Tales of the City (miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Tales of the City is a 1993
television miniseries
based on the first of the Tales of the City series
of novels by Armistead Maupin
.
To date, the first three books in the sequence have been adapted into television
miniseries
; the first, Tales of the City, was produced by the UK's Channel 4
and was first screened in the UK in 1993, then shown on PBS in the US in January, 1994. Channel 4 eventually teamed up with American cable network Showtime to produce the sequel, More Tales of the City, which premiered in the US and UK in 1998. The third installment of the series, Further Tales of the City was produced by Showtime (without Channel 4) and was originally aired in the US on Showtime in May 2001.
epidemic and a changing social climate, HBO reportedly felt that the book's celebratory attitude toward homosexuality, casual sex and marijuana usage would not be deemed acceptable by the viewing public. The channel considered toning down the stories and making the series a period piece
but ultimately decided to scrap the project.
Amid the controversy surrounding the homosexual themes, nudity, and illicit drug use in the miniseries, Tales of the City gave PBS its highest ratings ever for a dramatic program. In deference to local standards, PBS gave stations the option of showing an edited version in which male and female body parts were obscured by pixelation
. The original six-part series was produced by Britain's Channel 4 Television Corporation with San Francisco's PBS station KQED and PBS' American Playhouse
. Despite the ratings success of Tales of the City, PBS bowed to threats of federal funding cuts and announced it would not participate in the television production of the original miniseries' sequel, More Tales of the City.
Despite the changes in production companies, the same actors played four of the central characters throughout all three miniseries: Laura Linney
played Mary Ann Singleton; Olympia Dukakis
played the matriarch, Mrs. Anna Madrigal; Barbara Garrick
played DeDe Halcyon Day; and Billy Campbell
(credited as "William Campbell") played Dr. Jon Philip Fielding. In addition, Thomas Gibson
reprised his Tales role as Beauchamp Day in More Tales and Mary Kay Place
, who had a cameo as Prue Giroux in Tales, played that role as a major character in Further Tales. In More Tales of the City, Paul Hopkins
inherited the role of Mouse, Whip Hubley
played Brian, and Nina Siemaszko
was Mona. Hopkins and Hubley returned for Further Tales of the City. Armistead Maupin himself made cameo appearance
s in all three miniseries.
Regarding the recasts of Brian, Mouse and Mona for the sequels, Maupin has said, "Paul Gross
was committed to his own TV series, Due South
. Chloe Webb
had expressed enthusiasm about playing Mona again, but she backed out when the show's producers declined her request to be paid more than the rest of the cast. (The show was operating under a 'favored nations agreement' that required leading cast members to be paid equally.) While everyone felt Chloe was important to Tales, she was not more important than Laura Linney, Thomas Gibson, Billy Campbell or Barbara Garrick. Despite the rumors, it is not true that Marcus D'Amico
wasn't invited back because of issues surrounding his sexuality. The production team met with Marcus and he expressed 'ambivalence' about returning to the role of Mouse. The director felt it was important to find someone who would enthusiastically embrace the role."
named Tales of the City one of the ten best miniseries on DVD. Calling Linney the "breakout star," the article called the series "a time capsule that treats its characters with humor, respect, and a sexual frankness (there's some brief nudity) that was uncommon for PBS in 1993 and would be politically impossible there today."
); on a cruise to Mexico with a lovelorn Michael, Mary Ann falls in love with Burke, a man without a past; DeDe decides to have her babies, much to Beauchamp's chagrin, and meets D'orothea; and Brian begins a rooftop dalliance with a mysterious woman. Events in Tales of the City, like the disappearance of Norman Neal Williams, are resolved, and Mrs. Madrigal reveals her secret to her tenants.
, until she makes a shocking discovery; Michael dates several men, including a cop, a cowboy, and a movie star; and Prue falls in a love with a mysterious stranger living in a shack in Golden Gate Park. In the miniseries, Mother Mucca visits and introduces Mrs. Madrigal to a handsome, older man, a story line that does not exist in the books but was added for television. There is also a new plot line for Connie Bradshaw which did not feature in the original novel.
Cage Tyler, the movie star with whom Michael has a brief fling, is based on Rock Hudson
, who was a friend and lover of Maupin's. In the novel, the character was not named, but was represented by underscores (e.g. ____ ____) wherever his name would have appeared.
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
based on the first of the Tales of the City series
Tales of the City
Tales of the City refers to a series of eight novels written by American author Armistead Maupin. The stories from Tales were originally serialized prior to their novelization, with the first four titles appearing as regular installments in the San Francisco Chronicle, while the fifth appeared in...
of novels by Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. is an American writer, best known for his Tales of the City series of novels, based in San Francisco.-Early life:...
.
To date, the first three books in the sequence have been adapted into television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
; the first, Tales of the City, was produced by the UK's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and was first screened in the UK in 1993, then shown on PBS in the US in January, 1994. Channel 4 eventually teamed up with American cable network Showtime to produce the sequel, More Tales of the City, which premiered in the US and UK in 1998. The third installment of the series, Further Tales of the City was produced by Showtime (without Channel 4) and was originally aired in the US on Showtime in May 2001.
First production attempt
Premium cable channel HBO acquired the rights to the first two Tales of the City books in 1982 in the hopes of turning them into a weekly sitcom. Pre-production began in the fall of that year with a pilot script by Richard Kramer. Kramer described the script as a "Mary Tyler Moore for the '80s". In the face of the rising AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic and a changing social climate, HBO reportedly felt that the book's celebratory attitude toward homosexuality, casual sex and marijuana usage would not be deemed acceptable by the viewing public. The channel considered toning down the stories and making the series a period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
but ultimately decided to scrap the project.
Tales of the City
Following the storyline in Maupin's first book, the first miniseries begins in the summer of 1976, following Mary Ann's decision to remain permanently in San Francisco following her vacation there and spans the next several months, concluding on New Year's Day, 1977.Amid the controversy surrounding the homosexual themes, nudity, and illicit drug use in the miniseries, Tales of the City gave PBS its highest ratings ever for a dramatic program. In deference to local standards, PBS gave stations the option of showing an edited version in which male and female body parts were obscured by pixelation
Pixelation
In computer graphics, pixelation is an effect caused by displaying a bitmap or a section of a bitmap at such a large size that individual pixels, small single-colored square display elements that comprise the bitmap, are visible to the eye...
. The original six-part series was produced by Britain's Channel 4 Television Corporation with San Francisco's PBS station KQED and PBS' American Playhouse
American Playhouse
American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.It premiered on January 12, 1982 with The Shady Hill Kidnapping, written and narrated by John Cheever and directed by Paul Bogart...
. Despite the ratings success of Tales of the City, PBS bowed to threats of federal funding cuts and announced it would not participate in the television production of the original miniseries' sequel, More Tales of the City.
Despite the changes in production companies, the same actors played four of the central characters throughout all three miniseries: Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
played Mary Ann Singleton; Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
played the matriarch, Mrs. Anna Madrigal; Barbara Garrick
Barbara Garrick
Barbara Garrick is an American actress who portrayed DeDe Halcyon Day in the three television miniseries based on Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. She was nominated for a Gemini Award in 1999 for Further Tales of the City.Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated from...
played DeDe Halcyon Day; and Billy Campbell
Billy Campbell
William Oliver "Billy" Campbell is an American film and television actor. In television, he is best known for his roles as Rick Sammler on Once and Again, as Det. Joey Indelli on Crime Story, as Jordan Collier on The 4400, and as Dr. Jon Fielding on the Tales of the City Miniseries...
(credited as "William Campbell") played Dr. Jon Philip Fielding. In addition, Thomas Gibson
Thomas Gibson
Thomas Ellis Gibson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Daniel Nyland in the Medical drama series Chicago Hope, as Greg Montgomery in the comedy series Dharma & Greg, and as Supervisory Special Agent Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner in the highly-popular CBS drama, Criminal...
reprised his Tales role as Beauchamp Day in More Tales and Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place is an American actress, singer, director and screen writer. She is best known as portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series in 1977...
, who had a cameo as Prue Giroux in Tales, played that role as a major character in Further Tales. In More Tales of the City, Paul Hopkins
Paul Hopkins (actor)
Paul Hopkins is a Canadian television, film and theatre actor known to US audiences for his portrayal of Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the TV miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City . These miniseries were sequels to Tales of the City , which starred Marcus...
inherited the role of Mouse, Whip Hubley
Whip Hubley
Whip Hubley is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Mischa in the 1987 film Russkies, and Hollywood in the 1986 film Top Gun. He later played Brian Hawkins in the Showtime miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City...
played Brian, and Nina Siemaszko
Nina Siemaszko
Nina Siemaszko is an American film and television actress.-Biography:Siemaszko was born Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko in Chicago, Illinois to a Polish American father, a fighter in the Polish Underground who survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and an English mother...
was Mona. Hopkins and Hubley returned for Further Tales of the City. Armistead Maupin himself made cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s in all three miniseries.
Regarding the recasts of Brian, Mouse and Mona for the sequels, Maupin has said, "Paul Gross
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in...
was committed to his own TV series, Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
. Chloe Webb
Chloe Webb
Chloe Webb is an American actress.Webb was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York. Her New York theater debut was in the original cast of the long-running musical satire Forbidden Broadway...
had expressed enthusiasm about playing Mona again, but she backed out when the show's producers declined her request to be paid more than the rest of the cast. (The show was operating under a 'favored nations agreement' that required leading cast members to be paid equally.) While everyone felt Chloe was important to Tales, she was not more important than Laura Linney, Thomas Gibson, Billy Campbell or Barbara Garrick. Despite the rumors, it is not true that Marcus D'Amico
Marcus D'Amico
Marcus D'Amico is a film, TV and stage actor best known for his role as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the original Tales of the City miniseries in 1993. However, he has appeared in theater productions for over 15 years...
wasn't invited back because of issues surrounding his sexuality. The production team met with Marcus and he expressed 'ambivalence' about returning to the role of Mouse. The director felt it was important to find someone who would enthusiastically embrace the role."
Reception
In 2005, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named Tales of the City one of the ten best miniseries on DVD. Calling Linney the "breakout star," the article called the series "a time capsule that treats its characters with humor, respect, and a sexual frankness (there's some brief nudity) that was uncommon for PBS in 1993 and would be politically impossible there today."
More Tales of the City
In More Tales of the City, Mona discovers her true heritage when she winds up in a brothel in Nevada, run by Mother Mucca (Jackie BurroughsJackie Burroughs
Jacqueline "Jackie" Burroughs was an English-born Canadian actress.-Life and career:Born in Lancashire, England, Burroughs acted in live theatre at Ontario's Stratford Festival...
); on a cruise to Mexico with a lovelorn Michael, Mary Ann falls in love with Burke, a man without a past; DeDe decides to have her babies, much to Beauchamp's chagrin, and meets D'orothea; and Brian begins a rooftop dalliance with a mysterious woman. Events in Tales of the City, like the disappearance of Norman Neal Williams, are resolved, and Mrs. Madrigal reveals her secret to her tenants.
Further Tales of the City
In Further Tales of the City, Mary Ann has landed a job at a local TV station and finds a story that might make her a reporter; Frannie mourns the apparent loss of her daughter DeDe and grandchildren in the tragedy at JonestownJonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
, until she makes a shocking discovery; Michael dates several men, including a cop, a cowboy, and a movie star; and Prue falls in a love with a mysterious stranger living in a shack in Golden Gate Park. In the miniseries, Mother Mucca visits and introduces Mrs. Madrigal to a handsome, older man, a story line that does not exist in the books but was added for television. There is also a new plot line for Connie Bradshaw which did not feature in the original novel.
Cage Tyler, the movie star with whom Michael has a brief fling, is based on Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, who was a friend and lover of Maupin's. In the novel, the character was not named, but was represented by underscores (e.g. ____ ____) wherever his name would have appeared.
Babycakes
Plans for a two-hour version of the fourth "Tales" novel, Babycakes, were first reported in 2003, and Maupin has completed a script. However, production has yet to begin.Casts
| Character | Tales of the City 1993 |
More Tales of the City 1998 |
Further Tales of the City 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Ann Singleton | Laura Linney Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award... |
Laura Linney | Laura Linney |
| Anna Madrigal | Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck... |
Olympia Dukakis | Olympia Dukakis |
| DeDe Halcyon Day | Barbara Garrick Barbara Garrick Barbara Garrick is an American actress who portrayed DeDe Halcyon Day in the three television miniseries based on Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. She was nominated for a Gemini Award in 1999 for Further Tales of the City.Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated from... |
Barbara Garrick | Barbara Garrick |
| Dr. Jon Fielden/Fielding | William Campbell Billy Campbell William Oliver "Billy" Campbell is an American film and television actor. In television, he is best known for his roles as Rick Sammler on Once and Again, as Det. Joey Indelli on Crime Story, as Jordan Collier on The 4400, and as Dr. Jon Fielding on the Tales of the City Miniseries... |
William Campbell | William Campbell |
| Connie Bradshaw | Parker Posey Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies".... |
Parker Posey | Parker Posey |
| Michael "Mouse" Tolliver | Marcus D'Amico Marcus D'Amico Marcus D'Amico is a film, TV and stage actor best known for his role as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the original Tales of the City miniseries in 1993. However, he has appeared in theater productions for over 15 years... |
Paul Hopkins Paul Hopkins (actor) Paul Hopkins is a Canadian television, film and theatre actor known to US audiences for his portrayal of Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the TV miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City . These miniseries were sequels to Tales of the City , which starred Marcus... |
Paul Hopkins |
| Brian Hawkins | Paul Gross Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in... |
Whip Hubley Whip Hubley Whip Hubley is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Mischa in the 1987 film Russkies, and Hollywood in the 1986 film Top Gun. He later played Brian Hawkins in the Showtime miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City... |
Whip Hubley |
| Frannie Halcyon | Nina Foch Nina Foch Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :... |
Diana Leblanc Diana Leblanc Diana Leblanc is a Canadian television and film actress, best known known to US audiences for her portrayal of Frannie Halcyon in the TV miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City... |
Diana Leblanc |
| D'orothea Wilson | Cynda Williams Cynda Williams Cynda Williams is an American television and film actress.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois as Cynthia Williams, she was known by her birth name of Cindy Williams until she started her film career... |
Françoise Robertson Françoise Robertson Françoise Robertson is a Canadian actress, known to US audiences for her portrayal of D'orothea Wilson in the TV miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City... |
Françoise Robertson |
| Beauchamp Day | Thomas Gibson Thomas Gibson Thomas Ellis Gibson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Daniel Nyland in the Medical drama series Chicago Hope, as Greg Montgomery in the comedy series Dharma & Greg, and as Supervisory Special Agent Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner in the highly-popular CBS drama, Criminal... |
Thomas Gibson | |
| Mona Ramsey | Chloe Webb Chloe Webb Chloe Webb is an American actress.Webb was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York. Her New York theater debut was in the original cast of the long-running musical satire Forbidden Broadway... |
Nina Siemaszko Nina Siemaszko Nina Siemaszko is an American film and television actress.-Biography:Siemaszko was born Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko in Chicago, Illinois to a Polish American father, a fighter in the Polish Underground who survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and an English mother... |
|
| Prue Giroux | Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place is an American actress, singer, director and screen writer. She is best known as portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series in 1977... |
Mary Kay Place | |
| Edgar Halcyon | Donald Moffat Donald Moffat Donald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes... |
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| Norman Neal Williams | Stanley DeSantis Stanley DeSantis Stanley DeSantis was an American actor and businessman. He appeared in 15 motion pictures, the last of which being The Aviator, in which he portrayed Louis B. Mayer. He also made many television appearances... |
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| Charles Hillary Lord | Paul Bartel Paul Bartel Paul Bartel was an American actor, writer and director. Bartel was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.-Life and career:... |
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| William Devereaux Hill | Lance Loud Lance Loud Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud was an American magazine columnist and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in An American Family, a pioneer reality television series that featured his coming out, leading to his status as an icon in the gay community.-Early... |
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| Richard Evan Hampton | Bob Mackie Bob Mackie Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Judy Garland, Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor... |
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| Archibald Anson Gidde | Ian McKellen Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction... |
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| Binky Gruen | Meagen Fay Meagen Fay Meagen Fay is an American actress.A native of Chicago, in the early 1980s Fay was a featured cast member at The Second City. Her first television role was in the 1987 television series Ohara.... |
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| Candi Moretti | Stephanie Faracy Stephanie Faracy Stephanie Faracy is an American film and television actress.Faracy was born in Brooklyn, New York. One of her earliest notable roles was as Mary Carson's servant "Judy", in the 1983 television mini-series The Thorn Birds.Faracy also appeared with Frankie Faison and Nancy Walker in True Colors , a... |
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| Booter Manigault | McLean Stevenson McLean Stevenson Edgar McLean Stevenson, Jr. , better known as McLean Stevenson, was an American actor most recognized for his role as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake on the TV series M*A*S*H... |
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| Lionel Wong | Phillip Moon Philip Moon (actor) Philip Moon is an actor.In 1994 Moon appeared in the PBS miniseries Tales of the City as the minor but notable character Lionel, the father of DeDe Halycon Day's illegitimate twins... |
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| Chuck | Lou Liberatore Lou Liberatore Lou Liberatore is an American actor.A graduate of Fordham University, Liberatore made his New York City stage debut in the 1982 Circle Repertory Company production of Richard II. As a permanent member of the company he appeared in The Great Grandson of Jebediah Kohler, Black Angel, and As Is and... |
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| Coppola Woman | Janeane Garofolo Janeane Garofalo Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early... |
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| Motherly Waitress | Mother Love Mother Love Mother Love is an American entertainer. From 1998 to 2000, she was the original host of Forgive or Forget. In addition, she has hosted on radio in Los Angeles radio stations KLSX, KACE FM, and a show on KFI. She came from Cleveland OH radio. She also appeared in such films as Volcano, Mr. Nanny and... |
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| Father Guido Sarducci Father Guido Sarducci Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano .-Background:Novello... |
Don Novello Don Novello Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many... |
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| Mimi Farina Mimi Fariña Mimi Baez Fariña was a singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez .- Early years:Fariña's father, a physicist affiliated with Stanford University and MIT, moved his family... |
herself (cameo) | ||
| Mona "Mother Mucca" Ramsey | Jackie Burroughs Jackie Burroughs Jacqueline "Jackie" Burroughs was an English-born Canadian actress.-Life and career:Born in Lancashire, England, Burroughs acted in live theatre at Ontario's Stratford Festival... |
Jackie Burroughs | |
| Betty Ramsey | Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters... |
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| Burke Andrew | Colin Ferguson Colin Ferguson (actor) Colin Ferguson is a Canadian actor. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, and is a graduate of Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario and McGill University in Montreal.... |
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| Jack Lederer | Edward Asner | ||
| Helena Parrish | Domini Blythe | ||
| Mildred | Sheila McCarthy | ||
| Birdsong | Gregory Calpakis | ||
| Transplant Man | Peter Colvey | ||
| Bluegrass | Paul Phatisis | ||
| Cop | Vince Sheffield | ||
| Nurse Thelma | Gwen Tolbart | ||
| Luke | Henry Czerny Henry Czerny - Career :Czerny received formal training at the National Theatre School in Montreal. After graduating in 1982, he went on to perform onstage across Canada, from Ottawa's National Arts Centre to Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and the Stratford Festival. By the late 1980s, he had established himself as... |
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| Bambi Kanetaka | Sandra Oh Sandra Oh Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the... |
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| Father Paddy Starr | Bruce McCulloch Bruce McCulloch Bruce Ian McCulloch is a Canadian actor, writer, comedian, and film director. McCulloch is best known for his work as a member of The Kids in the Hall, a popular Canadian comedy troupe, and as a writer for Saturday Night Live. McCulloch has also appeared on series such as Twitch City and Gilmore... |
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| Royal Reichenbach | John McMartin John McMartin John McMartin is an American actor of stage, film and television.-Early life and career:McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana and raised in Minnesota. He attended college in Illinois and New York. He made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959, playing opposite Eileen Brennan... |
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| Willie Omiak | Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria is an American comedienne, actress, and jazz musician. The "famously controversial" DeLaria was "the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier" with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.... |