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Bryan Cranston would be best known as Hal on Malcolm in the Middle and Walter White in the drama series Breaking Bad. He won three consecutive Emmys as Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Walter White. Cranston also has several film credits including roles in Saving Pvt. Ryan, Seeing Other People, and Love Ranch. He recently completed the film Leave in which he had a co-starring role, and the starring role in Red Tails.
Van Williams played a “hip” private detective in Bourbon Street Beat and Surfside 6. In 1966 he teamed up with Bruce Lee for the series The Green Hornet. Lee played The Green Hornet’s sidekick Kato. By the time Williams starred in the Green Hornet he had already become financially successful by investing in several commercial ventures. A 1966 TV Guide profile titled the Banker with a Sting dubbed him “your friendly neighborhood tycoon. He retired from acting in 1982 and opened a communication systems company in Santa Monica, CA
Through the years, Ron Moss has made appearances in episodes of TV series’ such as Trapper John, M.D. and Six Feet Under as well as role in the films Hot Child in the City, The Alternate, and Christmas in Love. However, he has been a mainstay on the soap The Bold and the Beautiful since 1987. His role is Ridge Forrester.
Thought at the time to be headed for stardom, Roger Herren’s star burnt out very quickly. The handsome young man, oozing southern charm, had only one acting credit. He landed a role in the 1970 film Myra Breckenridge. The film was based on the controversial (for the 70s, anyway) novel by Gore Vidal, who in 1945 shocked and outraged the American public and critics when he wrote the novel The City and the Pillar. The outrage was caused by Vidal’s subject matter (homosexuality) and the way he handled it (unambiguously).
But, back to Roger Herren. He had a fairly major role in Myra Breckenridge but was never seen again. Curious. Unless, of course, his charm and good looks couldn’t outweigh a lack of acting ability.
Don’t know how many people are aware that Robert Downey, Sr. was a underground film maker who admits to giving his daughter, Allyson, and son Robert, drugs at a prepubescent age. Sure could explain Robert’s drug addiction and the long road he had to take to get clean. His frequent arrests made headlines and tended to make people forget that he was, and is, a good actor. He seems to have turned his life around. Being cast in the Iron Man films revived his career and garnered him rave reviews and several year end awards from film critics and film associations world wide. He starred as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the 2010 sequel and will, again, in Iron Man 3 which will be released sometime in 2013. Also, watch for Tony Stark/Iron man to appear in The Avengers, another superhero film with an all star cast.
It’s great to see a talented actor who hit a really low point in his career make a comeback the way Robert Downey, Jr. has!
Don Diamont made a brief appearance on Days of Our Lives in 1984 as Carlo Forenza and then became a major player in the soap opera world in 1985 when he was chosen to play Brad Carlton on The Young and the Restless. He remained with the show until 2009. In late 2009 he joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful as Bill Spencer/Bill Spencer Jr. and continues the roll in 2011.
Stephen Lang is a stage and film actor as well as a play writer. He played Harold Loman in both the 1984 stage revival of Death of a Salesman the 1985 TV movie adaptation with Dustin Hoffman in the lead role of Willie Loman. Other major film credits include Gettysburg, Tombstone, Shadow Conspiracy, D-Tox, and more recently, Avatar. He is currently appearing in the new sci-fi series Terra Nova in the role of Commander Nathaniel Taylor.
Michael Clarke Duncan’s first part in a major film was as Bear in the Armageddon. The film starred Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Ben Affleck. With the help of Willis, Duncan caught his big break when he landed the co-starring role of John Coffey in the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Green Mile. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He had the lead role in the 2010 film Redemption Road which received excellent reviews. Duncan is currently the star of a new TV series called The Finder. The show is a spin off from the popular series Bones.
Mr. Miami Vice, Don Johnson, was the epitome of the sexy male star. Probably the first to have the unshaven look and wear the white suit with a colored (usually black) tee shirt. Miami Vice ran from 1984 to 1990 and Johnson’s next, and maybe last, big hit was Nash Bridges which lasted from 1996-2001. After that came films such as Moondancer Alexander, and Machete, which included actors Danny Trejo and Robert De Niro. More recently Johnson has done the voice of Grandpa Whitey in the animated series Glenn Martin D.D.S.
So what if he wasn’t the greatest actor. Christopher Atkins so young, so sexy, and so hot in Blue Lagoon that nobody really cared. The film, made in 1980, came very early in his career and by the 1990s Atkins was appearing in made-for-TV movies. However, he just completed filming a movie called Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords in which he has the lead role. Atkins also has a role in a comedy film, The Unlikely’s. Both films will be released in 2012.