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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