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Nick Nolte was born in the Midwest, finding his place in high school and college as a star football player. After being kicked out of his last college because of poor grades, he decided to try his hand at acting and one of film’s most successful performers was born.

Nolte moved to Los Angeles and began studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Stella Adler Institute. He then proceeded to start working in guest star roles on television. His big break came when he was cast in one of the lead roles in the miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man.” The series received a huge 23 Emmy nominations and 11 of its actors were nominated in various categories, including Nolte.

That success launched Nolte into a movie career, with his first film being “The Deep,” which was a high profile expected hit since it was based on a novel by Peter Benchley,...

Few Westerns are more deserving of the "classic" moniker than 1969's "True Grit," one of John Wayne's best films and a model for the genre that continues to be influential today. That's in part because the film was thrown back into the public consciousness in 2010 when Joel and Ethan Coen remade "True Grit" with Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon. However, the original still stands on its own and remains notable for giving Wayne his only Oscar win.

Both the original and the 2010 film are adaptations of a 1968 novel by Charles Portis, but given how old the 1969 version is, you might not be surprised to hear that most of its stars have passed away in the decades since. Wayne died in 1979, and Glen Campbell passed away in 2017. Dennis Hopper and Jeremy Slate, who play two of the main villains in the film, have also passed away.

Two years before Sylvester Stallone walloped Hollywood with the sleeper smash "Rocky" (despite the film's studio not wanting him to star in it), the struggling actor co-starred in the ensemble coming-of-age comedy "The Lords of Flatbush." The film is about four best friends who revel in their greaser personae, gleefully getting into all kinds of trouble as they confront their looming passage into adulthood. It's no "American Graffiti," but it does give the viewer a gritty sense of what it must've been like to live by one's wits and fists on the not-always-hospitable streets of Brooklyn in the late 1950s.

50 years later, Stallone is the biggest name in the cast, but at the time of the film's release in 1974, he was overshadowed by newcomer Henry Winkler, who'd just made a splashy television debut as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the ABC sitcom "Happy Days." Other notable names in the ensemble are...

When the 2023 Primetime Emmy nominations were revealed, Ali Wong and Pedro Pascal both had the honor of being included in multiple performance lineups. She made history as the first newcomer to the acting categories recognized for both live action (“Beef”) and voice (“Tuca & Bertie”) work, while he became the first actor nominated for three programs on his initial Emmy outing. These achievements made them the newest members of a group of 26 people who earned their first two (or three) acting Emmy nominations in a single year.

Wong’s eventual Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress win for “Beef” made her the seventh person in this bunch to succeed on one of her bids. The first was Robert Cummings, who received 1955’s Best Single Performance by an Actor prize for “Twelve Angry Men” and simultaneously lost for his regular lead turn on “My Hero.”

The first five champs who followed Cummings were Jack Albertson,...

Martin Starger, the first president of ABC Entertainment who went on to produce such films as “Sophie’s Choice” and Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” has died. He was 92.

Starger died of natural causes Saturday in his Los Angeles home, his niece, casting director Ilene Starger, announced.

Starger was born May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, N.Y. He attended the City College of New York, where he received a degree in motion picture techniques. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953 and was assigned to the Signal Corps Motion Picture Location. He served as a motion picture photographer at the U.S. Army’s film production studio. He was sent to U.S. Army Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, and worked there in all phases of motion picture production. He wrote, directed, photographed and edited documentary and feature films for television, the Department of Defense and newsreels.

After his service, Starger spent several...

Cinephiles romanticize the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and most of the 1970s as a time of artistic rebellion during which a batch of young directors and experienced helmers saved Hollywood by connecting with Baby Boomer moviegoers bored with formula Westerns, backlot musicals, and all the other fusty stuff their parents dragged them to throughout their childhood. These artists toyed with genre conventions and film technique to reignite a jaded generation's excitement for the medium at a time when television was becoming an increasingly appealing entertainment option.

It was an incredibly exciting time for movies, but audiences of all ages still had an appetite for good ol' cinematic spectacle. They might've tired of sword-and-sandal epics and widescreen adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, but there was nothing wrong with studios spending loads of money to fill the big screen with eye-popping imagery.

And for most of the 1970s,...

At every Primetime Emmys ceremony from 2013-2023, there was at least one case of cast mates competing directly against each other for the Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor award. Over just that time period, the category’s list of costar battles grew by more than 40% and presently includes 52 different instances dating all the way back to 1974. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to find out more about the many cases of dual, triple, or quadruple nominations for featured men from non-continuing programs.

Of the 111 individuals who have been involved in these costar clashes, an even dozen have made the list twice each. The first to achieve that distinction was back-to-back contender Robert Reed, who was followed during the 20th century by Anthony Quayle, David Warner, and Hume Cronyn. Since 2000, the subgroup has grown to include John Malkovich, Christopher Plummer, James Cromwell, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Finn Wittrock, Michael K. Williams,...

At every Primetime Emmys ceremony from 2013-2023, there was at least one case of cast mates competing directly against each other for the Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor award. Over just that time period, the category’s list of costar battles grew by more than 40% and presently includes 52 different instances dating all the way back to 1974. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to find out more about the many cases of dual, triple, or quadruple nominations for featured men from non-continuing programs.

Of the 111 individuals who have been involved in these costar clashes, an even dozen have made the list twice each. The first to achieve that distinction was back-to-back contender Robert Reed, who was followed during the 20th century by Anthony Quayle, David Warner, and Hume Cronyn. Since 2000, the subgroup has grown to include John Malkovich, Christopher Plummer, James Cromwell, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Finn Wittrock, Michael K. Williams,...

Considering each of the hundreds of times costars have competed directly against one another at the Primetime Emmys, the very first case involved two men – Lloyd Nolan and Barry Sullivan – who both played lead roles in what would presently be considered a TV movie: the 1956 “Ford Star Jubilee” presentation of “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Over the subsequent seven decades, 20 more pairs and a single quartet of lead male limited series or telefilm cast mates have battled it out, resulting in nine wins. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about every costar clash in the Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor category.

The most recent entrants on this roster are fellow “Hamilton” (2021) actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., who had previously received opposing Tony nominations for the same production in 2016. Whereas every other TV movie/limited series category’s corresponding list includes repeat appearances from at least four individuals,...

Considering each of the hundreds of times costars have competed directly against one another at the Primetime Emmys, the very first case involved two men – Lloyd Nolan and Barry Sullivan – who both played lead roles in what would presently be considered a TV movie: the 1956 “Ford Star Jubilee” presentation of “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Over the subsequent seven decades, 20 more pairs and a single quartet of lead male limited series or telefilm cast mates have battled it out, resulting in nine wins. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about every costar clash in the Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor category.

The most recent entrants on this roster are fellow “Hamilton” (2021) actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., who had previously received opposing Tony nominations for the same production in 2016. Whereas every other TV movie/limited series category’s corresponding list includes repeat appearances from at least four individuals,...

Since 1980, Ed Asner has held the record for most Primetime Emmy wins by a male actor, having triumphed three times for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” twice for “Lou Grant,” and once each for “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots.” With 10 additional bids to his name, he also ranks as one of the most-nominated performers in Emmy history, having earned recognition in seven different categories. Throughout the later part of his career, he frequently played roles on Christmas-themed TV programs, including half a dozen appearances as Santa Claus.

Three decades after his “Roots” victory, Asner received a second Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor nomination for “The Christmas Card,” in which he plays the father of a woman who falls in love with a soldier who received the titular card from her while in Afghanistan. At 77, he was the eighth oldest nominee in the category’s history, and now ranks two spots lower.

Since 1980, Ed Asner has held the record for most Primetime Emmy wins by a male actor, having triumphed three times for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” twice for “Lou Grant,” and once each for “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots.” With 10 additional bids to his name, he also ranks as one of the most-nominated performers in Emmy history, having earned recognition in seven different categories. Throughout the later part of his career, he frequently played roles on Christmas-themed TV programs, including half a dozen appearances as Santa Claus.

Three decades after his “Roots” victory, Asner received a second Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor nomination for “The Christmas Card,” in which he plays the father of a woman who falls in love with a soldier who received the titular card from her while in Afghanistan. At 77, he was the eighth oldest nominee in the category’s history, and now ranks two spots lower.

A version of this story about Emmy voting first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

For the most part, voting for showbiz nominations is pretty simple. If you’re voting in a category in which there will be five nominations, you typically have five slots to fill on your ballot; if there are 10, you have 10 slots. But the Emmys haven’t worked that way since 2017, when the Television Academy added a simple sentence with complicated reverberations: “Vote for all entries in this category that you have seen and feel are worthy of a nomination.”

That means that if a member of the Television Academy’s acting peer group is casting a ballot in, say, the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, they could vote for as many of the 434 eligible actors as they wanted, scrolling through all 55 pages of the...

In the lead-up to this year’s Emmy nominations, most pundits expected the HBO anthology series “The White Lotus” to pick up multiple acting bids, but almost none were bold enough to predict its eventual haul of eight. Nearly every member of the first season’s ensemble cast has a shot at the gold, with Murray Bartlett, Jake Lacy, and Steve Zahn competing in the Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor category and Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell, and Sydney Sweeney taking up all but two spots in the corresponding female lineup.

Although 15 other limited programs have amassed at least three featured male notices apiece, “The White Lotus” is the first to net more than three supporting actress bids. Furthermore, it stands as one of only three live action shows of any genre to receive five same-year nominations in a single primetime acting category. This is...

Click here to read the full article.

When the nominees for the Emmy Awards are announced July 12, don’t be surprised if the acting categories are dominated by performers from a handful of shows — likely Succession, Ted Lasso, Saturday Night Live, The White Lotus, Stranger Things, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Euphoria, Yellowjackets, Squid Game and Dopesick.

Yes, this is the era of “Peak TV,” with more quality shows up for Emmy recognition than ever, but Television Academy members in recent years have spread their acting nominations among roughly the same number of shows as they did decades ago, when there were only a handful of networks airing Emmy-eligible content.

In that bygone era, the miniseries Rich Man Poor Man in 1976 and Roots in 1977 each landed 13 acting noms, which remains the record for that program format (some of the acting categories in which they were nominated have been discontinued). Meanwhile, the...

Throughout 2021, we have been updating our “In Memoriam” photo gallery (view above). Scroll through to remember 33 entertainers from film, television, theater and music. Many were winners at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and/or Tonys. Here is a closer look at just a few of those we celebrate in our gallery:

Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim died on November 26 at age 91. He was a seven-time Tony Award winner for “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods” and “Passion.” He received a lifetime achievement Tony in 2008. He was an Oscar winner for “Dick Tracy” and a seven-time Grammy winner. Other well-known shows were “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Pacific Overtures,” Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Assassins” plus “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” as a lyricist. He was also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors.

Gavan O’Herlihy, best known for playing Richie and Joanie Cunningham’s disappearing brother Chuck on “Happy Days,” has died. He was 70.

O’Herlihy died in Bath, England on Sept. 15, his brother, Cormac O’Herlihy, confirmed to Variety. A cause of death was not disclosed, but his brother confirmed that it was not Covid-19.

After making an appearance on an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973, O’Herlihy broke out on “Happy Days” as Chuck, the eldest Cunningham sibling. Chuck was a high school jock and was almost always seen carrying a basketball. He was played by three different actors — Ric Carrott in the show’s pilot, O’Herlihy for the first two seasons and Randolph Roberts for two episodes in Season 2 — giving way to the pejorative “Chuck Cunningham syndrome” to describe TV characters who disappeared from shows and were later written off as if they never existed.

After “Happy Days,...

Our special In Memoriam photo gallery honoring the greats that have gone in 2021 has added another celebrated name. Five-time Emmy nominee Michael K. Williams, who is favored to win at the Emmy Awards later this month for “Lovecraft Country,” has died at age 54. You can also watch his recent acceptance speech when he won the 2021 Gold Derby TV Award.

Tour our gallery above featuring 26 celebrities from the entertainment worlds of music, film, television and Broadway. Here is a brief glance at some of those people being featured.

Michael Kenneth Williams died at age 54 on September 6. He was a four-time acting nominee at the Emmys for “Bessie,” “The Night Of,” “When They See Us” and “Lovecraft Country,” plus a producing nominee for “Vice.” He was well known for his TV role in “The Wire” and had film success in “Inherent Vice,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Road.

Half a decade has passed since Lin-Manuel Miranda finished his Broadway run as the star of “Hamilton,” but the adulation for his work just keeps coming. The Tony-winning smash, which Miranda also wrote, experienced a surge in popularity after a filmed version featuring the entire original cast premiered on Disney+ last July. Miranda and six of his castmates have been recognized for their acting, which makes most of them part of an exclusive group of performers who have earned Tony and Emmy bids for the same role.

Just as they did at the 2016 Tonys, leading men Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. face each other directly in this year’s Best Movie/Limited Actor Emmy race. Nominated for their supporting turns are Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, and Phillipa Soo. Ramos is the only one to have not originally competed at the Tonys, as that slot was instead filled by Christopher Jackson.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Ed Asner, the seven-time Emmy winner who specialized in playing gruff-but-likable characters, has died at age 91. Asner, a Missouri native, served in the military in the 1950s before pursuing acting as a career. He broke into the profession in the late 1950s and appeared in scores of major television programs, generally cast in dramatic roles. He made his big screen debut in an uncredited role in the 1962 Elvis Presley movie "Kid Galahad" starring Elvis Presley. He went on to play a detective in "The Slender Thread" (1966), a nemesis of John Wayne in Howard Hawks' "El Dorado" (1966) and Robert Vaughn's shady C.I.A. boss in "The Venetian Affair" (1966). Asner's distinctive style led him to work almost non-stop between the feature film and television mediums. In 1970, his career skyrocketed when he was cast as Lou Grant, the grumpy boss of Mary Tyler Moore in her iconic TV sitcom.

Chicago – Meeting Ed Asner is like meeting the grumpy uncle that you still love, because you know despite his curmudgeon nature, his has passion, spunk and delivers all of it in many ways. He was Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show most famously in the 1970s, but his other acting pursuits were just as significant.

Edward Asner was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He began his acting career in the Army, touring in plays while in the Signal Corp. He attended the University of Chicago, and joined an early version of The Second City troupe, the Playwrights Theatre Company of Chicago (Asner is considered a Second City alumni). He was a consummate character actor in the 1960s, appearing in such diverse series as “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Route 66,” “The Untouchables,” “The Outer Limits,” “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and “Mission: Impossible.”

Ed Asner in Chicago, circa...

Ed Asner, an Emmy-winning character actor who broke out in the 1970s as a newsman in the CBS hits “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant,” has died at age 91.

His passing was announced by his family on the actor’s official Twitter account: “We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you.”

During the course of his decades-long career, the Kansas City native won five Golden Globe Awards and seven Emmys — all but two of them for playing the gruff, no-nonsense journalist Lou Grant, first in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then in the dramatic spinoff “Lou Grant.”

In addition to his work on those shows, he won Emmys for playing the patriarch of a German American family in the 1976 miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man...

Ed Asner, who cornered the market on gruff guys with hearts of gold on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Lou Grant,” and the Disney/Pixar animated feature “Up,” has died at the age of 91. He passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, as a representative confirmed to IndieWire.

“He was a brilliant actor. Amazing activist, a true friend, and great man,” said Asner’s manager Perry Zimel.

Asner had a long and prolific career in film and television, boasting the distinction of being the most honored male performer in Primetime Emmys history. He was nominated 17 times throughout his career, winning seven trophies in total. He was also nominated 11 times for Golden Globes, winning five.

Edward Asner was born in Kansas City, Missouri on November 15, 1929. He attended the University of Chicago after high school and worked the assembly line at General Motors for a time before serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Another longtime Emmy record could fall this year. Well, it could be tied anyway. John Lithgow is nominated for Best Drama Supporting Actor for his turn as Elias Birchard “E.B.” Jonathan on HBO’s 1930s-set remake of “Perry Mason.” Should he walk away a winner come Sept. 19, he’ll tie the great Ed Asner as the most awarded male performer ever with a total of seven Emmys.

Lithgow is just one of two actors from the drama series to have been nominated for an Emmy. The other is also a former winner: Matthew Rhys, who portrays the eponymous defense attorney and is nominated in Best Drama Actor. On the show, which received fairly positive reviews when it debuted but only nabbed four total Emmy bids, Lithgow’s Jonathan is an aging lawyer who acts as a father figure and mentor to Mason.

Skilled at both comedy and drama, Lithgow...

Emmy-nominated film and TV editor Richard Bracken has died. He was 90.

Bracken died Thursday of kidney failure in Chatsworth, California, according to his daughter Kathleen Bracken.

Over the course of his 30 year career, Bracken served as editor for a roster of television classics, including “Columbo,” “The Bold Ones” and “Ironside.” He spent a particularly fruitful number of years working for Oscar-nominated producer Ross Hunter, editing films “The Thrill of It All” and “Madame X,” miniseries “The Moneychangers” and NBC drama “A Family Upside Down,” which starred Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes.

Much of Bracken’s career was dedicated to television, having also worked on NBC drama “Run for Your Life,” ABC American Western series “Alias Smith and Jones” and TV movie “The Jesse Owens Story.” His work was recognized with four Emmy nominations, including for the 1976 TV miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” and the Anjelica Huston-starring miniseries “Buffalo Girls...

Ben Whishaw claimed Best TV Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes in 2019 for “A Very English Scandal.” Could he win that prize again for his role in season four of “Fargo”? It’s actually pretty rare for actors to win this category twice. In fact, only five have ever done so before.

The biggest winner in the history of this category is Ed Asner with three. He won twice for playing the iconic Lou Grant in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and once more for “Rich Man, Poor Man” (1977).

SEEFunnyman Chris Rock on cusp of Golden Globes nomination thanks to tragic role on ‘Fargo’

Four other actors have won the award twice: James Brolin, Edward James Olmos (“Miami Vice” in 1986 and “The Burning Season” in 1995), Donald Sutherland (“Citizen X” in 1996 and “Path to War” in 2003) and Vic Tayback (“Alice” in 1980 and 1981).

It’s hard to repeat at the Globes under any circumstances,...

At the 2015 Emmys, host Andy Samberg joked that he always knew Uzo Aduba would be the new Ed Asner. His theory was confirmed later that evening when she joined him as the only two actors to win Emmys in comedy and drama for the same role. And now she’s continuing to follow in not only his footsteps but that of his “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-star Cloris Leachman as well, becoming the third performer to win Emmys for acting in comedy, drama and limited series/TV movie.

Last week, Aduba nabbed the Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actress statuette for her performance as Shirley Chisholm in the FX miniseries “Mrs. America.” She took home her first Emmy in Best Comedy Guest Actress for her turn as Crazy Eyes on “Orange Is the New Black” in 2014. The following year, after the Netflix series was moved to drama, she won for the...

Ed Asner, Elliott Gould and Jonathan Taylor Thomas are seeking SAG-AFTRA national board seats as members of presidential candidate Matthew Modine’s progressive Membership First slate.

Asner is the former president of the Screen Actors Guild, serving two terms from 1981 to 1985, and winning five Emmys for his role as Lou Grant and two others for his work on “Rich Man, Poor Man” and “Roots.” Gould is a former board member who was nominated for an Oscar for “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice” and is best known for his work on Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” and “The Long Goodbye.” Taylor Thomas is known for his roles on “Home Improvement” and voicing young Simba in 1994’s “The Lion King.”

Current board members Frances Fisher, Diane Ladd and Patricia Richardson are seeking re-election as Membership First reps. Jennifer Beals, Neve Campbell and Rob Schneider are also part of the slate,...

Fifty years ago, 1,500 individuals from 53 countries attended the fifth edition of MipTV at Cannes. It’s a small fraction of the estimated 10,500 expected this year, but organizers in 1969 were ecstatic at the turnout. They were also ecstatic to welcome celebs such as Harold Robbins, plugging “The Survivors,” starring Lana Turner.

On April 30, 1969, Variety reported that the hour-long drama was budgeted at “a new all-time high of $300,000 per episode.” Robbins was hot stuff in the 1960s as he virtually invented sex-and-wealth blockbuster novels with “The Carpetbaggers” and “Where Love Has Gone.” In addition to his Mip-promoted “Survivors,” various companies were planning adaptations of four Robbins works, including big-screen projects “The Adventurers,” “The Inheritors” and “Stiletto,” plus the TV-targeted “79 Park Avenue.” That quartet represented a total investment of $36 million.

“I am the only writer able to make three major companies go broke in one year,” he joked at Cannes.

“The Survivors,” which also starred George Hamilton,...

Nick Nolte will celebrate his 78th birthday on February 8, 2019. Born in the Midwest, the actor found his place in high school and college as a star football player. After being kicked out of his last college because of poor grades, he decided to try his hand at acting and one of film’s most successful performers was born.

Nolte moved to Los Angeles and began studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Stella Adler Institute. He then proceeded to start working in guest star roles on television. His big break came when he was cast in one of the lead roles in the miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man.” The series received a huge 23 Emmy nominations and 11 of its actors were nominated in various categories, including Nolte.

SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

That success launched Nolte into a movie career, with his first film being “The Deep,...

For the first time since 1976, the Golden Globe Awards did not nominate any past nominees for Best Drama Series. The nominees are four new dramas and one returning drama that the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. had not previously acknowledged in the top category (“The Americans”).

Incumbent nominees “The Crown,” “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things” were ineligible because they did not air in 2018; fellow incumbent “The Handmaid’s Tale” was relegated to nominations for its actresses and the other incumbent “This is Us” was shut out for the first time.

Eligible past winners “The Affair,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Mr. Robot” were also snubbed as were eligible past nominees “Empire” and “House of Cards.” “Outlander” and “Westworld” were the only past Best Drama Series nominees other than “The Handmaid’s Tale” to factor into the nominations; they also received recognition only for their actresses.

SEEour editors react to the Golden Globe television nominations.