Advanced search

When she portrayed "Lyta Alexander" in the Hugo Award-winning sci-fi series Babylon 5 (1993), Patricia Tallman was the most powerful telepath in the universe. Seems fitting, considering that the actress knew she was going to be in show business at the early age of two. It was then that she first appeared with her father, Jerry, on his Midwest radio show, soloing on "Bicycle Built for Two".

By age 15, Pat was performing in summer stock at the Red Barn Theatre in Saugatuck, Michigan, doing ten shows in 11 weeks. She soon spent all of her high school vacations in professional summer stock, and eventually chose Carnegie Mellon University to earn a BFA in its prestigious theater arts program. While other theater majors waited tables, Pat worked her way through college, performing in eighteen musicals at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. Recognizing Pat's formidable talents, CMU presented her with an award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting.

Immediately after college, Pat moved to New York City, where she landed a role in the long-running off-Broadway hit "Big, Bad Burlesque". She went on to score other parts on the New York stage, including her favorite, "Rosalind" in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of "As You Like It". Television roles began shortly thereafter, when Pat was cast in a recurring role on the CBS soap opera, Guiding Light (1952). This led to roles on virtually every New York-based daytime serial. Film roles were not far behind. George A. Romero contacted her to play a role in his feature Knightriders (1981), starring Ed Harris. This led to a long working relationship with him.

Pat relocated to Los Angeles , where she again worked with Romero on Creepshow 2 (1987). The film she is perhaps best known for followed: George Romero and Tom Savini's remake of the 1968 cult classic, Night of the Living Dead (1990). The move to L.A. was a smart one, Pat discovered, as she was soon cast as undercover cop "Christy Russell" on NBC's Generations (1993), and as an evil, sexy swashbuckler in the Ring of the Musketeers (1992). Other films include Sweet Justice (1991), Benefit of the Doubt (1993), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Television shows include Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Star Runner (1991) (A USA Network pilot), Dark Skies (1996), Babylon 5 (1993) and "The Universe and Harry Morgann" (an independent pilot).

Pat's other projects include starring in the science-fiction thriller Never Die Twice (2001) and playing one of the leads, Lt. Richmond, in two audio plays, "Lives of the Cat" and "Anne Manx". In addition, her voice can be heard in the cartoon "Babylon 5" parodies Babylon Park: Frightspace (1999) and Grudge Match (2000). Equally important to Patricia are her roles of mother to son her Julian, as well as her fund-raising activities for the children of Penny Lane.

Through her tireless efforts within the science fiction community, Pat and her fans have contributed more than $250,000 to Penny Lane over the past several years, the bulk of which transformed the CARE Computer Lab dream into reality. Since 1996, Pat, her friends, family and fans have made a holiday happen for the Penny Lane kids, through the Be A Santa program.

Dedicated Patricia Tallman fans make a hobby of trying to spot her in her many stunt performances. An extremely athletic and former fearless member of the Stunt Woman's Association of Motion Pictures, Pat has tumbled, slid and taken punches for the likes of Laura Dern (in Jurassic Park (1993)), Gates McFadden (in "Star Trek: Generations"), Geena Davis (in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)) and Laura Prepon (in Karla (2006)).

Pat's roots as a stage actress have never left her, and she continues to tread the footlights in Los Angeles whenever film and TV work allow her the time. Her latest projects include Dead Air (2009), a psychological horror film directed by Corbin Bernsen, for which her performance is getting great reviews. Pat has a book out "Pleasure Thresholds, Patricia Tallman's Babylon 5 Memoirs".

Laura Innes was born on August 16, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan. She was introduced to professional theater by her father, who often took the family to the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. With the support of her father, she attended Northwestern University and earned a degree in theater. She went on to appeared in several theater productions before her film debut in Brian De Palma's The Fury (1978), played the role of Jody. She then played the daughter to Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in the short-lived sitcom The Stiller & Meara Show (1986). In the fall of 1995, she joined the ensemble cast of the NBC medical drama ER (1994) in its second season. She played the role of the experienced, but abrasive, Dr. Kerry Weaver. Her performance earned her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Moira Harris was born on April 19, 1954 in Pontiac, Illinois. She attended and graduated from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, (also where John Malkovich attended) and met Gary Sinise during her college years. They have three children: Sophie Sinise, McCanna Anthony Sinise and Ella Sinise. She is the daughter-in-law of Robert L. Sinise. Moira converted to Roman Catholicism in 2000.

Larry Joe Campbell, is a well known American actor. Campbell is most known for his character Andy in "According to Jim", "Hall Pass", "Pacific Rim", and "Wedding Crashers". Campbell was born in Pontiac, Michigan however grew up in Cadillac. Campbell has five children with wife, Peggy Johns-Campbell, whom he married in 1997.

As a nationally touring comedian Heather Turman has performed in 20 US states and 75 cities. She has appeared on the FOX series "Laughs" and the SeedandSpark original "Everything Is Fine!" stand-up comedy special. She has also appeared at major festivals including RIOT LA!, SLO-fest and the Westside Showdown in LA where she was a top-finalist twice. Heather is also an award-winning writer, producer and actor. She sold her first feature-length screenplay "The Catch" to Principle Entertainment and then wrote and produced the feature film "Stuck" starring Joel McHale, Heather Matarazzo and SNL's Chris Redd. "Stuck" took home a plethora of awards on the festival circuit before securing global distribution. Prior to making her feature debut with "Stuck," she produced a handful of short films, including "Subdivision" with Larry Laboe (NBC's Ctrl and Fact Checkers Unit), and on the new media front Turman made a splash when she wrote, produced, directed and starred in the original series "Conversations with Future Stars" which was subsequently licensed by RevryTV. Additionally, Turman was a sketch writer for the 2015 CBS Diversity Showcase and her latest screenplay "Snapped" was a top-five finalist at the 2020 Portland Comedy Festival, an Official Selection at Script Summit, and a Semi-Finalist in Coverfly's Unique Voices Screenwriting Competition.

Mike Henry is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Michael "Mike" Henry was born on November 7, 1965, in Pontiac, Michigan and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He is best known for his work on Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, American Dad, Ted, and The Orville. His most popular voice characters include Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Bruce, and Consuela from Family Guy (1999).

Mike Henry attended The Collegiate School (1984) and later received a B.A. in History from Washington and Lee University (1988). In 1989, Mike left his job in advertising and moved to California to pursue acting and began performing stand-up comedy. He later met and befriended his brother Patrick's roommate, Seth MacFarlane while co-starring in Patrick's university movie shorts. In 1998, Henry joined the cast of Family Guy in its first season and later went on to produce and star in the hit spin-off, The Cleveland Show.

Mike Henry is married to Sara Voelker Henry and has two children and resides in Virginia.

Natashia Williams was born on 2 August 1978 in Pontiac, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for She Spies (2002), How to Be a Player (1997) and So Little Time (2001). She has been married to Brevin Blach since 2007. They have two children.

Michelle Breeze was born on 18 December 1942 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for The Flintstones (1994), Burke's Law (1963) and The Wild Wild West (1965). She was married to Steven Ackerman. She died on 13 September 2016 in Reseda, California, USA.

Bahni Turpin was born on 4 June 1962 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for Crossroads (2002), Malcolm X (1992) and Cold Case (2003).

Joe Urla was born on 25 December 1958 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He is an actor, known for Sleepers (1996), Deep Impact (1998) and The Bodyguard (1992).

Born in Pontiac, Michigan on January 23rd, 1976. Raised among a large music making family, (mother Sally was the 10th of 12 musically inclined children of renowned Detroit pianist, Jimmy Stevenson) he began singing and playing at the ripe old age of three. By age eight he had begun playing and writing with his cousin and life-long musical companion, Cole Garlak. Together they spent the better part of their school years learning classic rock cover tunes (with the help of numerous rhythm sections) performing in garages and school cafeterias throughout Oakland county. At 15, he moved to Orlando, Florida to enjoy four years of working as a Mouseketeer on the Disney Channel's All New Mickey Mouse Club. After high school and the show's cancellation, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his career as a professional entertainer. He worked in commercials and on TV but soon returned to music and is now writing and recording songs.

Dan Hicks was born on 19 July 1951 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Darkman (1990), Evil Dead II (1987) and Intruder (1989). He died on 30 June 2020 in California, USA.

Sicily Johnson was born on 1 October 1985 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for One on One (2001), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993) and Mama Flora's Family (1998). She has been married to Melanie Wilkerson since 2022. She was previously married to Chris Johnson.

Bryan Massey was born in Pontiac, Michigan but moved to Dallas, Texas when he was just 7 years old. He began his illustrious acting career at the tender age of 9 when he made the local paper by winning the 5th grade talent show lip syncing to Steve Martin's "King Tut." At the age of 13, Bryan showed an interest in cartooning and filmmaking, so his Dad bought him a Super 8mm camera. Recruiting the neighborhood and his family, Bryan would spend his weekend's shooting comedic action shorts with his beloved camera. During high school, Bryan dropped out of football because it conflicted with his theater schedule.

In college, Bryan had lead roles in several musicals, participated in community theater, made several short movies with his buddies on campus, and was a nationally ranked member of the cheer-leading squad. After earning an Associate's Degree in Radio/Television, Bryan decided to pursue his acting career and moved to Hollywood, where he got his SAG card playing a Nazi on the X-Files. After spending 4 years in Los Angeles Bryan returned home to Texas, working in local improvisation troupes and continuing to write his own projects. With no local agent he would later go on to get a stint on Prison Break, only after crashing the audition!

He quickly went on to sign with a local agent and due to his unique gruff voice, Bryan was able to participate in his love of cartoons by doing voice over work for many anime shows and video games. Bryan has booked several commercials and acted in many short films and independents. Bryan has also been able to go onto more prolific roles including playing Detective Brinkley, a cop in hot pursuit of Diane Keaton and Ted Danson in "Mad Money", as Skeeter, an oil man friend to Josh Brolin's portrayal of George W. Bush in Oliver Stones critically acclaimed "W" and can also be seen in this summer's much anticipated Judd Apatow comedy "Year One" starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, coming to theaters June 19th.

John Currie Slade was born on 11 April 1948 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for L.A. Confidential (1997), Voyagers! (1982) and Slam Dance (1987). He was married to Laurie Walters and Betsy Slade. He died on 7 July 2017 in Ventura, California, USA.

Christopher Ciccone was born on 22 November 1960 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), Twisted (2015) and Madonna: The Girlie Show - Live Down Under (1993). He was married to Ray Thacker . He died on 4 October 2024 in Petoskey, Michigan, USA.

Nicole Nilson Schaffrich was born on 3 February 1970 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Reality Dish (2003) and Big Brother (2000). She has been married to Jeff Schaffrich since 13 April 2001.

Controversial pathologist, writer and inventor, Jack Kevorkian was the only son of Levon Kevorkian a former auto-factory worker who owned an excavating company and his homemaker wife. He had 2 sisters. Kevorkian's parents were Armenian refugees, whose relatives were among the 1.5 millon victims of Turkish atrocities in World War I. As a young boy he quit Sunday school because he did not believe in Armenian Orthodox teachings. He taught himself German and Japanese in high school during World war II. Kevorkian graduated from Pontiac High School with honors in 1945 at 17. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan from where he graduated from Medical school in 1952. Kevorkian completed an internship in Pathology at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit, during which period he had an epiphany when he saw a woman who was dying of cancer. It was then that he began to think of ways to alleviate suffering in his patients. In 1953 he got his medical license for Michighan state. He then did a 15 month stint in Korea as an Army Medical Officer during the Korean War. He returned and completed his residency at Pontiac General Hospital, Michigan. He got his nickname 'Dr. Death' in 1956 when he started photographing the retinas of patients at the moment of death to differentiate between coma and death. From 1956-57 he did research in West Germany. In 1957 he obtained his California medical license. In 1958 he presented a paper on 'Capital Punishment or Capital Gain' at the American Association for the Advancement of Science' at Washington, DC. He suggested the harvesting of organs from death row prisoners. This was considered controversial because death row inmates don't necessarily have any rights. By 1960 he was licensed in Pathological Anatomy and in 1965 in Clinical Pathology. In April 1960 he testified before a Joint Judicial Committee in Columbus, Ohio to revise the death penalty and to legalize medical experimentation on condemned inmates. In 1976 he moved to Los Angeles, California. He changed jobs frequently. Between 1982 to 86 he mainly did his writing and research. In 1988, even the pro-suicide Hemlock Society founder, Derek humphry rebuffed his methods as "too perilous and risky". In 1989 after reading about a patient who had asked for euthanasia he began working on a lethal-injection machine that would be able to do the task at the 'flip of a switch'. It was called the Thanatron (and later Mercitron). He got a lot of publicity because of this. On June 4, 1990 he performed the first of his 'medicides' as he liked to call physician-assisted suicide. His 'client' was a 54 year old woman suffering from Alzheimer's. She had contacted him herself after reading his ads in the papers. It was performed in the back of his VW van. She received sodium pentothal (an anesthetic) and potassium chloride (to stop the heart). By the time of this 3rd medicide his medical licemse was revoked for violating Michigan state laws regarding euthanasia. One of his 'clients' was even found on autopsy not to have any major pathology. He continued to do his medicides by giving his clients carbon-monoxide. There were reports that one patient had asked her mask to be removed twice (maybe a change of mind) but Kevorkian had continued with his task. On August 17, 1993 he was formally charged with violating the law. By then he had already helped 20 clients to their peaceful deaths. He was jailed first in November 1993 and then again in December 1993. Kevorkian went on a liquid only fast for 18 days and was acquitted in May 1994. By now he had even gained several supporters in the general community. By 1998 he hed committed over 100 medicides. Relatives of some of his clients claimed that he had continued despite protests from his 'victims'. He was now charged with 2nd degree murder. During his trial he was defended by the flamboyant lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. In March 1999 Dr. Kevorkian was sentenced by a Michigan jury to 10-25 years for his crime.

Peter Dexter was born in 1943 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He is a writer, known for The Paperboy (2012), Michael (1996) and Paris Trout (1991).

Rob Burns was born on 18 May 1953 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Covenant (2006), Beyond Borders (2003) and A Different Loyalty (2004).

Bret Miller is a documentary, commercial, and narrative filmmaker with DYNMC Films. He has directed feature films Some Are Born (2014) and Chasing The Star (2017) and has written genre scripts that have been sold, optioned, and produced for worldwide release. Bret lives with his family in Atlanta by way of Detroit.

Tyler Santangelo was born on 2 December 1998 in Pontiac, Michigan. Tyler is a producer and actor, known for Walking to Paris, Untitled Horror Project and Zero.

Paul Condylis was born on 9 October 1929 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for What's Up, Doc? (1972), Targets (1968) and Get Smart (1965). He was married to Judith Joy Bradford. He died on 20 August 2019.

Martha Thimmesch was born on 26 May 1961 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Monkeys (1989). She died on 26 March 2007 in Dubuque, Iowa, USA.

Ted Hollis was born on 26 April 1947 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He is an actor, known for Book Club (2018), Push, Nevada (2002) and Where We Disappear (2019).