cancelled in 2010 due to declining ratings. Each week, the teams showcased their creative talents in choreography and their dance skills, and one crew was eliminated by the judges. The competition continued until the sole winning dance crew was awarded the title of America's Best Dance Crew, and a cash prize of $100,000.
Personal life.
Jackson's first marriage, to Elizabeth Jackson, was dissolved in 1990; they had one daughter named Taylor. In 1995, Jackson married Erika Riker, with whom he has two children, a daughter named Zoe and a son named Jordan. In 2014, Riker filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences; it was finalized in 2019.
In 2003, Jackson lost following gastric bypass surgery. He stated in a February 2008 television commercial that he has type 2 diabetes.
Discography.
As sideman.
With Journey
With Richard Marx
With Jean-Luc Ponty


David Anspaugh

David Anspaugh (born September 24, 1946) is an American television and film director.
Professional career.
After earning a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Bloomington, Anspaugh moved to Aspen, Colorado, where he worked as a substitute teacher and ski instructor for several years.
Anspaugh then enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts. His work as an associate producer on television films led to his producing and directing "Hill Street Blues". He followed this with directing "St. Elsewhere" and "Miami Vice".
Anspaugh's feature film directing debut was "Hoosiers", a nostalgic sports drama about a small-town team winning the Indiana state basketball title in 1952. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards. It was named best sports film of all time by USA Today in 2015 and by ESPN's expert panel and website users in 2005. "Hoosiers" also was named to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
Anspaugh's other feature-film directing credits include "Fresh Horses", "Rudy", "Moonlight and Valentino", "WiseGirls", "The Game of Their Lives", and "Little Red Wagon". He also has directed several TV movies.
In spring 2015, Anspaugh taught a class at Indiana University in directing for film and TV. In 2015 and 2017, he directed plays for the Bloomington Playwrights Project. Anspaugh made his acting debut in the 2019 BPP production of "To Quiet the Quiet", which he also directed. In 2017, he directed the musical "Spring Awakening" at Ivy Tech Bloomington.
Personal life.
Anspaugh was born in Decatur, Indiana, to Lawrence (a portrait photographer) and Marie Anspaugh. He has a younger sister, Jane.
He was married from 1974 to 1988 to cruise line sales manager Tamara Kramer. They have a daughter, Vanessa. Anspaugh married "Touched by an Angel" actress Roma Downey on November 24, 1995. The couple had a daughter, Reilly Marie, on June 3, 1996.
In 1997, Anspaugh was diagnosed as clinically depressed and was treated at a rehabilitation clinic. The condition ultimately led to a breakdown of his marriage. Downey filed for divorce in March 1998; it was finalized later that year.
After living in California for three decades, in June 2014 Anspaugh relocated to Bloomington, Indiana.
Awards.
Anspaugh received two Primetime Emmy Awards for producing "Hill Street Blues" and a Directors Guild of America Award for directing "Hill Street Blues".
On the night of the world premiere of "Hoosiers" in 1986, Anspaugh was named a Sagamore of the Wabash. This is Indiana's highest civilian honor, given to those who have rendered distinguished service to the state or governor. He was awarded Indiana's Governor's Arts Award in 1991. In 1996 he received Indiana University's Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion for Distinguished Achievement. The Indiana Historical Society named Anspaugh an Indiana Living Legend in 2011. In 2013 Anspaugh was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He also received the Hall's Silver Medal Award, given in recognition of contributions to Indiana high school basketball by someone other than a high school player or coach.


Stephen C. Apostolof

Stephen C. Apostolof (February 25, 1928 – August 14, 2005), sometimes credited under aliases A.C. Stephen(s) or Robert Lee, was a Bulgarian-American filmmaker specializing in low-budget exploitation and erotic films, who gained a cult following for a wide variety of films that range from erotic horror ("Orgy of the Dead") and suburban exposé ("Suburbia Confidential") to western-themed costume pictures ("Lady Godiva Rides") and ""-type capers such as ("Hot Ice"). Apostolof had gained a reputation for creating high-quality mass entertainment with minimal budgets. He was also one of the few directors to work steadily with the infamous Ed Wood and such sexploitation icons as Marsha Jordan and Rene Bond in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life.
Apostolof was born in the Black Sea town of Burgas, Bulgaria, to Hristo Apostolov, a can manufacturer, and his wife Polyxena. Apostolof had a brother, Stavri, and two sisters, Vesa and Lila. The Apostolofs were an artistically inclined family. Steven attended a German-language high school for several years. In 1946, when he was only 17, he joined an underground guerilla group that fought the newly established Communist regime in Bulgaria. He was eventually arrested and spent 18 months in jail.
In 1948, he escaped from Bulgaria by stowing away on a Finnish freighter. He was caught in Turkish territorial waters and thrown in jail for several months, accused of being a Bulgarian spy. After a short stay in Istanbul he drifted to Paris, France. After serving in the French Foreign Legion, in 1950 he moved, this time to Canada, and from there in 1952 he went to Los Angeles, California, where he became a clerk for Bank of America.
Career.
1950s.
Apostolof's career in films began at 20th Century-Fox, where he was doing some number-crunching in the production department in 1953–1954.
"Journey to Freedom" (1957).
Around 1955, Apostolof teamed up with exploitation veterans Robert C. Dertano and William C. Thompson to create SCA Productions, a company that produced the semi-autobiographical Cold War melodrama "Journey to Freedom" (1957). The film starred Tor Johnson, the Swedish wrestler best known for appearing in Edward D. Wood Jr.'s movies "Bride of the Monster" (1954), "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1959) and "Night of the Ghouls" (1959).
"Journey to Freedom" was shot in the legendary Sunset Gower Studios and later picked up for distribution by Republic Pictures, known for its quality B-movies and westerns, many of them starring John Wayne. Although not very popular at the time, "Journey to Freedom" became part of the so-called Red Scare, a period of intense anti-Communism that had already produced propaganda films like "I Married a Communist" (1949), "The Red Menace" (1949) and "Big Jim McLain" (1952). "Journey to Freedom" tells about Apostolof's escape from Communist Bulgaria through Istanbul, Paris and Toronto to Los Angeles, California.
1960s.
In the mid-'60s Apostolof became involved in sexploitation cinema, adopting the less foreign-sounding "A.C. Stephen" as a "nom de plume". Apostolof cites Russ Meyer's "The Immoral Mr. Teas" (1959), the first nudie-cutie, as a major influence in his sexploitation-oriented career. He said, "I saw what was happening in the market—I couldn't possibly compete with the major companies, but I saw a niche there for us, the independent guys. I saw those sexy type of pictures that were becoming popular. I went and saw them and I wanted to see how far you could go with nudity." Over the next two decades Apostolof made 16 films with a trademark blend of tasteful nudity and campy humour.
"Orgy of the Dead" (1965).
"Orgy of the Dead", Apostolof's first directorial credit as A.C. Stephen with a screenplay by Ed Wood, is now considered a camp classic and has inspired a cult following. It features the legendary oracle The Amazing Criswell (known from Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space") and burlesque queen Pat Barrington (later to star in Harry H. Novak's "The Agony of Love"). Wood served as writer, production manager, casting agent, and even held up cue cards for Criswell, although he did not direct. "Orgy of the Dead" was the beginning of a very successful partnership between Apostolof and Wood that would last until the latter's death in 1978. This cooperation resulted in several films that captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s and the 1970s.
"Suburbia Confidential" (1966).
Apostolof's next film, "Suburbia Confidential", uses psychiatry largely to set up sex scenes but also to give the film some semblance of "redeeming social value". According to the promotional materials, the film "starts where the Kinsey report left off". In "Suburbia Confidential" psychiatrist Dr. Henri Legrand reviews the files of several sexually frustrated suburban housewives who are shown having sex with salesmen, bellboys and repairmen. The film includes scenes of bondage, lesbianism and a transvestite based on Apostolof's frequent collaborator Ed Wood. "Suburbia Confidential" is the first in a series of three films made by Apostolof in the late 1960s dealing with the "confidential" sexual life of different groups of people, the other two being "Motel Confidential" and "College Girl Confidential".
"College Girl Confidential" (1968).
Apostolof was busy in 1968, with "College Girl Confidential" and "Office Love-in, White-Collar Style".
"Office Love -in, White-Collar Style" features voluptuous sexploitation icon Marsha Jordan and brunette Kathy Williams, among others, in a series of vignettes surrounding sex in and with people in an office. Williams and Jordan have a lesbian encounter and a gay transvestite is talked into experimenting with a woman who deep throats bananas. "Office Love-in, White-Collar Style" also features Colleen Murphy (the star of "Alice in Acidland") and Forman Shane, who was in just about all of Apostolof's films.
1970s.
"Drop Out Wife" (1972).
Ed Wood co-wrote
"The Class Reunion" (1972).
Ed Wood co-wrote
"The Snow Bunnies" (1972).
Ed Wood co-wrote
"The Cocktail Hostesses" (1973).
Ed Wood co-wrote
"Five Loose Women" (1974).
Ed Wood co-wrote, played two roles on screen, another off, voiced the trailer
"The Beach Bunnies" (1976).
A soft core film made with Ed Wood as a co-screenwriter.
"Hot Ice" (1978).
"Hot Ice", Apostolof's last picture, was an attempt at making a caper movie with an intricate plot and more action than usual in his films. It tells the story of a pair of male and female con artists who go into hiding at a ski lodge. Wood had a role, but it got axed due to his drinking. He was an assistant director.
"Hot Ice" marks the demise of classic sexploitation cinema with its content absorbed into mainstream movies. Hardcore porn films had gained a firm foothold in the theatrical market by this point and had pushed out much of the "soft-core" product. The advent of the home video market in the late '70s also accelerated the decline of the sexploitation genre.
Apostolof's struggles to finance another film project—or even a sequel to his successful "Orgy of the Dead"—in the late '70s were doomed to failure. The sheer numbers of hardcore porn films available on video—which could be viewed at home, rather than the consumer having to go to a public theater—pretty much killed the "sexploitation" theatrical market. At the beginning of the decade Apostolof found his way into film distribution. He owned the rights to all of his films and spent the '80s and '90s reselling them on the home video / DVD market.
Unrealized projects.
Apostolof developed several film ideas that never saw completion (e.g., Wood-scripted The Teachers, The Basketballers). The most notable of these were a sequel to his most successful film "Orgy of the Dead" called "The New Generation" and a thriller entitled "State of Fear". In the early '90s he was also planning on shooting a documentary on his own life and career.
Personal life.
Apostolof was married three times. His first marriage was to a woman named Joan, and it produced four children: Maria, Susan, Polly and Steve. In 1964, after divorcing Joan, he married Patricia J. Rudl, but three years later they divorced. In 1973 he met and married Shelley Barbara Cooper and had a son Christopher. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Apostolof moved with Shelley to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then to Mesa, Arizona.
Religion.
Although he was part of one of the most "liberated" industries and most of his films had a strong sexual content, Apostolof himself was a very religious man. On December 8, 1961, he and Dr. Matthew Jeikoff along with other Bulgarian emigres founded "St. George", the first Bulgarian Orthodox church in Los Angeles. The church had strong ties to Simeon II, the Bulgarian king in exile, and soon became a bulwark of Bulgarian anti-Communists and monarchists in Los Angeles.
Death.
Near the end of his life, Apostolof had worked on the script for a projected post-apocalyptic thriller entitled "State of Fear". Despite some preliminary work, the story was never filmed. Stephen Apostolof died on August 14, 2005, aged 77 in Mesa, Arizona.
Legacy.
Apostolof made 17 feature films in a career that lasted only 20 years. Today Apostolof may not be a household—or even vaguely familiar—name to many, but he and his films have attracted a cult following over the years. His legacy lives on, ridiculed or revered by critics and fans alike. He has taken a permanent place in the B-movie culture and is widely recognized as one of the greatest American erotic filmmakers. In 1987 The Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival honored him with a special screening of "Orgy of the Dead", and all his films were released on video in the 1980s and re-released on DVD in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2007 Legend House released "Suburbia Confidential" and "College Girl Confidential" as a double-feature DVD. In 2010 S'More Entertainment reissued three of Apostolof's films on DVD complete with original trailers and stills. In 2011 Apostolof was the subject of a documentary entitled "Dad Made Dirty Movies".
In April 2007 the British film magazine "Sight & Sound" listed him among the most prominent figures in sexploitation genre.
He was dubbed the "Prince of Confidential" because of his series of films with the word "confidential" in the title.
Actor Marty L. Andaluz portrayed a fictional version of Apostolof in the play "The Incredible Story of Ed Wood".
In 2006 the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction ran an exhibition called "Sex in the Cinema". A poster from "Orgy of the Dead" was featured, along with artwork from other prominent sexploitation directors like Russ Meyer, Radley Metzger and Gerard Damiano.
In 2000 Apostolof was canonized as the "patron saint of the pornographers" in the Church of Ed Wood.
Frequent and memorable collaborators.
Apostolof worked with the same people more than once. Some of his frequent collaborators include Edward D. Wood Jr., Marsha Jordan, Rene Bond, Harvey Shane (often credited under the alias Forman Shane), Ric Lutze and Vincent Barbi, among others.
Cameos.
Like Alfred Hitchcock, one of the directors Apostolof admired, he appeared briefly in some of his own films. For example, he is seen in "Journey to Freedom" where he's playing a Frenchman sporting beret and a moustache. In "Lady Godiva Rides" he is credited under the name One Eye Apostolof. In the beginning of "The Beach Bunnies" he plays the piano in a restaurant. In "The Snow Bunnies" he could be spotted sitting in front of a ski chalet together with his third wife Shelley.


Kirk Kerkorian

Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian (; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian was one of the important figures in the shaping of Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern Jr. described as the "father of the mega-resort". He built the world's largest hotel in Las Vegas three times: the International Hotel (opened in 1969), the MGM Grand Hotel (1973) and the MGM Grand (1993). He purchased the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio in 1969.
Of Armenian descent, Kerkorian provided over $1 billion for charity in Armenia through his Lincy Foundation, which was established in 1989 and particularly focused on helping to rebuild northern Armenia after the 1988 earthquake. Kerkorian also provided money to ensure that a film based on the history of the Armenian Genocide would be made. The resulting film, called "The Promise," premiered in April 2017 in the United States. In 2000 "Time" magazine named him the 10th largest donor in the US. Kerkorian was declared an honorary citizen of Armenia by President Robert Kocharyan in September 1998. He was bestowed the title of National Hero of Armenia, the highest state award, by Kocharyan in May 2004.
Early years.
Kerkor Kerkorian was born on June 6, 1917 in Fresno, California, to Armenian parents from present-day Turkey. Armenian was his first language and he "didn't learn the English language until he hit the streets." His family moved to Los Angeles following the depression of 1920–21. Dropping out of school in eighth grade, Kerkorian became a fairly skilled amateur boxer under the tutelage of his older brother Nish Kerkorian, fighting under the name "Rifle Right Kerkorian" to win the Pacific amateur welterweight championship. Kirk Kerkorian also had an older sister, Rose Kerkorian.
Business career.
Aviation.
Sensing the onset of World War II, and not wanting to join the infantry, Kerkorian learned to fly at the Happy Bottom Riding Club in the Mojave Desert—adjacent to the United States Army Air Corps's Muroc Field, now Edwards Air Force Base. In exchange for flying lessons from pioneer aviator Pancho Barnes, he agreed to milk and look after her cattle.
On gaining his commercial pilot's certificate in six months, Kerkorian learned that the British Royal Air Force was ferrying Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquitos over the North Atlantic to Scotland. The Mosquito's fuel tank carried enough fuel for , while the trip directly was . Rather than take the safer Montreal–Labrador–Greenland–Iceland–Scotland route (although, going further north could mean the wings icing, and the plane crashing); Kerkorian preferred the direct "Iceland Wave" route, which blew the planes at jet-speed to Europe—but it wasn't constant, and could mean ditching. The fee was $1,000 per flight. Although accounts claim the risk was that one in four planes failed to make it, the actual rate was closer to one in "forty". In May 1944, Kerkorian and his Wing Commander John de Lacy Wooldridge rode the wave and broke the old crossing record. Wooldridge got to Scotland in six hours, 46 minutes; Kerkorian, in seven hours, nine minutes. In two and a half years with RAF Ferry Command, Kerkorian delivered 33 planes, logged thousands of hours, traveled to four continents and flew his first four-engine plane.
After the war, having saved most of his wages, Kerkorian spent $5,000 on a Cessna. He worked as a general aviation pilot and made his first visit to Las Vegas in 1944. After spending much time in Las Vegas during the 1940s, Kerkorian quit gambling and in 1947 paid $60,000 for Trans International Airlines, which was a small air-charter service that flew gamblers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. He then bid on some war surplus bombers, using money on loan from Seagram's. Gasoline, and especially airplane fuel, was in short supply at the time, so he sold the fuel from the planes' tanks, paid off his loan, and still had the airplanes. He operated the airline until 1968 when he sold it for $104 million to the Transamerica Corporation.
Las Vegas.
In 1962, Kerkorian bought in Las Vegas, across the Las Vegas Strip from the Flamingo, for $960,000. This purchase led to the building of Caesars Palace, which rented the land from Kerkorian; the rent and eventual sale of the land to Caesars in 1968 made Kerkorian $9 million.
In 1967, he bought of land on Paradise Road in Las Vegas for $5 million and, with architect Martin Stern Jr., built the International Hotel, which at the time was the largest hotel in the world; The first two performers to appear at the hotel's enormous "Showroom Internationale" were Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley. Presley brought in some 4,200 customers (and potential gamblers), every day, for 30 days straight, breaking in the process all attendance records in the county's history. Kerkorian's International Leisure also bought the Flamingo Hotel; eventually, both hotels were sold to the Hilton Hotels Corporation and were renamed the Las Vegas Hilton and the Flamingo Hilton, respectively.
After he purchased the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio in 1969, Kerkorian (with architect Martin Stern Jr.) opened the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, larger than the Empire State Building and the largest hotel in the world at the time it was finished. On November 21, 1980, the original MGM Grand burned in a fire that was one of the worst disasters in Las Vegas history. The Clark County Fire Department reported 84 deaths in the fire; there were 87 deaths total, including three which occurred later as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. After only 8 months the MGM Grand reopened. Almost three months after the MGM fire, the Las Vegas Hilton caught fire, killing eight people.
In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand hotels in Las Vegas and Reno for $594 million to Bally Manufacturing. The Las Vegas property was subsequently renamed Bally's. Spun off from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM Resorts International owns and operates several properties, including the Bellagio, the current MGM Grand, The Mirage, the New York-New York, Circus Circus, Mandalay Bay, The Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo and the newly completed CityCenter complex in Las Vegas.
MGM sold its Treasure Island Hotel and Casino property to billionaire and former New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin for $750 million.
MGM.
In 1969, Kerkorian appointed James Thomas Aubrey Jr. as president of MGM. Aubrey downsized the struggling MGM and sold off massive amounts of historical memorabilia, including Dorothy's ruby slippers from the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz", the majority of the studio's backlots in Culver City and overseas operations such as the British MGM studio at Borehamwood. Kerkorian sold MGM's distribution system in 1973, and gradually distanced himself from the daily operation of the studio. He also owned minority interest in Columbia Pictures but his holdings were thwarted by the Justice Department who filed an antitrust suit due to his owning stock in two studios. In 1979, Kerkorian issued a statement claiming that MGM was now primarily a hotel company; however, he also managed to expand the overall film library and production system with the purchase of United Artists from Transamerica in 1981, becoming MGM/UA Entertainment Company. In 1986, he sold MGM to Ted Turner. After the purchase was made, Turner sold the United Artists subsidiary back to Kerkorian.
Turner kept ownership of MGM from March 25 to August 26, 1986. He racked up huge debts and Turner simply could not afford to keep the studio under those circumstances. To recoup his investment, Turner sold the production/distribution assets and trademarks of MGM to United Artists, while retaining the pre-May 1986 MGM, Associated Artists Productions (the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library and Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios "Popeye" cartoons) and RKO Radio Pictures libraries as well as "Gilligan's Island" and its animated spin-offs "The New Adventures of Gilligan" and "Gilligan's Planet". The studio lot was sold to Lorimar-Telepictures, which was later acquired by Warner Bros.; in 1990, the lot was sold to Sony Corporation's Columbia Pictures Entertainment in exchange for the half of Warner's lot that it had rented since 1972. Also in 1990, the MGM studio was purchased by Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti, who then merged the former Cannon with the MGM purchase to create the short-lived MGM-Pathé Communications. Parretti defaulted on the loans he'd used to buy the studio, leaving the studio in the hands of the French bank, Crédit Lyonnais. Crédit Lyonnais invested significant sums to revive the moribund studio and eventually sold it back to Kerkorian in 1996. Kerkorian soon expanded the company, purchasing Orion Pictures, The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Motion Picture Corporation of America from John Kluge's Metromedia in 1997, and bought the pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment library in 1999 from its parent Philips, which was in process to sell PolyGram to Seagram.
In 2005, Kerkorian sold MGM once more to a consortium led by Sony. He retained a 55% stake in MGM Mirage.
On November 22, 2006, Kerkorian's Tracinda investment corporation offered to buy 15 million shares of MGM Mirage to increase his stake in the gambling giant from 56.3% to 61.7%, if approved.
In May 2009, following the completion of a $1 billion stock offering by MGM Mirage, Kerkorian and Tracinda lost their majority ownership of the gaming company, dropping from 53.8 percent to 39 percent and even after pledging to purchase 10 percent of the new stock offering they now remain minority owners.
Auto industry.
Kerkorian had an on-again/off-again relationship with the American auto industry. His involvement began in 1995 when with the assistance of retired Chrysler chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca, Kerkorian staged a takeover attempt of the Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler's management treated the takeover as hostile, and after a lengthy battle, Kerkorian canceled his plans and sold his Chrysler stake in 1996. As part of the settlement, Iacocca was placed under a gag order forbidding him from discussing Chrysler in public or print for five years. Two years later, Chrysler management agreed to be acquired by German automaker Daimler-Benz.
Kerkorian once owned 9.9 percent of General Motors (GM). According to press accounts from June 30, 2006, Kerkorian suggested that Renault acquired a 20 percent stake in GM to rescue GM from itself. A letter from Tracinda to Rick Wagoner was released to the public, to pressure GM's executive hierarchy, but talks failed. On November 22, 2006 Kerkorian sold 14 million shares of his GM stake (it is speculated that this action was due to GM's rejection of Renault and Nissan's bids for stakes in the company as both of these bids were strongly supported by Kerkorian); the sale resulted in GM's share price falling 4.1% from its November 20 price, although it remained above $30/share. The sale lowered Kerkorian's holding to around 7% of GM. On November 30, 2006 Tracinda said it had agreed to sell another 14 million shares of GM, cutting Kerkorian's stake to half of what it had been earlier that year. By the end of November 2006, he had sold substantially all of his remaining GM shares. After Kerkorian sold, GM lost more than 90% of its value, falling as low as $1/share by May 2009, and filed bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.
On April 5, 2007, Kirk Kerkorian made a $4.58 billion bid for the Chrysler Group, the U.S. arm of Daimler-Chrysler. After Daimler-Chrysler announced they were interested in selling the Chrysler division on February 14, large investors such as Cerberus Capital Management, The Blackstone Group and Magna International each announced intentions to bid on the company. Kerkorian's bid, while not expected, was not surprising given his long involvement in the U.S. automobile industry. During the bidding process, he sought the aid of his close associate Jerome York who was a former CFO at both Chrysler and IBM. On May 14, 2007 80% of the Chrysler arm of Daimler-Chrysler was sold to Cerberus for $7.4 billion.
Kerkorian began buying Ford Motor Company stock in April 2008, and spent about $1 billion to accumulate a 6% stake in the automaker. By October 2008, the investment had lost two-thirds of its value, and he began selling. Tracinda explained, "In light of current economic and market conditions, it sees unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries and has, therefore, decided to reallocate its resources and to focus on those industries."
On October 21, Tracinda sold the 7.3 million Ford shares at an average price of $2.43, and said it planned to cut further its existing 6.1 percent stake in Ford, for a potential total loss of more than half a billion dollars. Kerkorian sold his remaining stake in Ford on December 29, 2008.
Wealth.
Kerkorian's net worth in 2008 was $16.0 billion according to "Forbes" magazine, making him the 41st richest person in the world and the richest person in California at that time. By 2011, Kerkorian was among those hardest hit by stock market recession as his net worth tumbled to $3.2 billion. In 2013 he was listed as the 412th richest person with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Personal life.
Kerkorian was an "intensely private person". He almost never gave interviews and seldom appeared in public. "Kerkorian rarely attended board meetings and never gave speeches. He was shy, but was a tough negotiator. Those who knew him describe him not as a Hughesian hermit, but as a gentle, gracious, normal guy."
Kerkorian was an avid tennis player, played in tournaments, associated with other players like Lornie Kuhle, and routinely played with Alex Yemenidjian, a former MGM executive, and former owner of the Tropicana Las Vegas resort. He had a penchant for expensive clothes (especially custom-made outfits by Italian designer Brioni), but drove relatively low cost vehicles, such as a Pontiac Firebird, Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Ford Taurus.
Kerkorian died in Beverly Hills, California on June 15, 2015, nine days after his 98th birthday.
Family.
Kerkorian was married three times, first to Hilda Schmidt from 1942 to 1952. His next marriage, to Jean Maree Hardy, lasted from 1954 to 1984. The two had met at the Thunderbird resort in Las Vegas. Ms. Hardy, a dancer from England, traveled the world instructing dance troupes. They met and fell in love while she was sent to check opportunities to choreograph a performance in Las Vegas. The marriage produced Kerkorian's two daughters, Tracy and Linda, whose names serve as a portmanteau for Kerkorian's personal holding company, Tracinda Corporation, likewise, his charitable organisation, the Lincy Foundation. Although divorced, they remained close friends and confidants.
Kerkorian's short-lived third marriage (1999) was to professional tennis player Lisa Bonder, 48 years his junior, which lasted only one month. The two had signed a prenuptial agreement before marrying. Kerkorian subsequently was involved in a breach of privacy suit filed against him by Steve Bing. Kerkorian claimed Bing was the father of Bonder's daughter, an allegation which was later confirmed by DNA paternity testing. On August 10, 2006, the "Los Angeles Times" reported that Kerkorian's attorneys were being sued by Bonder because of their connection to former high-profile private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who in 2008 began serving a fifteen-year prison sentence for running a wiretapping scheme. Bonder's attorney alleged that Kerkorian's lawyers hired Pellicano to wiretap telephone calls between him and Kerkorian's ex-wife in order to gain a tactical advantage in the divorce proceedings, an allegation that was later proven true. Pellicano also took a strand of Bing's used dental floss (surreptitiously acquired from rubbish) and used it to prove that not Kerkorian but Bing was the father of Bonder's daughter. Attorney Terry Christensen was subsequently convicted of racketeering for hiring Pellicano to tap Bonder's phone, and received a three-year prison sentence that was confirmed on appeal.
The Lincy Foundation and philanthropic activities.
Kerkorian was active in philanthropy through his charitable foundation, The Lincy Foundation, named after his daughters, Linda and Tracy. The foundation reportedly donated more than $1 billion, though Kerkorian never allowed anything to be named in his honor. The foundation covered half of the cost of an 80-kilometer highway connecting Armenia, his ancestral homeland, to Nagorno-Karabakh. Over the next decade, Kerkorian financed more than $200 million of infrastructure projects in Armenia, including $60 million to the reconstruction of schools and streets and the renovation of many museums, theaters and concert halls.
The Lincy Foundation was dissolved in 2011 after 22 years of charitable activities after dispensing its last $200 million to University of California, Los Angeles. Half was earmarked for medical research, scholarships and other projects while the other half was earmarked to create the "Dream Fund" for charitable causes around the country.
Estate.
Most of the $2 billion estate was left to charity, with a three-person committee left to distribute the funds within three years. As of 2018, a legal battle over the estate was ongoing.
Awards and recognition.
Armenia issued a Kirk Kerkorian stamp in 2017. The city of Gyumri unveiled a statue of Kerkorian in 2018.


Casper Van Dien

Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film "Starship Troopers". He has also appeared in a large number of television and film roles, often in daytime and primetime soap operas, and a large number of TV movies and direct-to-video films, including "", a 2008 sequel to the original film.
Early life.
Van Dien was born and raised in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane ("née" Morrow), a nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien Sr., a U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot.
There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during World War II. Van Dien is descended from an old Dutch family long settled in the New York area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, and English.
The street on which Van Dien grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Van Dien Avenue, was named after his great-great-great-grandfather. When Van Dien was older, his family moved to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg campus of the Admiral Farragut Academy, graduating 3rd in command. After high school, Van Dien attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Career.
After moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles as Ty Moody on the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live" and the prime time drama "Beverly Hills, 90210". Keen to expand his acting talents, Van Dien took a bit part in the video game, "Wing Commander IV".
In 1996, Van Dien played King Tal in "", the second sequel to the 1982 cult classic, "The Beastmaster". Van Dien also starred in the 1997 James Dean biopic "James Dean: Race with Destiny". Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science fiction action film "Starship Troopers". His success in "Starship Troopers" subsequently resulted in his casting as Tarzan in "Tarzan and the Lost City" (1998). Van Dien next played Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's 1999 film "Sleepy Hollow", a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale.
In 2000 Van Dien appeared in "Cutaway" as well as Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC prime time soap "Titans" with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal. He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman, in 2002's "The Rules of Attraction". However, the scenes were unused in the final film.
In 2008 Van Dien returned to the role of Rico in "", a direct-to-video sequel to "Starship Troopers".
Van Dien replaced Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage for the second season of the YouTube webseries "".
In 2020, he joined the cast of the independent film "Daughter".
Personal life.
From 1993 to 1997 Van Dien was married to Carrie Mitchum (granddaughter of Robert Mitchum). Van Dien had co-starred with Robert Mitchum in "James Dean: Race with Destiny". They have two children, a son, and daughter, actress Grace Van Dien (b.1996).
In 1999 Van Dien met actress Catherine Oxenberg during the filming of the TV movie "The Collectors", and they soon worked together again in the 1999 thriller "The Omega Code". On May 8, 1999, they married at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2005, the couple appeared in their own reality series, "I Married a Princess", which aired on the Lifetime Television channel in the United States, LIVINGtv in the United Kingdom and Lifestyle You in Australia; Oxenberg's mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. During the 2006–2007 TV season, Van Dien and Oxenberg co-starred in the American drama series "Watch Over Me" on MyNetworkTV. Oxenberg had a daughter from a previous relationship, India Riven Oxenberg (born 1991). Van Dien and Oxenberg have two daughters, born 2001 and 2003. In 2015, Van Dien filed for divorce from Oxenberg.
Oxenberg and Van Dien were celebrity ambassadors for the non-profit organization Childhelp.
Van Dien married Jennifer Wenger in June 2018.


Ryan Gentles

Ryan Michael Gentles (born November 28, 1977) is an American music manager and the CEO of Wiz Kid Management. He is best known as the longtime manager of the New York City-based band The Strokes, whom he managed from 2000 until 2020.
Career.
Gentles began his career in the music industry as a musician; he was the vocalist and guitarist in the band Timmsie's First Time which broke up in 1995 and then The Selzers, which broke up in 2000. Matthew Romano, The Strokes' drum technician and back-up drummer, was also in both bands, playing drums. While in school, Gentles interned for future Strokes publicist Jim Merlis at Geffen Records and New York music venue Mercury Lounge. After graduating in 1999, he was hired by Mercury Lounge and shortly became their booker. He soon came in contact with The Strokes who asked him "three or four times to manage them" despite the fact that professional managers were courting the band. He became their manager in 2000 and, at the insistence of frontman Julian Casablancas, had an equal share in the profits of the band, untypical of the music industry. Gentles was contracted to be The Strokes exclusive manager for five years and continued to manage them. He played a starring role in their 2003 music video "The End Has No End." He has been considered to be "the sixth Stroke." After twenty years of managing The Strokes, Gentles and the band parted ways in October 2020.
Gentles established his management firm, Wiz Kid Management, in 2003. In the early 2000s, he managed musicians Adam Green and Ryan Adams for a brief period. In January 2008, he merged his company with that of music business veteran's Danny Goldberg to form Gold Village/Wiz Kid Management. In June 2014, Wiz Kid joined the management division of production company C3 Presents.
Beginning in the mid-2000s, Gentles also managed other Strokes members' musical projects, including Albert Hammond, Jr.'s solo career, Nick Valensi's band CRX, and Fabrizio Moretti's project Machinegum. Gentles played guitar on one track of Strokes-guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s 2006 album, titled "Yours to Keep".
Management roster.
Current artists
Former artists


Kevin Ross (musician)

Kevin Ross (born December 8, 1987) is an American singer, songwriter and producer. He previously was signed to Motown Records and he released his debut album "The Awakening" in March 2017. Ross is also an award-winning songwriter, having written songs for artists such as Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Jamie Foxx, SWV, Johnny Gill and Toni Braxton. He began to become well known in 2014 after being featured in a Glade holiday campaign that year, charting with his version of the song "This Is My Wish".
Early life.
Born and raised in the DMV area, Ross comes from a family full of musicians. As a child, he was heavily influenced by his father's side of the family who all sung and played musical instruments. He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a performing arts high school in Washington, D.C. After covering songs from Stevie Wonder in a Motown tribute during his sophomore year, Ross knew he wanted to pursue a career as a musician. Following high school, he accepted a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied contemporary writing and production.
Career.
While attending Berklee, Ross appeared on BET's 106 and Park's as part of the shows Wild Out Wednesday competition. Ross ended up winning the competition and through his win, caught the attention of executive producer and music industry veteran Troy Taylor. After graduating from Berklee College, Ross moved to Atlanta where he began his songwriting career. After successfully landing several songwriting placements with Trey Songz, Jamie Foxx, and other platinum artists, Kevin signed a recording deal with Motown Records.
2014–2017: Motown and The Awakening.
Kevin's first solo release on Motown, "Dialogue in the Grey", was released in 2014. The 4-track EP, which featured appearances by Ne-Yo and T.I, allowed Kevin the opportunity to tour nationally as the opening act for Maxwell's "Summer Soulstice" tour and Ne-Yo's "One Night With Ne-Yo" tour. That same year, Ross became the face of Glade's "This Is My Wish" holiday campaign. After having a breakout year, AOL named Kevin Ross their "Best New Artist" for 2014. In 2015, Kevin announced the release of his long-awaited debut album on Motown, "The Awakening" however, the project would not be released until 2017. During that time, Kevin held his audience over by creating his 1990s R&B mash up series. The mash-up series ended up becoming popular on social media and introduced Kevin to a whole new audience. In 2016, Ross released his first official single from this debut album entitled "Long Song Away". The single peaked at No.1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Song chart and radio's Urban Adult Contemporary chart, making him the first debut Motown recording artist since 2010 to accomplish that feat. Kevin's debut album, The Awakening, was officially released on March 24, 2017 on the Motown/Verve record label and it features appearances from Chaz French, BJ the Chicago Kid, Lecrae and production from Babyface. On September 17, 2017, Ross announced the release of his third EP, "Drive".
2018–present: Motown Exit and "Audacity".
After the release of "Drive", Ross took a brief hiatus from the music industry. In January 2019, he reemerge and announced his exit from his recording label Motown and the creation of his own label, Art Society Music Group. When asked his reason for leaving Motown, Ross says "I wanted to have the freedom to decide who I am doing co-ventures with. It’s just like in any kind of business, when you have too many cooks that’s within the kitchen, sometimes you don’t get the best result, especially when everyone doesn’t have the same end goal in mind. Everyone can have great intentions, but if you’re not on the same page, good intentions are kind of pointless." In addition to the new label, Ross announced that a new single, "Thing Called Love", and a new album, "Audacity", will be released in the spring of 2019, but the release was postponed. In December 2019, Ross announced the release of the 7-track EP "Audacity, Vol. 1" on January 31, 2020.
Tours.
Headlining
Supporting
Writing and Production Discography.
This is a list of the songs known to have been written/co-written and produced by Kevin Ross.