glimmerrat
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Iconoclast
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« on: May 30, 2012, 06:58:16 AM » |
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So I’m a big fan of Aliens; the movie that is, not the franchise as a whole. Recently I got curious as to where certain members of the cast were, so I did a little digging and found out the following. Thought some of you lot might be interested.
Almost the entire cast is American (with the odd Canadian), but nearly all of them live and work in the UK; little wonder they were chosen then, as Aliens was shot in the UK with a British crew. Additionally, for nearly all of them Aliens was their very first film.
Apone (Al Matthews, 69) Served 6 years in the Marines; first black man to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant in ‘Nam; awarded 13 combat awards including 2 purple hearts; has worked extensively in the UK, including a stint as a presenter on BBC Radio 1 and Capital Radio; he’s also a singer, and was in Grange Hill for a while
Crowe (Tip Tipping, died aged 35) Served in the Royal Marines and the SAS; went on to work as a stuntman; died in ’93 in a parachuting accident.
Drake (Mark Rolston, 55) Went on to be a B-character in a slew of 80s/90s action movies; did the voice of John Lee in Star Fleet (the western version of X-Bomber); has since been in dozens of TV shows; you can see him opposite Jackie Chan in Rush Hour
Dietrich (Cynthia Dale Scott, age unknown) After Aliens she moved back to the US, but offered roles dried up pretty quickly and her last acting job was in ’91; she’s worked in theatre and dance, she’s been in a band, and she’s a sculptor too; she currently works in radio
Ferro (Colette Hiller, age unknown) Moved to the UK and started running a stage school; she’s been involved with the 2012 Olympics, and has written a number of documentaries for the BBC
Frost (Ricco Ross, 52) Went on to be a B-character in a handful of films; has also done a lot of commercials in the US
Gorman (William Hope, 58) Has worked as a B-character with nearly every major Hollywood director; does lots of the character voices for Thomas the Tank Engine!
Spunkmeyer (Daniel Kash, 53) Starred in a lot of TV movies before going on to have success in the theatre; now he directs short movies
Vasquez (Jeanette Goldstein, 52) Supporting roles in Titanic, Lethal Weapon 2 and Star Trek Generations; look out for her as John Connor’s step mom in T2; she owns and runs a specialist large-size bra shop
Wierzbowski (Trevor Steedman, age unknown) Went on to work extensively as a stuntman; he runs his own stable of stunt performers, and specializes in car stunts
Newt (Carrie Henn, 36) Was never in anything before or after Aliens (not even a school play); went on to have a normal life – she’s a married 30-something with a kid of her own, and is a schoolteacher; she still corresponds with Sigourney Weaver by letter on a regular basis
And of course, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser and Sigourney Weaver all have relatively well-documented careers, so no point in talking about them.
Anyway, there you go. I thought it made for interesting reading.
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