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Vintage actor Adrian Zmed is best known for his role as Officer Vince Romano on the TV series T. J. Hooker. His role as Johnny Nogerelli in Grease 2 lead to more films including The Final Terror and his breakout role as Jay O’Niell in Bachelor Party starring Tom Hanks.
George Peppard had his breakthrough role in 1961 when he co-starred with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Throughout the 60’s and early 70’s he had starring roles in several films such as The Carpetbaggers, The Blue Max, Rough Night in Jericho, and The Executioner. In 1972 Peppard played Thomas Banacek in the crime drama Banacek. He is, of course, best known as John ‘Hannibal’ Smith on the action series The A-Team.
Although George Nader won a Golden Globe Award in 1955 as Most Promising Newcomer, the competition from male actors such as Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis made it difficult for him to land many leading man roles. In the late 50’s his homosexuality became known and ended his Hollywood career. He and his companion moved to Europe and Nader found steady work in films. An unfortunate accident in the mid-70’s left his with an eye injury that made him extremely sensitive to the bright lights of movie sets. He quit acting and began writing a series of science fiction novels. His novel Chrome, written in 1978, is the first science fiction novel to be centered on a homosexual love affair.
Axl Rose, lead vocalist of the hard rock bank Guns N’ Roses, made the #11 spot in Hit Parader‘s Top Male Vocalists of All Time, #64 of Rolling Stone‘s Greatest Singers of All Time, #4 in Roadrunner’s Best Frontmen in Metal History, and, in 2010, #1 greatest lead singer of all time by Musicradar. Many of his songs, such as Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City, and Nightrain, have been used in the soundtrack of films. Although the band is still performing, Axl Rose is the only remaining original member.
Was there life after Blue Lagoon for Christopher Atkins? Well, there were a few not-so-big budget films such as The Pirate Movie, A Night In Heaven, Mortuary Academy, Die Watching. He also did some guest spots on several TV series episodes and a nude centerfold for Playgirl Magazine. In 2009 Atkins appeared, along with 7 other men, on VH1’s Confessions of a Teen Idol. More recently, he played the role of Daniel Dodd in the 2011 film Serpent Rising.
His cleft chin, steely eyes and distinctive voice may be what made Kirk Douglas so easily recognizable but hit enormous talent is what made him a super star. He was a leading man able to fill many types of character roles. Douglas was nominated for Best Leading Oscars for his role as Midge Kelly in the 1949 film Champion, as Jonathan Shield in the 1952 drama The Bad and the Beautiful, and, in 1956 as Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life. In 1996 Kirk Douglas was awarded the Academy Honorary award for 50 years as a creative and moral source in the motion picture community.
The 1991 film Thelma & Louise may have put Brad Pitt on the road to stardom, but he continues to be one of Hollywood’s sexiest and most talented actors. He has appeared in so many great films including A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall, Twelve Monkeys, Oceans 11, 12, and 13, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Pitt’s most recent film is The Tree of Life. Watch for him this fall in Moneyball.
Award winning actor, race car driver, humanitarian, entrepreneur and political activist, Paul Newman was truly a man for all seasons.
Multi-talented Viggo Mortensen is a successful actor, published poet, and painter with his work being featured in art galleries around the world. As an actor he is best known as Aragom in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as Tom Stall in A History of Violence, and the starring role in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. He was nominated as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in the role of Nikolai Luzhin in Eastern Promises.
Sal Mineo’s star burned brightest in the role of John ‘Plato’ Crawford in Rebel Without a Cause. The film showcased James Dean and made him a cultural icon. Interestingly, Sal Mineo, not James Dean, was an Academy Award nominee for his performance as Best Supporting Actor. After Rebel he appeared in two more great films: Somebody Up There Likes Me and, another film with Dean, Giant. Mineo was never able to continue his success and by the early 60’s his career was dwindling.
In 1976 Sal Mineo was stabbed to death in the alley behind his apartment. Lionel Ray Williams, a pizza deliveryman, was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 57 years in prison. He had committed several robberies in the area and said he had no idea who Sal Mineo was.