Contemporary Actors Archives

Claire Bloom

“For someone whose career began with such lustre, Claire Bloom has had a difficult path. Overlauded at first as the most winsome thing on four wheels, it later seemed that she was merely the leading representative of a rather ghastly sect, the English Rose. It is a species whose individuals (the word is used loosely) seldom endure. But this one was hardy, she really was talented. When they let her break from type she was liable to give a superb performance. She may continue to surprise” – David Shipman – “The Great Movie Stars – The International years”. (1972)

Claire Bloom was born in Finchley, North London in 1931. She made her stage debut at the age of 15 with the Oxford Repertory Company. In 1947 she made her London stage debut in Christopher Fry’s “The Ladys Not for Burning”. In 1948 she received rave notices for her performance as Ophelia in “Hamlet”. The next year she made her film debut in “The Blind Goddess”. Over the years she has made many films both in Britain and in Hollywood. Her other notable films include “Limelight”, “Look Back in Anger”, “The Haunting” and “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”. In 2009 she appeared in an episode of “Dr Who”.

Jewish Women’s Archive:

Gary Brumburgh’s entry:

Age has not taken the flower off this Bloom. The well-known and respected stage, screen and television actress Claire Bloom, originally named Patricia Claire Blume, continues to be in demand as a septuagenarian actress and looks as beautiful as ever. She was born in North London on February 15, 1931, to Edward and Elizabeth (Grew) Blume, both descendants of Jewish immigrants. Educated at Badminton School in Bristol and Fern Hill Manor in New Milton, Claire expressed early interest in the arts and was stage trained as an adolescent at the Guildhall School, under the guidance of Eileen Thorndike, and then the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Marking her professional debut on the BBC radio, she subsequently took her first curtain call with the Oxford Repertory Theatre in 1946 in the production of “It Depends What You Mean”. She then received early critical accolades for her Shakespearean ingénues in “King John”, “The Winter’s Tale” and, notably, her Ophelia in “Hamlet” at age 17 at Stratford-on-Avon opposite alternating Hamlets Paul Scofield and Robert Helpmann. By 1949 Claire was making her West End debut with “The Lady’s Not For Burning” with the up-and-coming stage actor Richard Burton.

A most becoming and beguiling dark-haired actress whose photogenic, slightly pinched beauty was accented by an effortless elegance and poise, Claire’s inauspicious film debut came with a prime role in the British courtroom film drama The Blind Goddess (1948). It was her second film, when Charles Chaplin himself selected her specifically to be his young leading lady in the classic sentimental drama Limelight (1952), that propelled her to stardom. Her bravura turn as a young suicide-bent ballerina saved from despair by an aging music hall clown (Chaplin) was exquisitely touching and sparked an enviable but surprisingly sporadic career in films.

One Sheet; Movie Poster; Film Poster; Cinema Poster;

Despite the sudden film attention, Claire continued her formidable presence on the Shakespearean stage. Joining the Old Vic Company for the 1952-1953 and 1953-1954 seasons, she appeared as Helena, Viola, Juliet, Jessica, Miranda, Virgilia, Cordelia and (again) Ophelia in a highly successful tenure. Touring Canada and the United States as Juliet, she made her Broadway bow in the star-crossed lover role in 1956, also playing the Queen in “Richard II”. A strong presence on both the London and New York stages over the years, other powerful performances came with “The Trojan Women”, “Vivat! Vivat! Regina!”, “Hedda Gabler”, “A Doll’s House” and “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Much later in life she performed in a superb one-woman show entitled “These Are Women: A Portrait of Shakespeare’s Heroines” that included monologues from several of her acclaimed stage performances.

Claire’s stylish and regal presence was simply ideal for mature period films and she appeared opposite a roster of Hollywood most talented leading men as such, includingLaurence Olivier in the title role of Richard III (1955); Richard Burton and Fredric March inAlexander the Great (1956); Yul Brynner in The Brothers Karamazov (1958) and Brynner and Charlton Heston in the DeMille epic The Buccaneer (1958) in which she had a rare dressed-down role as a spirited pirate girl. On the more contemporary scene she appeared with Burton in two classic film dramas: the stark “kitchen sink” British stage piece Look Back in Anger (1959) and the Cold War espionage thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). In addition she courted tinges of controversy playing a housewife gone bonkers in the offbeat sudser The Chapman Report (1962) and a lesbian in the supernatural chiller The Haunting (1963).

Claire met first husband Rod Steiger while performing with him on stage in 1959’s “Rashomon”. They married that year and had daughter Anna in 1960 who grew up to become a well-regarded opera singer. Claire and Rod appeared in two lesser films together, The Illustrated Man (1969) and Three Into Two Won’t Go (1969), both released the same year they divorced after 10 tumultuous years.

As with other maturing actress during the 1970s, Claire looked toward classy film roles in TV-movies for sustenance and found among them Backstairs at the White House (1979), as First Lady Edith Wilson, and Brideshead Revisited (1981), in which she was nominated for an Emmy. Also lauded were the epic miniseries Ellis Island (1984); a remake ofTerence Rattigan‘s Separate Tables (1983), and Philip Roth‘s acclaimed adaptations ofAmerican Playhouse: The Ghost Writer (1984) and Shadowlands (1985), the latter earning her a British Television Award. Speaking of Roth, Claire married the writer (her third) in 1990 after a brief second marriage to producer Hillard Elkins (1969-1972). The union with Roth lasted five years. Claire appeared in several Shakespearean teleplays over the decades while also portraying a choice selection of historical royals including Czarina Alexandra and Katherine of Aragon. One of her most recent appearances on TV was the miniseries version of The Ten Commandments (2006). On daytime drama, she delightfully played matriarch and murderess Orlena Grimaldi on the daytime drama As the World Turns (1956) in 1993. She left the role in 1995 and was replaced.

Claire wrote two memoirs. The first was the more career-oriented “Limelight and After: The Education of an Actress”, released in 1982 Her more controversial second book focused on her personal life: “Leaving a Doll’s House: A Memoir”, published in 1996.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

David Straithairn. TCM Overview.

David Straithairn is a very gifted actor with a very profilic career to his credit. He was born in San Francesco in 1949. David Straithairn parents are of Scottish and Native Hawaiian descent. He began his acting career as a clown in a travelling circus.

His first film role was in 1980 in John Carpenter in “Return of the Secaucus 7”. Other film roles of note include “At Close Range”,”Limbo” “Memphis Belle”, “City of Hope”, “Passion Fish”, “Good Night and Good Luck” and “Steel Toes”. Straithairn has built up a steady body of work over the past thirty years.

Straithairn is especially effective in lead roles in movies directed by John Sayles and was remarkable in Limbo which was set in Alaska. He stars in the lead role in the television series “Alpha”. He was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying journalist Ed Murrow in “Good Night & Good Luck”

He is also recognized for his role as CIA Director Noah Vosen in the 2007 film “The Bourne Ultimatium”a role he recreated in 2012’s “The Bourne Legacy” He also played a major role in 2012 as Secretary of State ‘William Henry Seward’ in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln”with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. David Straithairn interview on “Lincoln” can be viewed here.

TCM Overview:

In spite of his prolific body of work, actor David Strathairn remained somewhat apart from Hollywood, thanks to his long-standing collaboration with friend and former college friend John Sayles, who directed the actor in several of the filmmaker’s independent movies.

Following his debut in Sayles’ “The Return of the Secaucus Seven” (1980), Strathairn branched out to more mainstream fare with a supporting role in “Silkwood” (1983) and delivered one of his finer performances in “Eight Men Out” (1988), in which he played the morally flawed pitcher Eddie Cicotte from the famed Black Sox.

After another acclaimed Sayles performance â¿¿ this time as the off-kilter street wretch, Asteroid, in “City of Hope” (1991) â¿¿ Strathairn began to stretch his wings with supporting roles in major studio productions:

He was Tom Cruise’s jailbird brother in “The Firm” (1993), Meryl Streep’s workaholic husband in “The River Wild” (1994) and the upscale purveyor of prostitution, Pierce Pratchett, in “L.A. Confidential” (1997).

He also delivered strong turns on the small screen, as he did portraying the emotionally distant father of a son with AIDS in “In the Gloaming” (HBO, 1997) and Helen Keller’s father in the remake of “The Miracle Worker” (ABC, 2000). But it was his performance as the iconic news anchor Edward R. Murrow, who openly challenged Senator Joseph McCarthy during the height of the Red Scare, in George Clooney’s excellent period drama “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005), as well as his portrayal of ruthless CIA officer Noah Vosen in “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007), that propelled his career to a new level.

The TCM Overview above can also be accessed online here.

Brian Cox was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1946. His parents were Irish immigrants. He made his London stage debut in “As You Like It” in 1967 . His first film appearance was in 1971 in “Nicholas and Alexandra” as Trostky. He spent several seasons acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 1986 he went to the U.S.A. to play Hanibel Lecter in “Manhunter”. He has made several fim appearances including “Rob Roy”,”Braveheart”, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “Red Eye”. His many TV parts including acting in “ER”. Interview with Brian Cox in “The Guardian” can be found here.

Russell Brand

Russell Brand was born in Grays, Essex in 1975. He began his show business career as a comedian and while he still does stand-up comedy, he is venturing more into film. His made “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, He also starred alongside Adam Sandler in “Bedtime Stories”. His website can be found here.

Patrick Stewart was born in 1940 in Yorkshire. He was a noted classical actor on the British stage when in 1987 he gained huge international exposure with his success as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the “Star Trek” series. After he left the series. he has alternated between movies and the stage with great success. “MailOnline” article on Patrick Stewart here.

TCM Overview:

A Shakespearean performer who exuded an authoritative presence, actor Patrick Stewart spent many years in repertory theater before becoming a star player with the Royal Shakespeare Company. But Stewart’s most recognized success was his commanding, often patriarchal turn as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the sequel series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (syndicated, 1987-1994). Prior to this breakout role, he spent years performing in the Bard’s productions, most notably in “Macbeth,” “Hamlet” and an acclaimed Broadway version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1971). Once he made his way to the screen, Stewart ably performed minor roles in “Fall of Eagles” (BBC, 1974) and “I, Claudius” (BBC2, 1976) while eventually making his way to feature films with “Excalibur” (1981) and “Dune” (1985). After his seven-year sojourn on “The Next Generation,” Stewart was fortunate enough to avoid being tied to Picard for life, as seemed to happen with members of the original series. Though he reprised the role for three big screen versions of “Star Trek,” he continued performing on stage while lending his stentorian voice to television commercials and animated features like “The Prince of Egypt” (1998) and “Chicken Little” (2005). In between, Stewart portrayed the wheelchair-bound leader of the mutants, Professor Xavier, for the popular comic-book adaptation “X-Men” (2000), which generated lucrative sequels in 2002, 2006 and beyond, while affording Stewart yet another successful franchise without being typecast for life.

The above TCM Overview can also be accessed online here.

Saoirse Ronan is an Irish actress who was born in 1994. She is best known for her roles in “Atonement” and “Lovely Bones”. She lives in Co. Carlow. “Independent” article on Saoirse Ronan can be accessed here.

Chris Sarandon. IMDB

Chris Sarandon is a stylish American actor who has some very interesting cult films among his credits. He was born in 1942 in West Virginia. He began appearing on stage and on daytime television in 1965. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in “Dog Day Afternoon” in 1975. He went on to star in “Fright Night” and “The Princess Bride” where he was Prince Humperdiinck. More recently he had a major role in the long-running “ER” and was on the Broadway stage in 2006 in “The Light in the Piazza”. Interview on “Moviefone” with Chris Sarandon can be accessed here.

Gary Brumburgh’s entry:

The handsome, versatile, worldly-looking Chris Sarandon has played everything from vampires to Jesus Christ in magnetic performances that have not only been controversial but hard to miss.

The son of a Greek immigrant and restaurateur, he was born and raised in Beckley, West Virginia, where, as a teen, he appeared on the musical stage and played drums and sang back-up with a local band called The Teen Tones.

Graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1960, his band was so good they found themselves touring and backing up such music legends as Bobby Darin, Gene Vincent and Danny and the Juniors. Chris attended West Virginia University majoring in speech, and appeared in such musical productions as “The Music Man” as Harold Hill.

He went on to attend the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he received his master’s degree in theater and met first wife Susan Sarandon. Touring with improv companies and in regional theater productions, he made his professional debut in “The Rose Tattoo” in 1965 and later joined the Long Wharf Theatre Company for a season. Moving to New York in 1968, the dark and handsome charmer immediately nabbed the role of Dr. Tom Halverson on Guiding Light (1952), a part that would last two years. Throughout the 1970s he would be rewarded with rich theater acting roles. On Broadway he appeared in “The Rothchilds” and replaced Raul Julia in “Two Gentlemen from Verona” while appearing elsewhere in various Shakespeare and Shaw festivals both here and in Canada. He made an auspicious film debut in the huge, career-risking part of Al Pacino‘s tormented, gender-confused lover in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his superior work.

He took other sordid turns too, this time in co-leads, opposite the late Margaux Hemingway in the poorly done exploitative thrillerLipstick (1976) and as a demon in the shocker The Sentinel (1977). To avoid being typed as creepy characters, Chris extended himself brilliantly in the years to come, portraying the title role in The Day Christ Died (1980), a critically heralded TV-movie. He received high marks also for his Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities (1980) and co-starred withGoldie Hawn in the more mainstream Protocol (1984). In the 1980s Chris would endear himself to a younger generation of filmgoers as the undeniably sexy, hypnotic vampire-next-door in the teen horror classic Fright Night (1985), the cruel, evil-plotting prince inRob Reiner‘s The Princess Bride (1987) and as the investigating cop in Child’s Play(1988), the first in the “Chucky” series about a murdering doll. In recent years Chris has continued steadily on stage, film and TV but at a lesser pace and in less flashy, high-profiled roles.

Divorced from Susan Sarandon in 1979, he was married and divorced from model Lisa Ann Cooper during the 1980s. In 1991 he co-starred on Broadway in the short-lived musical “Nick and Nora” with Joanna Gleason, the daughter of Monty Hall(Let’s Make a Deal (1963)). They married in 1994 and reunited on stage in “Thorn & Bloom” in 1998. They have also appeared together in a number of films, includingAmerican Perfekt (1997), Edie & Pen (1996) and Let the Devil Wear Black (1999).

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.ne

Richard Cox. (Wikipedia)

Richard Cox is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Stuart Richards in the film Cruising and Max Frazier on Ghostwriter. He was nominated for Broadway’s 1979 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role – Musical) for Platinum.

Cox performed on Broadway with Ingrid Bergman in Captain Brassbound’s Conversion before going to Hollywood in 1975 with the national company of Grease.

He appeared with Al Pacino in Cruising (1980) and Looking for Richard (1996). Other film credits include Seizure (1974), Between the Lines (1977), Sanford and Son (1975), King of the Mountain(1981), Hellhole (1985), The Vindicator (1986), Zombie High (1987) and Radio Free Albemuth (2010).

Ben Barnes is probably best known for his performances in “Stardust” as Young Dunston and Caspian in “The Chronicles of Narnia”. He is due to be in the play “Birdsong” on the West End stage in September 2010. A website fpr Ben Barnes can be accessed here.

Ben Barnes (Wikipedia)

Ben Barnes is a British actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia film series, Logan Delos in Westworld, and Billy Russo in The Punisher.

He has also played Tom Ward in the fantasy film Seventh Son, Dorian Gray in Dorian Gray, supporting roles in The Words, and The Big Wedding, and portrayed Samuel Adams in the 2015 miniseries Sons of Liberty.

Barnes was born in London, to Tricia, a relationship therapist, and Thomas Barnes, a professor of psychiatry.

Barnes was educated at two independent schools for boys: Homefield Preparatory Schoolin Sutton and King’s College School in Wimbledon, south-west London (where his classmates included the film actor Khalid Abdalla and comedian Tom Basden),^[5] followed by Kingston University in Kingston-upon-Thames, where he studied drama and English literature, and from which he graduated with BA Honours in 2004.

Barnes began his career in musical theatre. As a teenager, he spent a few years as part of the National Youth Music Theatre, whose alumni also include actors Jude Law and Jamie Bell.^[8] At fifteen, Barnes landed his first professional job as a drummer in the West End musical adaptation of Bugsy Malone. He was briefly a singer in the pop boy band Hyrise, which was in the running to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 with the song “Leading Me On”; however, they lost out to James Fox and “Hold Onto Our Love“. Barnes began working in television in 2006, including a guest appearance on the UK series Doctors. That same year, he joined the ensemble cast of a West End production of The History Boys, in which he starred as the sexually provocative Dakin, a role originally played by Dominic Cooper on stage and in the film The History Boys.

Barnes made his feature film debut as Young Dunstan in 2007’s Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughnand based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name. Barnes then starred as a Russian hoodlum named Cobakka in Suzie Halewood’s Bigga Than Ben, which was released in 2008 in the United Kingdom and other European countries.^[11]

In February 2007, it was announced that Barnes would play the role of Caspian in the film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, directed by Andrew Adamson. Adamson said “Caspian is a coming of age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance.” While many readers interpret Caspian as a child, a passage in the novel mentions his age to be near that of Peter’s, so an older actor was sought to match William Moseley. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two-and-a-half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting. Barnes says his Mediterranean accent in the movie was inspired in part by Mandy Patinkin‘s performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride. Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies.^[16]

In the spring of 2008, Barnes finished filming the role of John Whittaker for Noël Coward‘s romantic comedy, Easy Virtue opposite Jessica Biel. Written and directed by Australian Stephan Elliott,^[17] the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2008.^[18] The film has screened at the Rio, Rome, Abu Dhabi, London and Adelaide Film Festivals.^[19]^[20] It also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival prior to its U.S. release on 22 May 2009.^[21] Easy Virtue is a social comedy in which a glamorous American widow, Larita, impetuously marries a young Englishman, John Whittaker, when they return to England to meet his parents, his mother takes an immediate and strong dislike to the new daughter-in-law.^[22] The score contains many Coward and jazz-age songs, some of which are sung by Barnes. In the United States, the film enjoyed some commercial success. Sony Pictures Classics paid an estimated $US1 million to acquire the film’s distribution rights in the United States, Latin America and South Africa.^[23]

Barnes next starred in the title role in a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde‘s Dorian Gray, directed by Oliver Parker for Ealing Studios.^[24] The film was released on 9 September 2009 in the United Kingdom and had its world premiere that month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In May 2009, Barnes was nominated for MTV Movie Awards‘ Best Breakthrough Male for his performance in Prince Caspian, which went to Robert Pattinson from Twilight.^[25] In June 2009, Barnes filmed the psychological thriller Locked In, directed by Suri Krishnamma, on location in Boston. In the movie (which was originally titled Valediction), Barnes plays an American father named Josh whose daughter seems to be in a coma after being in a car accident.^[26]

Barnes appeared as King Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), the third installment in the series. Directed by Michael Apted, the movie was filmed from July to November 2009 in Brisbane, Australia. It premiered on 30 November 2010 at a Royal Film Performance in London.^[27] and released in December 2010.^[28]^[29] It was released in traditional 2D, RealD 3D, and Digital 3D, and a limited release in 4D.^[30] The film was the 12th highest-grossing film of 2010 worldwide.^[31]

In January 2010, Barnes began filming Killing Bono,^[32] a comedy based on the Neil McCormick memoir Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelgänger, in which McCormick recounts his youth in Ireland as an aspiring rock star who is overshadowed by his friend Bono, the lead singer of U2. Barnes played McCormick in Killing Bono, which is directed by Nick Hamm. Filming started at the beginning of January in the city of Lisburn. Killing Bono was released on 1 April 2011, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The European premiere was at the Savoy Cinema in Dublin. Sony Music Entertainment released the movie’s soundtrack worldwide.

Barnes returned to the West End stage in London with a starring role as World War I soldier Stephen Wraysford in Birdsong, a drama based on the Sebastian Faulks novel of the same title. The play, directed by Trevor Nunn and adapted for the West End stage by writer Rachel Wagstaff opened on 28 September 2010, running through 15 January 2011. He was then cast alongside Bradley Cooperand Zoe Saldana in The Words (2012).

In 2013 Barnes had one film released, The Big Wedding, a remake of the original 2006 French film Mon frère se marie (My brother is getting married). The movie starred an ensemble cast that included Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl, Topher Grace, Amanda Seyfried, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. The movie released on 26 April 2013.

In December 2012, Barnes began filming the modern day crime drama By the Gun with co-stars Harvey Keitel and Leighton Meester. By the Gun had its world premiere at the 2014 Zurich Film Festival, theatrical premiere in Boston on 2 December 2014, and a limited theatrical release on 5 December 2014. It was released on DVD on 20 January 2015.

Barnes played Tom Ward in the film Seventh Son (2014). Directed by Sergei Bodrov and co-starring Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikanderand Julianne Moore, it is based on the novel The Spook’s Apprentice (titled The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch in the US) by Joseph Delaney.^[49] The presentation was at Comic-Con International 2011. The film was released in France on 17 December 2014, and in Canada and the United States on 6 February 2015.

In 2015, Barnes starred as Sam Adams in the History Channel‘s three-part fictional mini-series Sons of Liberty. Barnes also starred with Katherine Heigl in the romantic drama Jackie & Ryan. On 20 July 2015 it was announced that Barnes would replace Eion Bailey as Logan Delos in HBO‘s science fiction thriller Westworld, the first season of which aired in the fall of 2016.

In September 2016, Barnes was cast as Billy Russo in the Marvel Netflix series The Punisher.^[54]

Collection of Contemporary Actors

Claire Bloom

David Straithairn

David Straithairn. TCM Overview.

Brian Cox

Russell Brand

Patrick Stewart

Saoirse Ronan

Chris Sarandon

Chris Sarandon. IMDB

Richard Cox

Richard Cox. (Wikipedia)

Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes (Wikipedia)

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