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1-6 of 6
- Actress
- Director
As she inherited her love for the arts by her father, well-known playwright, actor, director and novelist Mario Peña, it is not hard to understand that actress Elizabeth Pena already had designs to become an actress by the time she was eight years old.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on September 23, 1959, the petite (5' 2") actress was raised in New York City. Elizabeth's (and sister Tania's) parents, Cuban immigrants Mario and Estella Margarita Peña, would achieve a strong Latino reputation as the founders of the off-Broadway Latin-American Theatre Ensemble. They also encouraged Elizabeth's talent. In 1975, the young teenager became a founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors, and two years later graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts, now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts.
Elizabeth found occasional work in repertory theater and in television commercials. Making her film debut in the independent Spanish-speaking feature El Super (1979), about Cuban refugees, she continued with playing a long line of independent and rebellious characters, which showed plenty of attitude and independence. Playing offbeat roles -- from a knife-threatening waitress to a disco queen -- she appeared in such early films as They All Laughed (1981) and Crossover Dreams (1985). Elizabeth's big break came in the form a support role in the hugely popular and entertaining comedy Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), co-starring Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss and Nick Nolte, in which she stole several scenes as the sultry, smoky-voiced, politically-minded maid Carmen.
Two consecutive short-lived television series came about around this time. Her first, the ensemble comedy Tough Cookies (1986), had her playing a police officer, and the second was the title housekeeper role in the sitcom I Married Dora (1987). High in demand now, Elizabeth continued to spice up both the big and small screen in such roles as Ritchie Valens' stepsister-in-law in the well-received biopic La Bamba (1987); a drug enforcement agent in the miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990); PTSD-suffering Tim Robbins' live-in girlfriend in the complex drama Jacob's Ladder (1990); and a dedicated legal secretary on the corporate drama series Shannon's Deal (1990) starring Jamey Sheridan.
Honors also came Elizabeth's way when she received the Independent Spirit and Bravo awards for the film Lone Star (1996), and four ALMA Awards for her performances in the television movie Contagious (1997), the films Tortilla Soup (2001) and Rush Hour (1998), and her regular role on the Latino drama series Resurrection Blvd. (2000).
Into the millennium, Elizabeth found steady employment on television with guest roles on Boston Public (2000), CSI: Miami (2002), Without a Trace (2002), Numb3rs (2005), Ghost Whisperer (2005), Charlie's Angels (2011), Prime Suspect (2011), Common Law (2012), and Modern Family (2009). One of her last roles was on the television series Matador (2014). She also found herself further down the credits in films such as On the Borderline (2001), Transamerica (2005), The Lost City (2005), Mother and Child (2009), The Perfect Family (2011), Plush (2013), and Grandma (2015). Three other films -- Girl on the Edge (2015), Ana Maria in Novela Land (2015), and The Song of Sway Lake (2018) -- were released posthumously. She also provided a voice in the popular Disney/Pixar animated film The Incredibles (2004).
A chronic alcohol problem severely hampered Elizabeth's life and she died suddenly from cirrhosis of the liver in Los Angeles, California on October 14, 2014, at age 55. She was survived by her second husband (from 1994), Hans Rolla, and their two children, son Kælan and daughter Fiona.- Susan Jackson (formerly Rosenberg) has worked in feature film distribution for over twenty years, holding executive positions in sales, acquisitions and marketing at The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Vestron, Goodtimes, BMG/Bertelsmann, Sony and the BBC. Jackson's last corporate job before launching her own company was heading up BMG Independents in New York, an all rights distributor of independent film created to provide theatrically released feature films to BMG's North American DVD division. There, Jackson acquired and distributed theatrical, DVD, TV and international rights to multiple films.
In 1999 Jackson started indie sales company Turtles Crossing, LLC selling hundreds of films to studios, TV and independent distributors in the USA.
In 2002 Jackson Executive Produced the hit indie film "Cabin Fever". Jackson came on at script stage, brought in investors and sold the film to Lions Gate at the Toronto Film Festival. Produced for $1.4m "Cabin Fever" is considered one of the most profitable and successful indie features worldwide of the last decade. Jackson has gone on to Exec Produce many more indie films, which have had successful distribution.
In 2004 Jackson founded Freestyle Releasing with business partner Mark Borde. Some of Freestyle's most successful releases include " The illusionist" ($40m box), "The Haunting of Molly Hartley" ($14m box), "Dragon Wars" (11m box) , "An American Haunting" ($17m box), "Bottle Shock" ($5m box), "The Collector" $8m box) and "My One and Only" $3m to date (still in theaters).
Freestyle has remained in the top 15 US theatrical distributors, based on box office, for the last 4 years. Started initially as a rent a system for producers looking to get their films released in theaters, Freestyle offered the original "do it your self" distribution.
In addition to studio level theatrical distribution Jackson's sales company Turtles Crossing, LLC handles Freestyle's ancillary distribution and offers DVD distribution through various studio partners including a put deals with Fox for DVD/VOD, Showtime for PAY TV and Alliance in Canada.
Born in the UK, Jackson lives in Malibu, California and is an avid skier, tennis player and surfer. Jackson is married to British Production Designer Ben Morahan who designs commercials for major advertisers, television and film. - Milton Ralph Bass was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1923. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he received his Masters Degree in Englsh from Smith College. He served as a US Army medic during World War II, and after the war he became a columnist and entertainment editor for The Berkshire Eagle newspaper in his hometown of Pittsfield. He wrote several mystery and western novels, one of which, "Jory", was turned into a film (Jory (1973)).
- Henk Uterwijk was born on 24 August 1938 in Muiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He was an actor, known for De kleine zielen (1969), Rubia's Jungle (1970) and Tatort (1970). He died on 14 October 2014 in Oudehorne, Netherlands.
- Mary Downer was born on 13 December 1924 in Parkside, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. She was married to Alick Downer. She died on 14 October 2014 in London, England, UK.
- Editor
- Producer
- Director
Andrew Leckonby was an editor and producer, known for The Bad Samaritan Must Die! (2012), Air (2007) and Fractured Boy (2012). Andrew died on 14 October 2014 in the UK.