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J.K. Simmons is an American actor.

He was born Jonathan Kimble Simmons in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Patricia (Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a music teacher. He attended the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; University of Montana, Missoula, MT (BA in Music).

He had originally planned to be a singer and studied at the University of Montana to become a composer.

He starred as Captain Hook and Mr. Darling opposite gymnastics champ Cathy Rigby in the Broadway and touring revivals of Peter Pan.

He played Benny South-street in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls and can be heard on the cast recording.

He did a commercial voice-over work, including the voice of the yellow M&M in the candy's TV ads.

He appeared as police psychiatrist Emil Skoda on Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).

As of 2011, has made five films with director Sam Raimi: For Love of the Game (1999); The Gift (2000); Spider-Man (2002); Spider-Man 2 (2004); and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

He won many awards from 2005 to 2007 in Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2014 won Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. 2015 won a Golden Globe for his Best Performance as an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, BAFTA Film Awards Best Supporting Actor, Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male.

The acting bug caught me early when I got to play the lead in a local play. Just over a year later I was lucky enough to book the lead role of Lava Girl, in the Robert Rodriquez film The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (2005). After that amazing experience, I was hooked and in love with every aspect of creating characters. Then as fate would have it, I hit a big growth spurt and at age 13, I looked like an 18 year old. After a few years, of getting down to the end on roles and ultimately being told "my age and essence played too old", I decided to take some time away. Since then, I've been in college working on a degree in Psychology. To me, what I love about acting is understanding people and what makes them tick, which is what makes Psych so interesting. Other than college, I took the time to focus on myself. Growing up a child actor is somewhat of a focused and sheltered life. I wanted to experience so much more. So, needless to say, these years away have been the best "life road trip" I could have taken. It not only helped me develop and grow so much as a person, but my experiences helped me grow as an actress. While I was busy doing me, I took some time to go to a few different acting schools/classes. I figured variety is the spice of life and what better way to see what fits than trying on lots of different hats. The experiences were amazing and helped me figure out who I am as an actress. I completed the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, which was so inspiring. I also went to classes and got to work with Ivana Chubbuck on scene study, Leigh Kilton Smith on auditioning, and Cameron Thor in class and one on one working on scene study and building strong interesting characters. Now, after taking some years completely away from the acting business, I feel like now more than ever I know who I am and what I want. My passion for acting is like a fire burning inside of me, and I am ready to really get back out there again and start pursuing my career. I really feel like this is my time and I couldn't be more excited for the future.

Matt Letscher attended the University of Michigan and received a BA in Theatre, but it was a pair of workshops with the legendary Uta Hagen that cemented his love of the craft. His career since has ranged from stage to screen, beginning with a role in Jeff Daniel's original play The Tropical Pickle, which premiered at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, MI. He's been honored to work with directors Spike Jonze, Atom Egoyan, James Mangold and Bart Sher and writers Lanford Wilson, Beth Henley, Neil Simon, and Greg Berlanti, among many others.

As a writer, his plays Sea Of Fools and Gaps In The Fossil Record received productions at The Purple Rose Theatre and Pacific Resident Theatre, respectively. His pilot, Gentrification(co-written with Nipper Knapp and Andrew Newberg) won the award for Best Writing at the 2010 New York Television Festival.

One of the finest classical and contemporary leading ladies ever to grace the 20th century American stage, five-time Tony Award winner Julie Harris was rather remote and reserved on camera, finding her true glow in front of the theatre lights. The freckled, red-haired actress not only was nominated for a whopping total of ten Tony awards and was a Sarah Siddons Award recipient for her work on the Chicago stage, she also earned awards in other areas of the entertainment industry, including three Emmys (of 11 nominations), a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination. (Note: Harris would hold the record for the most competitive Tony performance wins (five) for a couple of decades. Angela Lansbury finally caught up with her in 2009 and singer/actress Audra McDonald surpassed them both in 2014 with six). While Harris certainly lacked the buoyancy and glamor usually associated with being a movie star, she certainly made an impact in the early to mid 1950s with three iconic leading roles, two of which she resurrected from the Broadway stage. After that she pretty much deserted film.

Born Julie Ann Harris on December 2, 1925, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she was the daughter of William Pickett, an investment banker, and Elsie L. (née Smith) Harris, a nurse. Graduating from Grosse Pointe Country Day School, an early interest in the performance arts was encouraged by her family. Moving to New York City, Julie attended The Hewitt School and later trained as a teenager at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp in Colorado. A mentor there, Charlotte Perry, saw great hope for young Julie and was insistent that her protégé study at the Yale School of Drama. Julie did just that -- for about a year.

Also trained at the New York School of Drama and one of the earliest members of the Acting Studio, young Julie made her Broadway debut in 1945 at age 19 in the comedy "It's a Gift". Despite its lukewarm reception, the demure, diminutive (5'3"), and delicate-looking thespian moved on. She apprenticed on Broadway for the next few years with ensemble parts in "King Henry IV, Part II" (1946), "Oedipus Rex" (1946), "The Playboy of the Western World" (1946), "Alice in Wonderland" (as the White Rabbit) (1947), and Macbeth" (1948).

More prominent roles came her way in such short-lived Broadway plays as "Sundown Beach" (1948), "The Young and Fair" (1948), "Magnolia Alley" (1949) and "Montserrat (1949). This led to her star-making theatre role at age 24 as sensitive 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams in the classic drama "The Member of the Wedding" (1950) opposite veteran actress Ethel Waters and based on the Carson McCullers novel. The play ran for over a year. The Member of the Wedding (1952) would eventually be transferred to film and, despite being untried talents on film, director Fred Zinnemann wisely included both Harris and young Brandon De Wilde (as young John Henry) to reenact their stage triumphs along with Ms. Waters. Harris, at 27, received her first and only Academy Award nomination as the coming-of-age Georgian tomboy.

It wasn't long before Julie's exceptional range and power won noticed nationwide. In 1952, she received her first "Best Actress" Tony Award for creating the larger-than-life role of Sally Bowles in "I Am a Camera," the stage version of one of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories ("Goodbye to Berlin" (1939). (Note: In the 1960s, Isherwood's play would be transformed successfully into the Broadway musical "Cabaret".) Harris again was invited to repeat her stage role in I Am a Camera (1955) with Laurence Harvey and Shelley Winters, winning the BAFTA "Best Foreign Actress" Award. That same year Harris starred opposite the highly emotive James Dean (she had top billing) as his love interest in the classic film East of Eden (1955), directed by Elia Kazan from the John Steinbeck novel. Strangely, Julie's brilliance in the role of Abra was completely overlooked come Oscar time...a terrible miscarriage of justice in this author's view.

After this vivid film exposure, Julie's love for the theatre completely dominated her career focus. She continued to increase her Broadway prestige with such plays as "Mademoiselle Colombe" (title role) (1954), "The Lark" (Tony Award: as Joan of Arc) (1955), "The Country Wife" (1957), "The Warm Peninsula" (1959), "Little Moon Over Alban" (1960) (which she took to Emmy-winning TV), "A Shot in the Dark" (1961), "Ready When Your Are, C.B.!" (1964), "Skyscraper" (1965), "Forty Carats" (Tony Award) (1968), "And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little" ) (1971), "The Au Pair Man" (1973) and "In Praise of Love" (1974). In between she gave stellar performances on TV with her Joan of Arc in The Lark (1957); title role in Johnny Belinda (1958); Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House (1959); Catherine Sloper in The Heiress (1961); title role in Victoria Regina (1961) (for which received an Emmy award); Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (1963), and title role in Anastasia (1967).Be

In later years Harris reaped praises and honors for her awe-inspiring one-woman touring shows based on the lives of certain distaff historical figureheads. Her magnificently tormented, Tony-winning "First Lady" Mary Lincoln in "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" (1972) was the first to be seen on stage and TV, followed by another Tony (and Grammy) Award-winning performance as poetess Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst" (1976) (directed by close friend Charles Nelson Reilly, as well as her early 1980s solo portrait of author Charlotte Brontë in "Bronte," which started out as a radio play. Julie was now placed among the theatre's luminous "ruling class" alongside legendary veterans Helen Hayes, Katharine Cornell and Judith Anderson.

As time wore on, Harris would become equally respected on film and TV for her portrayals of over-the-edge neurotics, wallflowers and eccentric maiden aunt types as witnessed by her co-starring roles in the films The Haunting (1963), Hamlet (1964) (as Ophelia), Harper (1966), You're a Big Boy Now (1966), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), The Bell Jar (1979), and the TV-movies How Awful About Allan (1970) and Home for the Holidays (1972). Perhaps a step down performance wise, the veteran actress, after a period of ill health, became a household name with her regular series work as Lilimae on the TV soap Knots Landing (1979).

At age 60, Harris continued to impress on Broadway with her 1990's versions of Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie" and Fonsia Dorsey in "The Gin Game" for which she received her tenth and final Tony nomination. She also toured successfully with a production of "Lettice and Lovage". Unlike many other actors whose film roles disintegrated with appearances in bottom-of-the-barrel lowbudgets, Julie's final two supporting films roles were in two nicely constructed period romantic comedies -- The Golden Boys (2008) and The Lightkeepers (2009).

Ill health dogged Julie's later years (she battled breast cancer in 1981 and suffered two strokes -- one in 2001 (while performing in the Chicago play "Fossils") and again in 2010). Nevertheless, she continued to work almost until the end, including narrating five historical documentaries and giving Emmy-winning voice to such women suffragettes as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Married and divorced three times, Julie had one son by her second marriage -- Peter, who became a theatre critic. She also spent time enjoying the benefits of receiving special awards and honors for her full body of work. Among these, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994, received a "Special Lifetime Achievement" Tony Award in 2002 and was a 2005 Kennedy Center honoree.

Harris died on August 24, 2013, of congestive heart failure at her home in West Chatham, Massachusetts. She was 87.

Lisa LoCicero was born on 18 April 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for General Hospital (1963), Rush Hour 2 (2001) and The Family Man (2000). She has been married to Michael Patrick Jann since 22 April 2007. They have two children.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Koch was heavily involved in both local community and high-school theater productions. He attended the Theatre School at DePaul University.

Alexander Koch made his acting film debut as "Frank" in Eddie O'Keefe's independent short film The Ghosts. The film centers on "Frank", the tough yet thoughtful leader of the 1950's greaser gang, who descends on a modern town and falls in love with the daughter of a preacher. The film premiered at the 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival and went on to receive accolades from the Los Angeles Times, Chicago International Film Festival and Geneva Film Festival. Koch's stellar portrayal of "Frank" landed him in Los Angeles in 2012, where he auditioned for his first television pilot and was cast for the role of "Junior Rennie".

Andrea Deck was born on 5 February 1994 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Homeland (2011), The Crown (2016) and Les Misérables (2012).

Brian Letscher was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. After graduating with an Economics degree and playing football for The University of Michigan, Brian moved to New York City to pursue acting. After a stint with the Public Theater Shakespeare Lab, he quickly landed roles in film (Kate and Leopold, Puccini For Beginner's), television (Law and Order: CI, SVU) and theatre (Burning Blue).

Brian also began working with The Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan. He played the lead role of Bo Decker in William Inge's "Bus Stop" and the production earned The Detroit Free Press' "Best Play" award. Brian became a produced playwright when The Purple Rose developed and produced a full equity run of his first play, "When The Lights Come On", about his experiences in the world of college football.

Since moving to Los Angeles six years ago, Brian has appeared in two dozen television shows while becoming a member of The Pacific Residents Theatre Company and continuing to write and develop his own work.

He can currently be seen recurring on ABC's "Scandal".

The oldest of four siblings born to a surgeon father, Marilyn Jones was raised in the affluent Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. After graduating from high school in Michigan, she attended Miami University (Ohio) and eventually graduated from the University of Colorado with a humanities degree.

After a stint in New York waiting on tables and working as an office clerk in-between acting jobs, she was signed with 30 other performers to Columbia Pictures' Talent and Development Workshop and sent to Los Angeles. The program folded when the executive, who ran the studio at the time, resigned. Jones did manage to land an agent and began acting on episodic television. Her performances in Harassment (1980) and Good-Bye Radar: Part 1 (1979) were especially strong. She landed roles in two short-lived prime-time soaps, Secrets of Midland Heights (1980) (CBS) and King's Crossing (1982) (ABC). She worked steadily throughout the 1980s.

Antonio Cipriano was born on 13 May 2000 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. He is an actor, known for Harlan Coben's Shelter (2023), Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (2022) and National Treasure: Edge of History (2022).

Born in the US state of Michigan and raised in Quebec, Canada, Steven Crowder really had nothing going for him until he turned twelve. It was at that age that he was awarded the coveted role of voicing the character "The Brain" in the hit children's TV series, Arthur (1996). The role immediately launched him into the realm of "Babe Magnet". With this in mind, he continued down the path of acting (in both voice, TV and film) until he came to the realization that he was no longer the cute infant that Public Broadcasting had learned to love. Now that his baby-fat cheeks had left him, he knew that he needed a new "hook "to catch the ladies. Frantically, he searched for the answer until one summer, working as manual labor for the "Just for Laughs" Comedy Festival, the art of stand-up comedy caught his eye. He approached a famous comedian and received advice on how to get started in the business, after which he was escorted from the premises, fined a hefty sum and brutally beaten.

Once the feeding tube was removed, Steven sauntered on down to a local comedy club to try his hand at the trade. The throwing of vegetables and angry screams of the crowd created an incredible "rush", upon which Steven became immediately addicted and he never looked back. One year later, at 18 years old, Steven returned to the "Just for Laughs" as the youngest Comedian ever to grace the festivals stage (breaking the previous record set by Chris Rock at 19). His act was so well received that coordinators decided to feature him on XM Radio and booked him on tours across North America. Now, based out New York City, and fresh off of winning the nationwide "So you Think You're Funny" MySpace Comedy Contest, Steven Crowder continues to please both audiences and critics with his unique brand of comedy and point of view.

In 2006 Crowder started a successful career as a YouTuber, which reached widespread popularity after 2016 when his renowned podcast "Lowder with Crowder" began. He has since gained millions of followers and developed a career as a controversial online personality often representing far-right views, most notably seen in his most popular episodes to date "There are only 2 genders" and "Rape culture is a myth", during both of which he engaged students in a live location in a public debate on his views from the title, provocatively subtitled with "Change my mind".

Kristen Ryda was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for A Fireman for Christmas (2023), Christmas at the Roanoke Ranch and Just Another Dream (2021).

Megan Grano was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for This Is 40 (2012), Veep (2012) and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003).

Taylor Mead was born on 31 December 1924 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and editor, known for Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Tarzan and Jane Regained... Sort of (1964). He died on 8 May 2013 in Denver, Colorado, USA.

John 5 was born on 31 July 1971 in Grosse Point, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for The Lords of Salem (2012), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) and From Hell (2001). He has been married to Rita Lowery since 7 June 2009. They have three children. He was previously married to Aria Giovanni.

Charlie Babcock was born in May 1979 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Desperate Housewives (2004), The Good Humor Man (2005) and Proxy Kill (2018).

Amy Thomson was born on 9 January 1942 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Death of a Gunfighter (1969), How to Steal the World (1968) and Savage Abduction (1973). She died on 16 August 2008.

Hollis Jane Andrews was born on 7 February 1989 in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for The Good Doctor (2017), Disadvantage (2019) and Mike Tyson Mysteries (2014).

Dennis Bailey was born on 12 April 1953 in Grosse Point, Michigan, USA. He is an actor, known for Great Performances (1971), China Beach (1988) and Dream On (1990).

Lead singer of New Radicals. Was a rebel when he was younger. At the age of 15, he bought a four-track tape recorder and began distributing home-made demos at school. By the time he was 17, Alexander was living in California and had released his 1989 debut, "Michigan Rain", under his own name. Three years later, he released the equally obscure follow-up, "Intoxifornication". Alexander continued a lifestyle of wanderlust that found him criss-crossing America 12 times and living in London, all the while clubbing extensively.

After settling in New York City and busking in Central Park and Tompkins Square Park, Alexander started to assemble a band of musicians that he had met through his travels, including television actress, Danielle Brisebois.

Michael Goetz is originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. His father was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his mother is from Frankfort, Kentucky. His younger brother is a retired US Marine Lieutenant Colonel who, at one time worked at the White House under Clinton and Bush. He is a relative of MGM film producer, William Goetz 1903-1970.

He tends to play a variety of roles -- comedy, drama, musical. European and American. He has been described as...."never a typical leading man, a bit of a retro-style movie actor, blended with a character actor of today!" (David Allen-Filmthreat Magazine)

Often called in for interviews by casting directors and producers mistakenly thinking he is veteran actor, Peter Michael Goetz.

On stage, television and film, he tends to play a variety of troubled characters. In the Philip Ridley play, "The Fastest Clock in the Universe," Michael played the role of Cougar Glass, a troubled and mischievous working class Brit in 1990s London. Reprises the role from time to time of another troubled Englishman, Scrooge, in the classic 1970s era musical version of, "A Christmas Carol." Has also played the role of Stanley, in, "Streetcar Named Desire."

Ad campaign spokesman for Emblique-Organic Skin Care Products.

For two and a half years, Michael Goetz was the commercial voice of Re/Max Realty ads on national TV and Radio. Currently does a variety of voice overs for documentaries, commercials.

Winner of a 2012 and 2013 Telly Award for co-producing/writing and narration of two documentary films.

He is an On-camera host and producer of a website doing funny "off the cuff" interviews and conversations with actors and "personalities" at parties and red carpet events in and around Hollywood.

Studied Opera and currently sings in a jazz pop quartet in Los Angeles. Played the bass professionally classical and jazz. Played Bass and Cello in a number of pit orchestras for musical theater productions from age 12, as well as during his college years and after. Toured in a jazz/pop band in the late 80's-90's as Bassist and backup vocals.

Michael Goetz is also a hobbyist automobile restorer and collector.

Does his own stunt and precision driving in his film projects. Has hosted several Web series giving technical advice on classic car restoration.

Born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan; the youngest of five Children of Santina (Cossa) and Salvatore Viviano. Graduated from Schaumburg (Illinois) High School; Eastern Illinois University. Began his career in Chicago, in commercials and Theatre, before moving to New York City for a Broadway debut in THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1984). Continued a Theatrical career on Broadway in such shows as ROMANCE / ROMANCE; CITY OF ANGELS; FALSETTOS; THE LIFE; THE FULL MONTY. Off-Broadway in BEAU JEST; CATHER COUNTY; WEIRD ROMANCE; CATCH ME IF I FALL; BROADWAY JUKEBOX; HAMLET, THE OPERA; etc... Nominated for a Helen Hayes Award (1998) for his portrayal of the title character in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. For director/writer John Fasano he starred in two genre films Black Roses (1988), and The Jitters (1989). He has recorded on over two dozen CD's of Theatrical and Old Standard songs. Married to actress 'Liz Larsen'.(

Eric Freiwald was born on 24 September 1927 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. He was a writer, known for The Young and the Restless (1973), Science Fiction Theatre (1955) and Lassie (1954). He died on 29 January 2010 in Prescott, Arizona, USA.

Kate Holliday was born on 15 June 1980 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and set decorator, known for Hard Candy (2005), Soap Girl (2002) and The Message (2012).

Jordan Crowder is an actor and filmmaker born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Montréal, Québec. Over the past decade he has developed a loyal following online and is most known for his short films and sketches like Horror Friends (2004) (a parody which garnered him critical recognition from filmmaker Rob Zombie). Bend & Break (2008) is his first and highly anticipated feature film. He is also a co-creator and cast member on the acclaimed comedy web series The Wingmen (2008) (which earned a Best Series award nomination at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival).

Since 2003, Jordan has produced a bilingual independent feature film, a documentary for the National Film Board of Canada, several high-traffic websites, a comedy DVD, an MTV pilot, dozens of popular Web videos, and has signed distribution partnerships with YouTube and Comedy Central's Atom TV.