PIERCE BROSNAN
(Remington
Steele in "Remington
Steele")
There is a moment
in a few careers
when popularity becomes a tidal wave and sweeps a performer on to
pre-eminence
in romantic appeal. That moment arrived for Pierce Brosnan, a dashing,
charming and talented Irishman, about midway though the first season of
NBC's "Remington Steele" series. Suddenly the public and media both
caught
on to the fact that Brosnan combined the dynamics of humor, almost
shameless
good looks, comedy timing and charm in a way no one had done since Cary
Grant. The show abruptly shot out of obscurity and into the ranks of
the
ratings' leaders.
And Brosnan shot
into demand for
major magazine covers and into the lead in such significant categories
of overwhelming popularity as fan mail and readers' demands for stories
on him. By the start of the second season, when TV Guide featured him
in
a cover story on TV's most enchanting hunks, readers complained that
Brosnan
deserved better than to be lumped with TV's previous reigning
superstars
as a "hunk". Yes, here was a man who could do it with his shirt
on.
The top poster companies vied for the profitable honor of covering the
nation's walls with him in the guise in which the populace had fallen
for
him... fully and elegantly attired. A photo of him in impeccable dinner
jacket could be the poster shot of the century, the experts figured.
Pierce Brosnan, now
identified as
the next sensation to follow Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Burt
Reynolds
from television stardom to international theatrical feature stardom had
paid his dues in learning his acting craft well before the tidal wave
hit.
He was well prepared, not only in appearance, but in talent.
Brosnan's
credits include "Nomads", an Elliot Kasther Production co-starring
Leslie
Anne Down, MGM's "Taffin", "The Deceivers" the India localed film from
the production team of Merchant. Ivory ("Room With A View") directed by
Nicolas Meyer, Frederic Forsythe's "The Fourth Protocol" with Michael
Caine
and "Around the World in Eighty Days". Brosnan was born in County
Meath,
Ireland, where he lived until the age of 11 when his family moved to
London.
It was there that he grew into his craft, studying acting at the Drama
Center for three years after some preliminary workshops in experimental
theater. It was not the fulfillment of a childhood dream. He was
introduced
to the workshops by a fellow employee at the studio where he worked as
an illustrator.
After school he
went straight into
a job as an acting assistant stage manager (ASF) at the York Theater
Royal,
and it was six months later that the eminent Tennessee Williams
selected
Pierce to create the role of McCabe in the British premiere of "Red
Devil
Battery Sign". Brosnan starred in other prestigious London stage
productions
such as Zeffirelli's "Filuemna" (for a year and a half) and "Wait Until
Dark" at the York. After a number of
plays, he was offered
his first
television role in a docu-drama called "Murphy's Stroke," based on a
true
event about the contemporary Irish racehorse.
After MTM's
considerable search.
Pierce captured the role of Remington Steele, a private investigator
who
is sophisticated, charming and frequently inept, always wittier than
wise
in the ways of detecting. Both Remington Steele and Pierce Brosnan take
the most unconventional and totally winning roads to success.
Pierce Brosnan is a
romantic at heart.
His character evolved from a gigolo to something much closer to the
actual
Brosnan persona... a warm, caring, self-deriding and very funny young
man.
As Remington
Steele, the bogus private
eye, he is teamed with Laura Holt, played by Stephanie
Zimbalist.
The series gives him an opportunity to play both the serious side and
the
comic side of the Steele character, a fact which has given theatrical
film
producers the chance to see his potential in almost every kind of role.
Pierce Brosnan is a
dedicated family
man who derives and values great stability from wife, children and
home.
Pierce is married to actress Cassandra Harris, a noted stage and screen
performer. They are the parents of three children. They
maintain
homes in the Hollywood Hills and in Wimbledon, England.
For exercise.
Pierce swims regularly
and, for relaxation, enjoys snooker, the English version of billiards,
and the continuing practice of his talents as a painter.
Even though he has
definitely and
resoundingly conquered America, Pierce has achieved the further and
rarer
distinction of being honored in his own land. One of his most proud
moments
came when the staid and
hand-to-impress Times
of London
heralded the arrival of "Remington Steele" to BBC Television with a
rave
review for him, ending with "Brosnan is divine." Who says you can't go
home again?
STEPHANIE ZIMBALIST
(Laura Holt In
"Remington Steele")
Born in New York
City and raised
in California, Stephanie Zimbalist spent much of her youth pursuing
riding,
tennis, golf, swimming, diving, etc. She says that she never thought of
herself as coming from a 'show business' family.
Stephanie's
thespian bent was actually
sparked not in Los Angeles, but at Brown Ledge Camp in Vermont, where
she
went on to become junior counselor in the theatre department. Among her
favorite memories ore
the six summers she
spent there.
In her senior year
of high school
at Foxcroft in Middleburg, Virginia. Stephanie decided to turn her last
semester into en independent; project by returning to Los Angeles to
study
acting at the Strasberg Institute and with Peggy Feury, as well as
studying
dance at Dance Center West. After attending the drama division of
Juilliard
in New York, Stephanie joined the musical theatre program of Canada's
Banff
School of Fine Arts. She then returned to Los Angeles and studied voice
for three years with Natolie Bodanya in Santa Barbara.
Since 1976,
Stephanie has been featured
in twelve television movies, including the Emmy Award winning "The
Gathering".
"Forever", and two NBC mini-series. "Centennial" and "The Golden
Moment".
She appeared in
"Elvis and the Beauty
Queen" and
"Tomorrow's Child" and has mode guest appearances on five series,
including
"Family" and The Love Boat."
Stephanie made her
theatrical debut
in the Los Angeles premiere of... "Festival" with Greg Harrison and
later
appeared in the stage production of "The Tempest" with Anthony Hopkins,
followed by "American Mosiac" in 1982 at the Aquarius Theatre in Los
Angeles
and "The Cherry Orchard" in New Haven, Connecticut in 1983. She made
her
film debut in "The Magic of Lassie" with James Stewart and starred in
"The
Awakening" with Charlton Heston.
Still active in
many sports, Stephanie
also likes to spend as much time as possible with her family. She is
single
and makes her home in North Hollywood, California.
DORIS ROBERTS
(Mildred Krebs
in "Remington Steele")
Doris Roberts, the
versatile and
distinguished actress, was born on November 4th in St. Louis, Missouri,
and raised in New York City. After attending New York University, she
studied
with Sanford Meisner at the
Neighborhood
Playhouse; she is also
a life member of the famed Actors Studio.
After making her
Broadway debut in
the revival of William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life", Doris
appeared
in many other Broadway shows, including, "The Desk Set", Edward Albee's
double bill of "The American Dream" and "Death of Bessie Smith",Jerome
Robbins' "The Office". Neil Simon's "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers"
and
Paul Zindell's 'The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wilde." She won an Outer
Critics Circle Award for her performance in Terrence McNally's "Bad
Habits."
On television,
Doris starred regularly
in the 'Angie' series, end has appeared in such television movies as
"Ruby
and Oswald", "The Storyteller". "It Happened One Christmas", "Jennifer:
A Woman's Story" and "The Diary
of Anne Frank." She
also had recurring
roles as the outrageous evangelist Doreida Doremus on "Mary Hartman,
Mary
Hartman" and as Flo Flotsky on "Soap." She has also appeared on
"Barney
Miller" and as Alice's mother
on "Alice".
Ms. Roberts won an
Emmy for Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the "Cora
and
Arnie" episode of "St. Elsewhere". For her role of Mildred Krebs in
Remington
Steele, she was
nominated for another
Emmy in 1984-85.
Motion picture credits include, "The Rose", "Such Good Friends",
"Hester
Street,' The Heartbreak Kid,' "A Lovely Way To Die", "The Sin", "Rabbit
Test", "Pelham 1-2-3", "Uttle Murders" and "A New Leaf".
Doris, the widow of
noted novelist
William Goyen, has a son, Michael. She makes her home in Los Angeles
and
New York.
JACK SCALIA
(Tony Roselli in
"Remington Steele")
Brooklyn-born Jack
Scalia, whose
diverse career epitomizes the handsome actor's versatility, continues
his
sizzling celluloid streak by joining the cast of CBS's top rated
"Dallas"
as a new regular - the smooth,
sophisticated and
debonair "Nicholas
Pierce". In addition to this highly coveted role, Scalia most recently
starred in the extremely successful eight-hour mini-series for CBS-TV -
"I'll Take Manhattan" in which he portrayed Rocco Cipriani, the
charismatic
art director who married Valerie Bertinelli, based on the Judith Krantz
novel. Scalia also starred as Tony Roselli in NBC's "Remington Steele"
playing opposite Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist for six
episodes
of the '86-87 season. These roles give, and have given, Scalia the
action
stretch of dazzling dramatics and frothy humor - a combination that
Scalia
handles effortlessly. No stranger to television audiences in recent
years
- Scalia has been seen in a trio of television series, from "The Devlin
Connection" with the late Rock Hudson to "Berrengers' to "Hollywood
Beat"
- to a very 'special' special entitled 'The Winning Spirit' a story of
his life done for CBN - Jack is hotter than ever as he looks forward to
his role in "Dallas' playing opposite Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, etc.
The former Montreal
Expos baseball
pitcher turned international model turned actor, Scalia's past credits
mirror his continuous popularity in the ever-changing world of
entertainment.
The movie-of-the-week, "Club Med", was a ratings winner as was "The
Other
Lover", co-starring Lyndsay Wagner. Additionally, Jack starred in the
well
received "Fear City" feature film which co-starred Tom Berrenger and
Billy
Dee Williams.
Scalia's early life
in Brooklyn revolved
around sports, which eventually led, him into professional baseball as
one of the most promising young players on the Montreal Expos. Scalia
was
their number one draft choice in the
nation, having set an
NAIA record
for the most strike-outs in a game as an Ottawa University (Kansas)
freshman:
21 in a seven-inning game. While in high school in Brentwood, Long
Island,
Jack was All-American in
basketball and
All-League in baseball
and football. Ultimately, Scalia was the winner of sixty full-athletic
scholarships during his scholastic years. In 1974, after leaving
baseball due to an unfortunate arm injury, he began working as a
laborer
on a construction site in Sacramento, California. Unhappy with his
meager
salary of $2.10 an hour Scalia took the sage advice of an associate and
began contemplating a career in modeling.
He left for San
Francisco, having
decided to try a career before the cameras, and was promptly signed by
the Grimme Agency.
Following a hectic
eight-month modeling
trip to London and Milan, he returned to America where he joined the
prestigious
Ford Modeling Agency in New York. As quickly as the cameras snapped,
Scalia
became one of the world's most sought after models and a second career
was born.
In 1980 Jack -
anxious to try new
avenues of expression - moved into acting and studied diligently with
Robert
Modica before being discovered by Joel Thurm, NBC's Vice President of
New
Talent. Scalia immediately
segued into the aptly
titled "The
Starmaker", an NBC mini-series starring Suzanne Plesherte and Rock
Hudson.
Scalia received fine notices as Pleshette's young lover and later
signed
a development deal with the
network which led to
"The Devlin
Connection". The NBC series starring Rock Hudson and Scalia as
his
street-wise private eye son, led to other projects including his own
television
series "High Performance" for ABC and the glamorous NBC series
"Berrengers".
ABC's "Hollywood Beat" followed, further broadening Scalia's range and
versatility as one of America's most talented actors.
In 1986, Scalia
returned to the sporting
world by competing in his eighth Triathlon which occurred during the
Statue
of Liberty festivities. The grueling event - 'Liberty to Liberty'
because
the race stretched from New
York's Statue of
Liberty to Philadelphia's
Liberty Bell - comprised a 1.5-mile swim across the Hudson River, a
100-mile
bicycle race to Philadelphia, and a 10 mile run to the Liberty Bell.
Scalia's
sport-oriented past was utilized to its fullest; he placed an
impressive
98 out of 480 professional triathletes and 125th out of 1400 overall
entrants.
Today, Scalia is
busier than ever
with the success of 'I'll Take Manhattan" and "Remington Steele" and
now
"Dallas", and he greets his future with the optimism of the
well-seasoned
veteran. For Scalia knows - as do the
multitude of fans -
that for this
multi-faceted actor the best is yet to come.
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