Jennifer Jason Leigh (Blondie O'Hara)Jennifer Jason Leigh (Blondie O'Hara)
Perhaps the foremost chameleon in motion pictures, Jennifer Jason Leigh has submerged herself in roles that range from an unhinged wallflower to a wily career gal, from an apprehensive teen to a self-destructive singer. She has been uncompromising in her willingness to present characters who aren't immediately sympathetic or even categorizable.
This is Leigh's third project with Robert Altman, who has known the actress all her life. She first worked with him on Short Cuts, followed by Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, which Altman produced.
Leigh scored critical accolades in her film debut as the reluctant virgin in Amy Heckerling's Fast Times At Ridgemont High. She has explored dark psychic terrain in such films as Uli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn and Barbet Schroeder's Single White Female; and has reinvented herself for roles in period films such as Joel and Ethan Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy and Alan Rudolph's Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Recently, she won praise for her work in Georgia, which was written by her mother Barbara Turner. Among her other credits are: Rush, Flesh + Blood, and Dolores Claiborne.
The New York and Boston Film Critics cited Leigh as Best Supporting Actress for her work in Miami Blues and Last Exit to Brooklyn; the National Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics awarded her Best Actress for her portrayal of Mrs. Parker. This year, the New York Film Critics and the Montreal Film Festival named her Best Actress for Georgia.
Miranda Richardson (Carolyn Stilton)
Miranda
Richardson first startled audiences in Mike Newell's Dance With a Stranger,
in which she played Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in England.
Subsequent roles have confirmed her as an actress of consummate ability and
consistency. In 1992, with rave reviews for all three of her performances in
Neil Jordan's The Crying Game, Mike Newell's Enchanted April and
Louis Malle's Damage, the question was which would be singled out during
awards season. The New York Film Critics cited her work in all three films in
naming her Best Supporting Actress; she received a Golden Globe for Enchanted
April, and was nominated for an Oscar for Damage. In 1995 she
received a second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress, for her
portrayal of Vivian Haigh-Wood, the wife of poet T.S. Eliot, in Brian Gilbert's
Tom And Viv.
Though primarily known for her dramatic roles, Richardson is also a gifted comedic actor, as evidenced in British television series such as Blackadder and Absolutely Fabulous.
Harry
Belafonte has been called the consummate entertainer. His distinguished career
spans motion pictures, television, Broadway, recordings and concerts.
Born in Harlem and raised in Jamaica, Belafonte first supported his acting studies as an intermission singer at the Royal Roost, a famed New York nightclub, where his backup band included Max Roach, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. His world of jazz changed when he discovered The Village Vanguard and folk music. Watching artists like Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and Pete Seeger, Belafonte found the art form that became his ultimate expression.
A succession of club appearances led to his first Broadway appearance in the musical John Murray Anderson's Almanac, for which he won the Tony Award. A recording contract with RCA followed and, in 1955, against all advice, Belafonte recorded his third album, Calypso, which became the first album to ever sell over one million copies. It contained the Top 5 hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," which was re-used to delightful effect in the 1988 Tim Burton hit film, Beetlejuice.
In 1953, Belafonte made his motion picture debut in Bright Road, opposite Dorothy Dandridge. He again starred opposite Dandridge the following year, in Otto Preminger's film version of Oscar Hammerstein's Carmen Jones. His other films include Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow; The World, The Flesh And The Devil; Uptown Saturday Night; Island in the Sun (for which he co-authored the title song), and the recent White Man's Burden with John Travolta. In 1960, Belafonte produced and starred in a stunning musical epic for television called Tonight With Belafonte, for which he won an Emmy.
Belafonte's concert tours have been worldwide sellouts since 1956, and his charismatic live show was captured on the double-album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. He has also been instrumental as a patron and supporter of black musicians, including acclaimed South African singer Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela.
Harry Belafonte has dedicated his life to humanitarian and civil rights causes, working with President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. He believes that his work for human rights and his artistic pursuits give him the basis for a most productive and balanced life. In 1985, he played a central role in organizing the USA For Africa famine relief recording of "We Are The World." Belafonte has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 1987.
Michael Murphy (Henry Stilton)
One
of Hollywood's finest character actors, Michael Murphy has worked with some of
film's leading directors. Among his many feature credits are Tim Burton's Batman
Returns, Oliver Stone's Salvador, and Peter Weir's The Year of
Living Dangerously. He has acted in six previous feature films directed by
Robert Altman (including McCabe And Mrs. Miller,
Nashville and M*A*S*H), as well as Altman's television projects
The Caine Mutiny and Tanner '88. Murphy is perhaps best known
for his portrayal of Jill Clayburgh's unfaithful husband in Paul Mazursky's An
Unmarried Woman.
Dermot Mulroney (Johnny O'Hara)
Dermot Mulroney has been praised for his work in a wide range of mainstream and independent features. Among the former are Copycat, with Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver, How To Make An American Quilt with Winona Ryder and Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda. His independent films include Tom DiCillo's acclaimed comedy Living In Oblivion, which Mulroney also co-produced, and Marc Rocco's Where The Day Takes You. Additional credits include Longtime Companion, Young Guns, and the HBO film Long Gone (for which he received a Cable ACE nomination). Mulroney recently completed work on the upcoming Trigger Effect, with Elisabeth Shue, and is currently filming My Best Friend's Wedding, opposite Julia Roberts. His band The Low and Sweet Orchestra will release their debut album through Interscope Records this year.
An incredibly busy actor, Steve Buscemi has built his career by portraying a wide variety of remarkable characters. He first won acclaim for his sensitive performance in Parting Glances; since then, his many feature credits include the recent Fargo by the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino's Resevoir Dogs, Alexandre Rockwell's In The Soup, Robert Rodriguez's Desperado, and Tom DiCillo's Living In Oblivion. Buscemi plays a transvestite taxi dancer in Alexandre Rockwell's upcoming Somebody To Love. He has written, directed and is starring in the upcoming film Tree's Lounge. Buscemi can also be seen in John Carpenter's soon to be released Escape From L.A.
An accomplished stage actress, Brooke Smith has also acted in many feature films, including The Silence of the Lambs, Last Summer in the Hamptons, The Night We Never Met, Mr. Wonderful and The Moderns. She played Sonya in Andre Gregory's Victory Theatre production of Uncle Vanya, and she reprised the role in Louis Malle's highly praised Vanya on 42nd Street. Smith wrote, produced and directed the award-winning short film Sheeps Meadow, and is currently directing a feature-length documentary on a Chicago bluesman.
Educated at Juilliard, Jane Adams has a substantial film resume in addition to her stage credits. Among her feature credits are Father Of The Bride II, I Love Trouble, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Single White Female, Vital Signs and Light Sleeper. On Broadway accolades include a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Featured Actress in An Inspector Calls, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her debut in Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet.
Jeff Feringa, born in Macon, Mississippi, was an anesthetist and anesthesiology instructor for 17 years before she decided she wanted to become an actress. Her acting studies with Milton Katselas led to roles in television series such as L.A. Law, In Living Color and many key daytime dramas. She was recently seen in the film Dangerous Minds. She has also acted in several Los Angeles theatre productions.
A.C. Smith has appeared in a number of feature and independent films, but considers KANSAS CITY to be his debut. A trained stage actor with many credits, Smith performed in the Broadway national touring company of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. He is a native of Chicago.
Born in Kansas City, Martin Martin spent three years writing, acting and directing for the "East Side Comedy Shop" of the Renegade Theatre of Lawrence, Kansas.
Albert J. Burnes (Charlie Parker)
Albert J. (Jason) Burnes is a high school student at Kansas City's Paseo Academy for the Performing Arts, where he has participated in several plays and musicals.
Ajia Mignon Johnson (Pearl Cummings)
Ajia Mignon Johnson is a student at Kansas City's Lincoln College Preparatory Academy and a National Honor Society inductee.
Last updated 7/18/96
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