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Michael Stewart Stuhlbarg was born in Long Beach, California. He attended UCLA, and then The Juilliard School in New York City, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His other studies included time at the Vilnius Conservatory in Lithuania, the British American Drama Academy at Baliol and Keble Colleges at Oxford, and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain in London, and at Northwestern University's National High School Institute "Cherub" Program . While at UCLA, he was awarded a scholarship to study with Marcel Marceau.

During the 1990s and most of the 2000s, Stuhlbarg was primarily a theatrical actor, working on Broadway in such productions as Cabaret, Taking Sides, Saint Joan, The Government Inspector, and The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, which earned him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and his first nomination for a Tony Award. His numerous Off-Broadway credits include the title roles in Hamlet and Richard II with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and David Mamet's adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance, which earned him an OBIE.

Stuhlbarg's first major film role was as Laurence Gopnik in Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man, for which he received his first Golden Globe nomination. His first major television role came in HBO and Martin Scorsese's period drama series, Boardwalk Empire, in which he was cast as the organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein. Most recently, he appeared in the highly acclaimed FX series Fargo, and will be seen in 2018 in The Looming Tower on Hulu.

Stuhlbarg has continued to appear regularly in a number of high-profile films in recent years, including: Arrival, Steve Jobs, Blue Jasmine, Hugo, Seven Psychopaths, Men In Black III, Trumbo, Lincoln, Miss Sloane, Doctor Strange, Miles Ahead, and Pawn Sacrifice to name a few. This season he is appearing in three films: Luca Guadinino and James Ivory's Call Me By Your Name, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, and Steven Spielberg's The Post.

Edith Falco, called Edie, was born on July 5, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith Anderson, an actress, and Frank Falco, a jazz drummer. She is of Italian (father) and Swedish, English, and Cornish (mother) descent. Edie grew up on Long Island and attended SUNY Purchase, where she was trained in acting at the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film. She moved to Manhattan after graduation, auditioning for roles and supporting herself as best she could; for example, working parties for an entertainment company where she would wear a Cookie Monster costume and urge people to get on the dance floor. Falco began getting film roles, mostly smaller supporting parts, starting in the late 1980s. Her first notable role was a supporting part in Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

Ironically, it was in television where the conservatory-trained Falco's career first flowered. She obtained her first recurring roles in 1993, on the acclaimed police dramas Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), as the wife of a blinded police officer, and Law & Order (1990) as a Legal Aid attorney. Next came a recurring role on the prison drama Oz (1997), as a sympathetic corrections officer. All the while she continued to work in film, still in small supporting roles.

Supporting herself in acting continued to be a challenge until at last Falco found success in 1999, when she was cast in the HBO series The Sopranos (1999), as Carmela, the wife of New Jersey Mafia street boss Tony Soprano. "The Sopranos" gained her a great deal of visibility and praise for her exceptionally strong dramatic skills. In 2000 Falco became one of the few actresses in history to sweep all of the major television awards (the Emmy, the Golden Globe and the SAG Award) in one year for a dramatic role. She is also the first female actor ever to receive the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.

Interestingly, her roles have frequently put her on one side of the law or the other--a defense attorney, a corrections officer, a cop's wife, a mobster's wife, a police officer (in a pilot for a television adaptation of the movie Fargo (1996)). She has also worked frequently on the stage, such as her award-winning work in the play "Sideman," in "The Vagina Monologues," and in revivals of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (which was hugely successful) and "'night Mother."

Unlike her brashly assertive alter-ego Carmela Soprano, Falco is self-described as shy, but is clearly a witty and down-to-earth person. She sometimes travels with her beloved dog Marley, driving so that the dog does not have to travel in the baggage compartment. At one point Falco had a relationship with her "Frankie and Johnny" co-star Stanley Tucci. She was treated for breast cancer in 2004 and her prognosis is very good. In December 2004, Falco adopted a baby boy, whom she named Anderson, after her mother's surname. Another adoption, of a baby girl named Macy, followed in 2008.

Born on July 5 in Istanbul, Tuba majored in Costume & Design at the Mimar Sinan University of the Fine Arts from where she graduated in the year of 2004. This year also brought along her first acting gig as she starred in the successful TV show, 'Cemberimde Gül Oya', portraying the character of 'Zarife'. This was her first acting experience and a strong start to a successful acting career. The following year she was awarded 'Best Actress' in the 'Republic of Serbia and Montenegro International TV Festival' for her portrayal of 'Gülizar', in the TV movie, 'Gülizar'.

In 2005, Tuba starred in the TV series; 'Ihlamurlar Altinda', in which she gave life to the character 'Filiz'. This show became enormously successful not only in Turkey, but in many Middle Eastern countries. Between 2007 and 2009, Tuba portrayed the leading character of 'Asiye' in the hit TV show, 'Asi. 'Asi' was later nominated 'Best Soap Opera' at the '51 Monte Carlo Television Festival'. She went on to act in a number of highly successful TV shows such as; 'Gonülcelen', '20 Minutes', 'Black Money Love', and currently, 'The Brave and the Beautiful'. The movies she starred in are; 'Sinav' (Omer Faruk Sorak), 'My Father and My Son' (Cagan Irmak), 'Ask Your Heart' (Yusuf Kurcenli), 'Memories of the Wind' (Ozcan Alper), 'Tight Dress' (Hiner Saleem). Movies Tuba is in that are currently in post-production are; 'More' (Onur Saylak) and 'Istanbul Red' (Ferzan Ozpetek) . Her authentic and captivating performances in all of her movies and TV shows have earned Tuba her unique place in the acting world as well as allowing her to reach out to large masses of viewers all over the world, especially in Turkey and the Middle Eastern Region.

With her performance as 'Melek', in '20 Minutes' (2013), Tuba was nominated 'Best Actress' at the '42 International Emmy Awards', which makes her the first ever 'EMMY' nominee to come out of Turkey. Tuba has also won the 'Best Actress Award' at the '14th International Giuseppe Sciacca Awards' held in Vatican City.

Tuba is also a 'UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador' who works as an advocate for Children's Rights.

Ji Chang-Wook is a South Korean actor who first gained fame for his role in 'Smile Again', a South Korean drama series where he played the lead role. He is also known for his role in the South Korean thriller film 'Fabricated City', which was a huge commercial success. After playing small roles in many television series, he played his first major role in 'Smile Again', a South Korean drama series. Directed by Kim Myung-Wook and Mo Wan-Il, the series was a success and won multiple awards. For his role as a short-track speed skater, he had to train for around four to five hours at the ice rink every day. Other works that earned him fame include his appearance in the TV series 'Warrior Baek Dong-Soo' where he played the lead role. The series won multiple awards. He also played a supporting role in the TV series 'Empress Ki', which earned a lot of popularity worldwide. Undoubtedly one of the most popular actors in South Korea, Ji Chang-Wook has won several significant awards throughout his career such as the 'China TV Drama Award' and the 'Annual DramaFever Award'.

Pruitt can next be seen starring as a series regular in the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake, opposite Natalie Portman. Other television work includes recurring in Netflix's Stranger Things, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., NBC's Heroes Reborn, True Blood, The Walking Dead, The Mentalist, and Murder One (for which he won an Emmy). On the film side, Pruitt has held prominent roles in Netflix's Bird Box opposite Sandra Bullock and The Life and Death of John Gotti opposite John Travolta.

Ryan Hansen is an American actor. He was born in Fountain Valley, California, and raised in El Cajon, California, but has since moved with his wife, Amy Hansen, to Los Angeles. His wife is a former roommate of Kristen Bell (star of Veronica Mars (2004)). Hansen is involved in the campaign, "Invisible Children", and has appeared in the online series, "The LXD", of which 50% of the profits are going to the Invisible Children Campaign.

Claudia Wells was born on 5 July 1966 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is an actress, known for Back to the Future (1985), CBS Schoolbreak Special (1984) and Back to the Future: The Game - 30th Anniversary Edition (2015).

James wrote/ directed/ starred in the SXSW Grand Jury AND Audience Award winning Magnolia Pictures/ Hulu film I LOVE MY DAD starring Patton Oswalt. Morosini most recently starred in IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE, which premiered at Sundance and made headlines with its impressive 17M Netflix sale, marking it the fifth-largest sale in Sundance history. Morosini was featured in Variety's prestigious Comedy Impact Report alongside Judd Apatow, Paul Feig, and Greg Daniels. His latest screenplay, POP, was featured on the Blacklist, a collection of the most liked scripts of the year. Originally from Boston, Morosini studied film at USC where he currently teaches as an adjunct professor.

Katherine Marie Helmond was born on July 5, 1929, in Galveston, Texas. After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother, Thelma (nee Malone) Helmond, and her maternal grandmother, both of Irish Catholic descent. She attended Catholic school, and appeared in numerous school plays and pageants. She took a job at a local theater while still in high school, hammering and sawing the scenery, cleaning the bathrooms and pulling the curtain.

After her stage debut in "As You Like It", she worked in New York theatres during the 1950s and 1960s. She operated a summer theatre in the Catskills for three seasons and also taught acting in university theatre programs. She made her TV debut in 1962 but had to wait another 10 years until her breakthrough came in the 1970s. She stayed busy on TV as well as on stage and earned a Tony nomination for "The Great God Brown" (1973) on Broadway. She honed her acting abilities with Alfred Hitchcock in Family Plot (1976) and in numerous TV series, notably in ABC's cult sitcom Soap (1977), for which she had four Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe. On the big screen she starred in Brazil (1985) as Jonathan Pryce's mother who is addicted to plastic surgery and snooping in her son's messed-up life.

In 1983 she studied at the Directing Workshop of the American Film Institute and then directed four episodes of the series Benson (1979) as well as episodes of Who's the Boss? (1984). She also picked up Emmy nominations for her role as Mona Robinson, a liberated grandmother in "Who's the Boss?", and as Lois in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996). Although Helmond was a bona-fide TV star since her "Soap" days, she continued working on stage in the 2000s and was acclaimed for her performances in "The Vagina Monologues".

Katherine Helmond was married twice. She had no children. She turned to Buddhism in later years. She shared her time between her home in Los Angeles and homes in New York and London.

Danay Garcia is an actress, writer and producer. She is currently a series regular in the AMC hit television show "Fear the Walking Dead" and recently costarred in two feature films. Garcia has been working steadily in film and television since arriving in the United States from Cuba in 2003.

Television audiences first got to know Garcia as a co-star of the popular Fox series "Prison Break," which ran for four seasons beginning in 2006. Garcia played the lead role of Sofia Lugo during the final two seasons and achieved instant fame, appearing in hundreds of magazines around the world. Garcia has also appeared in episodes of "Hawaii Five-0," "Supernatural," "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York."

In AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead," currently one of the highest rated series on cable, Garcia stars as "Luciana," the fearless yet compassionate leader who shows unwavering courage in the dangerous post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies and humans who will do anything to survive.

Garcia recently wrote, directed and produced "La Cura," a short film about a small town in Mexico feeling the effects of an unknown disease that forces the local pastor to make an ethical decision that will impact the lives of everyone in his village.

Other film credits include "Avenge the Crows" (2017), an independent thriller which Garcia also produced costarring Lou Diamond Phillips, Steven Bauer, Emilio Rivera and Danny Trejo; "Sniper: Ultimate Kill" (2017), an action film produced by Sony and Mandalay Pictures; "Liz in September" (2014), by acclaimed director Fina Torres; "Eternal Ashes" (2011), which opened to critical acclaim at the Montreal Film Festival; "Rehab" (2011); "Peep World" (2010); "From Mexico With Love" (2009); and "Danika" (2006), a psychological thriller co-starring Marisa Tomei.

A highly sought-after model, Garcia has been featured in print ads for brands including Mercedes-Benz and Macy's, and has appeared in countless U.S. and international fashion magazines. Garcia is also classically trained in ballet.

Kathryn Erbe was born on 5 July 1965 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for Stir of Echoes (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) and What About Bob? (1991). She was previously married to Terry Kinney.

François Arnaud was born on 5 July 1985 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for The Borgias (2011), Blindspot (2015) and J'ai tué ma mère (2009).

Warren Oates was an American character actor of the 1960s and 1970s and early 1980s whose distinctive style and intensity brought him to offbeat leading roles.

Oates was born in Depoy, a very small Kentucky town. He was the son of Sarah Alice (Mercer) and Bayless Earle Oates, a general store owner. He attended high school in Louisville, continuing on to the University of Louisville and military service with the U.S. Marines.

In college he became interested in the theatre and in 1954 headed for New York to make his mark as an actor. However, his first real job in television was, as it had been for James Dean before him, testing the contest gags on the game show Beat the Clock (1950). He did numerous menial jobs while auditioning, including serving as the hat-check man at the nightclub "21".

By 1957 he had begun appearing in live dramas such as Studio One (1948), but Oates' rural drawl seemed more fitted for the Westerns that were proliferating on the big screen at the time, so he moved to Hollywood and immediately stared getting steady work as an increasingly prominent supporting player, often as either craven or vicious types. With his role as one of the Hammond brothers in the Sam Peckinpah masterpiece Ride the High Country (1962), Oates found a niche both as an actor and as a colleague of one of the most distinguished and distinctive directors of the period. Peckinpah used Oates repeatedly, and Oates, in large part due to the prominence given him by Peckinpah, became one of those rare character actors whose name and face is as familiar as those of many leading stars. He began to play roles which, while still character parts, were also leads, particularly in cult hits like Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).

Although never destined to be a traditional leading man, Oates remained one of Hollywood's most valued and in-demand character players up until his sudden death from a heart attack on April 3, 1982 at the age of 53. His final two films, Tough Enough (1983) (filmed in early 1981) and Blue Thunder (1983) (filmed in late 1981), were released over one year after his death and were dedicated to his memory.

Shirley Knight was an American actress who appeared in more than 180 feature films, television movies, television series, and Broadway productions in her career playing leading and character roles.

She was a member of the Actors Studio. Knight was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).

In 1976, Knight won a Tony Award for her performance in Kennedy's Children, a play by Robert Patrick. In later years, she played supporting roles in many films, including Endless Love (1981), As Good as It Gets (1997), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), and Grandma's Boy (2006). For her performances on television, Knight was nominated eight times for a Primetime Emmy Award (winning three), and she received a Golden Globe Award.

Jeon Jong-Seo was born in Seoul, the only child in the family. Jeon attended a middle school in Canada and then graduated from Seoul Arts High School. After high school, she attended Sejong University majoring in film. In 2018 she took a break from university to pursue her acting career more freely.

Geneviève Grad was born on 5 July 1944 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964), Ercole contro Moloch (1963) and Le gendarme se marie (1968). She was married to Jean René André Yvon Guillaume. She died on 8 November 2024 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France.

Jason Dolley (Born Jason Scott Dolley) was born on July 5, 1991 in Los Angeles California. When he turned 11 he landed the lead role in the short film Chasing Daylight (2004) playing a boy who is having to cope with the loss of his best friend. That same year, he was picked up by Mel Gibson who was going to direct a show called Complete Savages (2004) where he starred as the youngest of the five Savage brothers, T.J. In 2006, Jason starred in the direct to video release movie, Saving Shiloh (2006), Disney Channel's original movie, Read It and Weep (2006), and in a small role for The Air I Breathe (2007) as Young Pleasure. In 2007 you can catch up with Jason as he stars in Disney Channel's new Original series Cory in the House (2007), a spin-off series from Disney Channel's original series That's So Raven (2003), as Newton "Newt" Livingston.

Marlene Forte is a Cuban-American actress born in Santiago De Las Vegas, Cuba. She was proudly raised in Hudson County, New Jersey -- a Bridge and Tunnel girl! A founding member of Labyrinth Theater Company in New York City, she credits her 30 year career to her Labyrinth Familia and now resides in Los Angeles where she steadily works on television, in movies, and on stage. Over her career she has played a wide variety of roles as well as producing films and directing for both the stage and screen. But her best production to date remains her daughter, Giselle Rodriguez, who she credits for saving her life!

Don Stark was born on 5 July 1954 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Café Society (2016).

Yeon Woo-jin was born on 5 July 1984. He is an actor, known for 7 Ilui Wangbi (2017), Yihonbyunhosaneun Yeonaejoong (2015) and Undercover (2021).

Character actor Milburn Stone, the beloved "Doc Adams" on TV's long-running western classic Gunsmoke (1955), was born in Kansas on July 5, 1904. Acting must have been in his blood as the nephew of Broadway comedian Fred Stone for Milburn left home as a teenager to find work with touring repertory troupes. Emulating his famous uncle Fred, he appeared in vaudeville as part of a song-and-dance team called "Stone and Strain."

Following a minor appearance on Broadway in "The Jayhawkers," Milburn moved to Los Angeles in 1935 to try his luck in films. He toiled for years in mostly unbilled parts for 'poverty row' Monogram Pictures and a few major studios, apprenticing in a number of background roles as both benign fellows (clerks, reporters, sailors, detectives) and bad guys (convicts, robbers, henchmen) in such films as Ladies Crave Excitement (1935), The Fighting Marines (1935), The Princess Comes Across (1936), Banjo on My Knee (1936) and They Gave Him a Gun (1937)

Out of the blue he would occasionally nab a heroic film lead in films as the crime drama Federal Bullets (1937) and The Judge (1949) or serial thrillers as The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944) and The Master Key (1945), then would invariably go right back to unbilled status in his very next role. One memorable featured part (which was also unbilled) was as debater Stephen A. Douglass in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). In addition he played a regular support role as pal/co-pilot "Skeeter Milligan" in the "Tommy Tailspin" airborne film quickies Mystery Plane (1939), Sky Patrol (1939) and Danger Flight (1939).

Other higher visible support roles occurred in such films as the Roy Rogers western Colorado (1940), as well as Captive Wild Woman (1943), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Roadblock (1951), Black Tuesday (1954), Smoke Signal (1955). He also went on to appear in a couple of John Ford's later features such as Simone Bär and The Long Gray Line (1955).

When the crusty but lovable role of "Doc Adams" finally landed at his feet in 1955, Milburn was only too appreciative to experience a steady paycheck. He became an "overnight" star and, along with Matt Dillon's James Arness, earned an Emmy Award for "supporting actor" and stayed a citizen of Dodge City throughout its entire 20-year run (500 episodes). In 1971, Stone was temporarily sidelined by a heart attack and briefly replaced by another "doc" played by Pat Hingle. The ever-durable Stone missed only seven episodes, however, and did return on a more limited basis.

Fully retired to his ranch in 1975 after the show's cancellation, he was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in (of course) Dodge City, Kansas. Married to Jane Garrison, the 75-year-old veteran died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980 in La Jolla, California. His wife passed away much later in 2002.

Ron Moore was a member of the Kappa Alpha literary society during his time at Cornell University. He dropped out of college during his senior year, after which he moved to Los Angeles, California, with a friend in hopes of becoming a working writer. He was two weeks away from joining the United States Navy when Michael Piller, the co-executive producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), called with good news: his first script, "The Bonding," led to an assignment and a spot on the writing staff in 1989. By the end of the series, he was serving as a producer.

The end of TNG saw numerous accolades come Mr. Moore's way. As a member of the production team, he earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series and, along with writing partner Brannon Braga, a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation for "All Good Things...," the series finale. They would go on to earn Hugo nominations for the first two TNG films, Star Trek: Generations (1994) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996). They also collaborated on the story for Mission: Impossible II (2000).

The end of TNG saw Mr. Moore assume the role of supervising producer on Rick Berman and Michael Piller's character-driven "Trek" spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). He began by writing the 3rd-season premiere, "The Search, Part I," which saw the introduction of the U.S.S. "Defiant." He had originally intended to name Captain Sisko's starship "Valiant" after the ship mentioned in the second Star Trek (1966) pilot episode, which was titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before," but because Star Trek: Voyager (1995) was about to premiere, he changed it to "Defiant" in honor of the ship from "The Tholian Web."

As two of the most ardent Star Trek fans on DS9's writing staff, Mr. Moore and 'René Echevarria' were chosen to write the teleplay for "Trials and Tribble-ations" - DS9's tribute to TOS's 30th Anniversary. Besides bringing Captain Kirk and Captain Sisko together on-screen via some seamless Emmy-nominated visual effects, the episode also brought the pair a Hugo nomination. They would go on to write the series penultimate episode, "The Dogs of War," which introduced the new "Defiant," formerly the U.S.S. "Sao Paulo." The name of the ship and Sisko's line "Hello, ship" were a tribute to the Steve McQueen film The Sand Pebbles (1966). By the time DS9 ended, he was a co-executive producer and ready to move on to his third "Star Trek" series.

After a 2-episode stint as a co-executive producer on "Voyager," Mr. Moore said goodbye to the franchise. His first job after "Star Trek" was as a consulting producer on the final season of the Sci-Fi Channel's fantasy series G vs E (1999). Eventually, he made his way to Jason Katims's teen SF-Drama series Roswell (1999). He joined TNG's Jonathan Frakes as a co-executive producer as well.

Thanks to his work on "Roswell," he was able to develop Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" as a pilot for the WB, but it was canceled before production began. Mr. Moore also served as a co-executive producer on "Roswell" when the series changed networks during the 2001-2002 television season. More recently, he was involved in the remake of _"Battlestar Galactica" (2003) (mini)_ for the sci-fi channel. writing the script for the mini-series and serving as executive producer on the subsequent series.

Robert Fitzgerald Diggs better known by his stage name the RZA, is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the de facto leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums for the group and its respective members. He is a cousin of two other original Wu-Tang Clan members: GZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard. He has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital, along with executive producing credits for side projects. After forming the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA was a founding member of the horror-core group Gravediggaz, where he went by the name The RZArector.

Ellen Tamaki was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Manifest (2018) and Charmed (2018).

Smoulderingly beautiful and a fetching, exotic-eyed vision on the American screen during the 1950s and early 1960s, dark-maned Lisa Montell impressed more, especially to male film-goers, as a lovely diversion midst all the rugged terrain and tropical South Sea hazards than as a formidable actress. Similar in beauty and allure to the stunning Debra Paget and France Nuyen, the "Starlet of Many Faces" had a strong knack for ethnic accents and managed to play a variety of foreign types over her relatively brief time before the camera (Peruvian, Mexican, French, Italian, Burmese, Polynesian). Her film resume, which would include such cult-oriented classics as Daughter of the Sun God (1962), World Without End (1956) and the Roger Corman cheapies Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) were nearly all "B" and "C" grade (or worse) in scope and she eventually tired of the lack of challenge. She abandoned her career at the height of her beauty (around 1962) but found immense personal rewards in later decades as a spiritual exponent of the Bahá'í faith.

Although Lisa was born Irena Ludmilla Vladimiovna Augustinovich in Warsaw, Poland, on July 5, 1933, she was not raised there and did not keep her given name for long. Of Russian-Polish descent, she was born to privilege. She and her family managed to flee safely to the United States just months before the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Her father, a successful businessman, changed the family name to Montwill and Irena's name was adjusted to Irene. The family moved into a spacious Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City and generously took in Polish refugees (both friends and family) as needed during WWII.

Lisa studied art, voice and dance in Forest Hills and eventually was accepted into the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. She later transferred to the High School for the Performing Arts where she developed an interest in acting. Following graduation, she attended the University of Miami (Florida) for a semester before her father, whose business involved iron mines in Peru, relocated the family to Lima. While there Lisa again studied drama in American-based acting workshops that were set up there. She received her first professional break in 1953 after being noticed and cast by Hollywood producers searching for local female leads for a film they were shooting in Peru.

The film was called Daughter of the Sun God (1962) and it was set in the Peruvian jungles. Lisa plays a young adventurous blonde explorer on an expedition who is not only threatened by raging waters, desert heat and native ritualistic practices, but by various wildlife as well (crocodiles, pumas and gigantic snakes, to name a few). The film had financial problems and was so poorly made that it was held up nearly a decade before it was finally bought and released to the American market in 1962.

While enjoying a South American jet-set life in Peru, Lisa went on to appear in a handful of other local films before learning of Hollywood's interest in her despite the unsuccessful marketing of her debut film. Following her father's untimely death, Lisa and her mother moved to Los Angeles where the ethnic-looking wannabe found work cast on TV as Eurasian, Latina and Native-American types.

Billed as Irene Montwill, Lisa's first Hollywood film was Warner Bros.' Jump Into Hell (1955), a French Indochina (pre-Vietnam) war picture in which she played a French love interest to European soldier Peter Van Eyck. The studio then put her under a temporary contract and she changed her name to the more exotic moniker of Lisa Montell. Despite more second-lead exposure in the RKO films, Escape to Burma (1955), a tea plantation drama starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan, and Pearl of the South Pacific (1955), a tropical South Seas adventure with Virginia Mayo and Dennis Morgan, Lisa was not able to up her status in Hollywood.

After filming the minor western, The Wild Dakotas (1956), she appeared in one of her better-remembered pictures, the cult sci-fi film, World Without End (1956), with Hugh Marlowe and Rod Taylor, which takes place on Earth in the 26th century. She went on to play a small role as a ballet dancer in the Leslie Caron MGM drama, Gaby (1956), and was also one of the Italian Martelli sisters (the others being Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok and Lisa Gaye) in the musical comedy, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), starring Dean Martin. On the western front, she appeared, with Chuck Connors, as an Indian maiden in Tomahawk Trail (1957). Things moved in a cult-like direction for Lisa with her tropical female roles in Roger Corman's Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958), both filmed in the same spot in Hawaii. If nothing else, she got to show off her great figure and underwater swimming skills. Over the years, scores of adventurous guest roles came Lisa's way on TV, notably westerns, including the popular series as The Gene Autry Show (1950), Broken Arrow (1956), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), Colt .45 (1957), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Sugarfoot (1957), Cheyenne (1955), Bat Masterson (1958) and Maverick (1957). Outside the western genre, came a few varied performances in everything from comedy (The Ann Sothern Show (1958)) to hip action adventure (Surfside 6 (1960)).

Once wed to fellow actor David Janti, Lisa's last film was the minor "B" western, The Firebrand (1962), starring Kent Taylor. She retired soon after and devoted herself, exclusively, to educational pursuits as well as her Bahá'í religion. She was elected to the Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles and served as Chairperson. Often a public speaker, she has been outspoken on such issues as poverty and discrimination. She was also quite active in the early stages of the civil rights movement and has spent active time with youth arts programs. She later wrote a book (as Lisa Janti) about her spiritual sojourn and, more recently, became the program director of the Center for Education at the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute. In 2008, she was a guest attendee at the Western Legends Film Festival.