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Alabama Whitman - Patricia Arquette
The youngest daughter of a performing family, vivacious and vulnerable Patricia Arquette rose through the 1990s independent film world to become a leading player for directors like Tim Burton, David Lynch and Sean Penn. Her breakthrough in Tony Scott’s crime spree “True Romance” (1993) led to more risky but stylish fare, including “Lost Highway” (1997) and “Stigmata” (1999), but the actress also proved her widespread appeal with mainstream dramas like Martin Scorsese’s “Bring Out the Dead” (1999) and comedies like “Little Nicky” (2000). In 2004, Arquette made an unlikely leap to series TV with resounding success, with her portrayal of a hectic working mom and gifted psychic in NBC’s “Medium” earning the actress multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Patricia Arquette was born on April 8, 1968, though she first gained attention while she was still in the womb. Family lore stated that while participating in a Civil Rights march that spring, Martin Luther King Jr. spotted weighty mom-to-be Mardi Arquette and insisted she ride on the bus with him. Mardi made it back home to Chicago in time for Arquette’s birth, and there she joined siblings Rosanna, Richmond, and Robert (future transgender performer Alexis). Dad Lewis was a player with the Second City improv group and had earlier been a member of the influential San Francisco comedy group The Committee. His father Cliff Arquette was popularly known as Charley Weaver on dozens of TV shows during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1970, the peace-loving Arquettes moved to a spiritual-based commune near Arlington, VA, where youngest brother David was added to the family and all the kids could live surrounded by nature and far from materialism and mass media.
The hippie kids were in for a bit of culture shock in 1974 when the Utopian experiment ended and the Arquettes relocated to Los Angeles. Dad Lewis began a steady career on TV including a long-running role on “The Waltons” (CBS, 1972-1981) and mom Mardi ran a children’s theater workshop. Her own children were beginning to show a flair for performing, with Rosanna training on stages in San Francisco before landing film roles, and brother Robert embarking on a small screen career of his own. Arquette attended arts-oriented magnet schools in Los Angeles, running away from home at age 14 to live with older sister Rosanna, but honing in on acting and training with renowned drama coach Milton Katselas. At 18, she landed her first role in the teen genre picture, “Pretty Smart” (1986), and by the following year, she was pregnant with a son.
Arquette certainly had a lot of perspective to bring to the role of a teenage mother in the TV-movie "Daddy" (ABC, 1987), following that up with a solid run of appearances that belied her busy schedule as a single mom. She landed a starring role in “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) and a string of credits as “offbeat” teens in “Time Out” (1988) and Sam Shepards “Far North” (1988), as well as various TV spots. She had the distinction of starring in two small screen projects directed by Diane Keaton: a CBS Schoolbreak Special entitled "The Boy With the Crazy Brother" (1990) and the long form, "Wildflower" (Lifetime, 1991). In the latter, the actress essayed the demanding role of a young girl with epilepsy, whose stepfather keeps her locked up and believing she is possessed by demons. The newcomer earned a CableACE award for the performance, which tapped the actress’ flair for fragile vulnerability and the honest quality that was soon in demand by distinguished film directors.
It was just these qualities that inspired first time director Sean Penn to cast Arquette as the tender girlfriend of Viggo Mortensen in "The Indian Runner" (1991). She likewise delivered a heartrending Mattie Silver — the life force in the otherwise bleak, wintry Wharton adaptation "Ethan Frome" (1993). Arquette’s breakout performance came later that year when she more than held her own alongside heavy-hitters Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted "True Romance.” The much talked-about film also showcased another side of the actress – that she could convincingly beat a man to death in her underwear. Tim Burton tread lightly on the potential for jarring weirdness by casting her as the tolerant wife of eccentric filmmaker "Ed Wood" (1994) in his black & white biopic on the deficient – to say the least – film director. The following year Arquette was a surprising but effective choice to play the lead of an American doctor caught up in the political turmoil of Burma in John Boorman’s "Beyond Rangoon" (1995).
Arquette’s growing status in the independent film world seemed complete with her marriage that year to actor Nicholas Cage, who himself had traversed art house territory on his way to becoming a box office star. The pair had initially met in 1989, with Cage reportedly proposing to Arquette the first time they crossed paths at a Los Angeles deli. The coy actress sent him away with a treasure hunt of items she would require in order to entertain his proposal, including a black orchid, J.D. Salinger’s autograph, and a statue from a Big Boy restaurant. Cage fulfilled the conditions, but the pair barely lasted a few dates before going their separate ways. A decade later, they met again by accident – supposedly at the same deli – and decided it had to be fate, tying the knot not long after.
The dramatic actress jumped at the chance to do her first straight-up comedy, starring opposite Ben Stiller as the moody spouse of an adopted man seeking his birth parents in "Flirting With Disaster" (1996). She gave a much subtler dramatic performance opposite Matthew Broderick in “Infinity” (1996), a biopic about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. While she earned some praise from reviewers for her dual turn as the murdered wife of a jazz musician and a bottle blonde femme fatale in David Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997), the overall film was generally critiqued (like many Lynch films) for being overly confusing and pretentious. Arquette undertook a similar femme fatale type in Stephen Frears’ "The Hi-Lo Country" (1998), playing the unhappily married ranch wife who embarks on an affair with a rival cattleman. Taking a darker turn, she starred in the supernatural thriller "Stigmata" (1999), which debuted at number one at the box office but stirred controversy for its depiction of the Catholic Church.
Arquette had clearly made a successful transition from independent film to box office notable, next appearing in Martin Scorsese’s well-received New York City ambulance drama "Bringing Out the Dead" (1999) with Cage. The working partnership may have put the final strain on the pair’s on–again/off-again relationship. They officially split the following year. Not one to lick her wounds, Arquette cut loose in another broad comedy and box office hit, Adam Sandler’s son-of-Satan-send-up, "Little Nicky" (2000). She rebounded to regain her indie street cred with Michel Gondry’s "Human Nature" (2001), tackling a challenging role that required her to appear completely nude but accessorized with piles of fake hair. After appearing as school teacher-turned-outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow in the offbeat Disney drama, “Holes” (2003), Arquette gave birth to daughter Harlow and settled into family life with fiancé, actor Thomas Jane, who had romantically proposed at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles.
In 2004, Arquette made a surprising and highly successful shift to series television when she signed on to star as real-life psychic and criminal profiler Allison DuBois in “Medium” (NBC, 2004- ). The series proved popular right out of the gate, with Arquette imbuing an appealing earthiness to her characterization of a wife and mother struggling to balance family and crime-solving psychic visions. After less than a dozen episodes of the mid-season replacement had aired, Arquette found herself nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy Awards, subsequently taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In 2006, she received a second Golden Globe nomination and the following year Arquette was again honored with both Golden Globe and Emmy nods for her role on the supernatural hit.
Clarence Worley - Christian Slater
A child actor who made the transition to adult roles, Christian Slater began his career in NYC on stage and in the world of daytime dramas. The gifted young performer appeared alongside Dick Van Dyke in "The Music Man" (1980) and appeared in the Broadway musicals "Copperfield" (1981) and "Merlin" (1983). Almost simultaneously, he made inroads in soap operas like "One Life to Live" and "All My Children". In 1985, he joined "Ryan's Hope" as the delinquent boyfriend of Ryan Fennelli (Yasmine Bleeth)—a show on which his father had played the leading character of Frank Ryan in the late 1970s.
Slater segued to the big screen in a small role in "The Legend of Billy Jean" (1985) and garnered some attention as Sean Connery youthful apprentice in "The Name of the Rose" (1986) and as Jeff Bridges' son in "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" (1988). But it was his sterling turn as the sardonic teenaged killer in the black comedy "Heathers" (1989) that catapulted him to stardom. As Winona Ryder's sociopathic boyfriend who matter-of-factly kills several classmates, the actor seemed to be channeling Jack Nicholson, replete with vocal inflections and mannerisms. He continued his ascendant career and solidified his position as a teen idol as the rebellious high school student who operates a pirate radio station in "Pump Up the Volume" (1990). While he held his own against Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), he stumbled with leading roles in the duds "Mobsters" (also 1991) and "Kuffs" (1992).
Attempting more adult fare, Slater had his first real romantic role opposite Marisa Tomei in the bittersweet "Untamed Heart" and teamed with Patricia Arquette in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted "True Romance" (both 1993). When actor River Phoenix died suddenly, Slater was tapped to replace the late performer in the coveted role of the reporter in Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire" (1994). He acquitted himself as an idealistic attorney defending an accused killer (Kevin Bacon) in the period drama "Murder in the First" (1995) and proved a serviceable action lead in both "Broken Arrow" (1996) and "Hard Rain" (1997).
Slater's troubled personal life has often threatened to overshadow his career accomplishments. There have been many scrapes with the law, including a 1989 arrest for driving under the influence (with a 10-day jail sentence) and a 1994 infraction for attempting to bring an unlicensed handgun on board an airplane (resulting in community service). But a 1997 incident involving alcohol and drug abuse, attacks on a former girlfriend and a male acquaintance and a scuffle with police landed Slater in deep trouble. He spent over 100 days in a rehabilitation facility while out on bail and then was sentenced to a three-month term in jail followed by three months in a residential rehab center with an additional three years probation. Prior to his arrest, Slater had completed work on the period drama "Basil" (aired on Romance Classics, 1998) and the black comedy "Very Bad Things" (also 1998).
Slater's film career was far from over following his troubles with the law however, and his first major role in 2000 was as young defiant member of congress in "The Contender." Slater's complex role as a democrat who switches party lines to oppose Joan Allen's female presidential candidate character was a bold return to the big screen for Slater. He followed up this role with several smaller parts in significant movies. He also starred in the Canadian film "Who is Cletis Tout" (2001), playing an escaped convict who assumes the identity of a dead man targeted for a mob hit. After brief appearances in “View from the Top” (2003) and “Masked & Anonymous” (2003), Slater was a paranormal investigator who is called upon to find 19 people that have disappeared in the cringe-inducing horror flick, “Alone in the Dark” (2005), co-starring a bespectacled Tara Reid pre-boob job.
In another misfire, Renny Harlin’s “Mindhunters” (2005), Slater played an FBI profiler-in-training who—along with a team of other would-be mindhunters—is sent to a remote island for a training mission that turns dangerously real. After “Mindhunters” bombed at the box office, Slater starred in the corporate thriller, “The Deal” (2005), playing a Wall Street investment banker who, along with his environmentalist partner (Selma Blair), gets involved with government conspiracy, illegal oil trading and the Russian mafia. Though the content was timely, critics lambasted the murky storytelling and flat acting.