Best Simpsons Guest Appearances-Season 13
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Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He had cameo appearances in many Marvel film and television projects, with many yet to come, posthumously. A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Stan was married to Joan Lee for almost 70 years, until her death. The couple had two children. Joan died on July 6, 2017. Stan died on November 12, 2018, in LA.- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left the household when Pierce was a child and although reunited later in life, the two have never had a close relationship. His most popular role is that of British secret agent James Bond. The death, in 1991, of Cassandra Harris, his wife of eleven years, left him with three children - Christopher and Charlotte from Cassandra's first marriage and Sean from their marriage. Since her death, he has had two children with his second wife, Keely Shaye Brosnan.
Brosnan is most famous for starring in the TV series Remington Steele (1982) as the title character, as well as portraying famous movie character James Bond in GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller ... and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which co-starred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Before he got to Hollywood, he put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves (1987) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on Saturday Night Live (1975). This led to his spending a year on the show in 1989.
Stiller made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, The Ben Stiller Show (1992). He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.
For a while, Stiller had to settle for guest appearance work. While doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not. In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Stiller into the mainstream spotlight. He also starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Joe Mantegna is an American actor who has made over 200 film and TV appearances. He is also a producer, writer, and director, and is probably best known for his role as Joey Zasa in the Francis Ford Coppola epic The Godfather Part III (1990), in which he stars alongside Al Pacino and Andy Garcia.
Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Mary Anne (Novelli), a shipping clerk, and Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Sr., an insurance salesman. He is of Italian descent. Having obtained a degree in acting from the Goodman School of Drama and taken to the stage early on in life, it is no surprise that Joe has maintained a strong relationship with the playwright -turned- screenwriter-director David Mamet. They have collaborated on several projects. He also stars as SSA David Rossi on the long running TV drama Criminal Minds. (2005-)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jane grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her mother, Evelyn, was a school teacher. Her father, Edward, is a former Defense Department employee. She is the oldest of four children. Her brothers, Jim & Bill, are a teacher and an entrepreneur respectively. Her sister, Mary, works for an Internet company. Jane was a theater major at the University of Wisconsin. While there, she became buddies with Tony Shalhoub, who encouraged her to shoot for stardom. She followed Tony in enrolling at Yale University & performed in the Yale Repertory Company. She had several film and theatrical successes, including good notices for her replacement of Mercedes Ruehl in Neil Simon's Broadway play, "Lost In Yonkers". Jane's roommate at Yale was Kate Burton, Richard Burton's daughter. Kate arranged a blind date between Jane and Bradley Whitford. In 1992, after two years of dating, the two married. They have three children: Frances (b. 1997), Edward (b. 1999) and Mary (b. 2002).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jonathan Michael Lovitz is a American comedian and actor from Tarzana who is known for voicing Jay Sherman from The Critic and for being a Saturday Night Live cast member in the 1990s. He acted in a lot of Adam Sandler films such as The Wedding Singer, Little Nicky, Hotel Transylvania, Grown Ups 2 and Eight Crazy Nights.- Producer
- Actress
- Executive
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Betty Witherspoon, a registered nurse & John Draper Witherspoon, a military surgeon. Reese spent the first 4 years of her life in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, where her father served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves. Shortly after, the family moved back to the USA & settled in Nashville, Tennessee.
Reese was introduced to the entertainment industry at a very early age. At age 7, she began modeling. This led to appearances on several local television commercials. At age 11, she placed first in a Ten-State Talent Fair.
In 1990, she landed her first major acting role in Robert Mulligan's The Man in the Moon (1991). Her role as a 14-year old tomboy earned her rave reviews. Roles in bigger films such as Jack the Bear (1993) and A Far Off Place (1993) followed shortly after.
Following high school graduation in 1994 from Harpeth Hall, a Nashville all girls school, Reese decided to put her acting career on hold and attend Stanford University where she would major in English literature. However, her collegiate plans were shortly dashed when she accepted roles to star in two major motion pictures: Fear (1996), alongside Mark Wahlberg, and Freeway (1996) with Kiefer Sutherland. Although neither film was a huge box-office success, they did help to establish Reese as a rising starlet in Hollywood and open the door for bigger and better film roles. Those bigger roles came in movies such as Pleasantville (1998), Election (1999) and Cruel Intentions (1999).
Her breakthrough role came as Elle Woods in the 2001 comedy, Legally Blonde (2001). The movie was huge box-office smash and established Reese as one of the top female draws in Hollywood. The next year, she scored a follow-up hit with Sweet Home Alabama (2002), which went on to gross over $100 million dollars at the box office. In 2006, she took home the best actress Oscar for her role as June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line (2005). On the late 2000s and early 2010s, Reese continued to star in more romantic comedies, such as Four Christmases (2008) and How Do You Know (2010). In December 2010, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the year 2014, she produced both Gone Girl (2014) and Wild (2014), for which she got nominated for best actress Oscar again for her role as Cheryl Strayed.- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
James Lipton was an actor, academic, author, choreographer, interviewer, scriptwriter, and producer for stage and television projects. He was known for creating and hosting the noted and popular TV series Inside the Actors Studio (1994), where successful and prominent actors discussed their craft for the benefit of acting students.
James Lipton was born Louis James Lipton in Detroit, Michigan, to Betty (Weinberg), a teacher and librarian, and Lawrence Lipton (originally Israel Lipschitz), a writer and beatnik poet. His father was a Polish Jewish emigrant, from Lodz, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. Lipton's parents divorced when he was quite young. As a reaction against his beatnik father's anarchic and chaotic lifestyle, Lipton at first chose to pursue a stable and staid career as a lawyer. He originally took up acting as a sideline to finance his law studies but eventually he shifted the focus of his career to acting.
Lipton moved to New York City and undertook twelve years of intensive studies in the performing arts. He studied acting and directing under Stella Adler, widely regarded as the most respected acting teacher in the history of American dramatic arts. Adler's other students at various times have included Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. Lipton also studied with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis. He studied movie/TV production and directing at New York University and at The New School. He also studied voice, modern dance, classical ballet, and jazz technique.
Lipton performed in the play "The Autumn Garden" on Broadway in 1951. He became active in several TV soap operas, joining the cast of Guiding Light (1952) where he acted and wrote scripts for several years and later became head writer, all while undertaking his formal acting studies. He was a scriptwriter for The Edge of Night (1956) and he became head writer for Another World (1964), The Best of Everything (1970), Return to Peyton Place (1972) and Capitol (1982).
Lipton wrote the book and the lyrics for the Broadway flop "Nowhere to Go But Up" (1962), and he did the same for "Sherry!" which was produced on stage in 1967 and released as an audio CD in 2004. Also for Broadway, he produced "The Mighty Gents" (1978), "Monteith & Rand" (1979) and co-produced the Tony award-winning "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1978). He choreographed "Charlot" for ballet theater, and for Moliere's play "The Doctor In Spite of Himself" he translated from the original French, adapted it as a musical version, wrote the lyrics, directed and choreographed.
A lover of words, Lipton has made a study of group terms, sometimes called nouns of multitude (examples: a gaggle of geese, a host of angels, etc.). He has published the definitive work on the subject in a best-selling book titled "An Exaltation of Larks". It has been in print continuously since its first edition in 1968. The latest edition, now expanded, contains over 1,100 such phrases. In the book Lipton himself jumps into the lexical fray by offering many new terms of his own invention, including: a score of bachelors, an unction of undertakers, a shrivel of critics, and a queue of actors. Other writings of his have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine and The Paris Review.
In 1983 Lipton published his novel "Mirrors" which is about the lives of dancers. He later wrote and produced it as a TV movie. In television, Lipton has produced some two dozen specials including: twelve Bob Hope Birthday Specials; Bob Hope on the Road to China (1979) , an NBC entertainment special produced in China; and the first time ever televised presidential inaugural gala, for Jimmy Carter.
In the mid-1990s Lipton sought to create a three year educational program for actors that would be a distillation of what he had learned in the twelve years of his own intensive studies. In 1994 he arranged for the Actors Studio -- the home base of "method acting" in the USA for some sixty years now -- to join with New York City's New School University, to form the Actors Studio Drama School, a formal degree-granting program at the graduate level.
At the same time, Lipton created a sub-project within the drama school: a non-credit class called Inside the Actors Studio (1994) where successful and accomplished actors, directors and writers would be interviewed and would answer questions from acting students. These sessions were also taped and broadcast on television for the general public to see. Lipton himself hosts the show and conducts the main interview.
The TV show Inside the Actors Studio (1994) has become a substantial success. In the more than 12 years that it has been on the air, the craft of acting has been discussed by the show's over 200 guests who have included Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Kate Winslet, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Charlize Theron, Robin Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman. The show is viewed in 80 million homes in the USA on the Bravo cable channel and is seen in 125 countries. It has been nominated for 12 Emmy awards. The Actors Studio Drama School performed very well also. During Lipton's term as dean, the school became the largest graduate-level drama school in the United States.
Important changes began in 2004 for both the TV show and the drama school. The New School underwent a major reorganization and seriously cut back its support for drama education. The Actors Studio's collaboration with the New School came to an end and a new drama school as well as a new venue for the TV show were both set up at Pace University, also in New York City.
Lipton's TV show made him so famous that he was frequently parodied on Saturday Night Live (1975) by comic Will Ferrell. Lipton continued to host and produce Inside the Actors Studio (1994), and served as a vice president of the Actors Studio. He held the lifelong title of Dean Emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama Program. In 2007, he wrote a book about the TV show and his life, which was titled "Inside Inside."
The last episode of Inside he hosted aired on January 11, 2018, with Ted Danson as guest. The show began rotating hosts in its 2019 season. James Lipton died on March 2, 2020, in Manhattan. He was survived by wife Kedaki Turner.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Humanitarian and actor Richard Gere was born on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, the second of five children of Doris Anna (Tiffany), a homemaker, and Homer George Gere, an insurance salesman, both Mayflower descendants. Richard started early as a musician, playing a number of instruments in high school and writing music for high school productions. He graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967, and won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he majored in philosophy. He left college after two years to pursue acting, landing a lead role in the London production of the rock musical "Grease" in 1973. The following year he would be in other plays, such as "Taming of the Shrew." Onscreen, he had a few roles, and gained recognition in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). Offscreen, he spent 1978 meeting Tibetans when he traveled to Nepal, where he spoke to many monks and lamas. Returning to the US, on Broadway he portrayed a concentration-camp prisoner in "Bent," for which he received the 1980 Theatre World Award. Back in Hollywood, he played the title role in American Gigolo (1980), establishing himself as a major star; this status was reaffirmed by An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). In the early 1980s, Richard went to Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador (amidst ongoing wars and political violence); he traveled with a doctor and visited refugee camps. It is said that Richard was romantically linked with Tuesday Weld, Priscilla Presley, Barbra Streisand and Kim Basinger. In 1990 Richard teamed up with Julia Roberts to star in the blockbuster Pretty Woman (1990); his cool reserve was the perfect complement to Julia's bubbling enthusiasm. The film captured the nation's heart, and won the People's Choice award for Best Movie. Fans clamored for years for a sequel, or at least another pairing of Julia and Richard. They got that with Runaway Bride (1999), which was a runaway success (Richard got $12 million, Julia made $17 million, the box office was $152 million, which shows what happens when you give the public what it wants!). Offscreen, Richard and Cindy Crawford got married December 12, 1991 (they were divorced in 1995). Afterwards, Richard started dating actress Carey Lowell. They had a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, on February 6, 2000. Richard was picked by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in 1991, and as their Sexiest Man Alive in 1999. He is an accomplished pianist and music writer. Above all, Richard is a humanitarian. He's a founding member of "Tibet House," a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. He has been an active supporter of "Survival International" for several years, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples, affirming their right to decide their own future and helping them protect their lives, lands and human rights (these tribes are global, including the natives of the Amazon, the Maasai of East Africa, the Wichi of Argentina, and others). In 1994 Richard went to London to open Harrods' sale, donating his £50,000 appearance fee to Survival. He has been prominent in their charity advertising campaigns.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, that was formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. R.E.M. disbanded in September 2011.