John Guilbert Avildsen was an American film director. He is best known for directing Rocky (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. He is also renowned for directing the first three films in The Karate Kid franchise (1984–1989). Other films he directed include Joe (1970), Save the Tiger (1973), The Formula (1980), Neighbors (1981), Lean on Me (1989), Rocky V (1990), 8 Seconds (1994), and Inferno (1999).
Serpico is a 1973 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino in the title role. The screenplay was adapted by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler from the book of the same name written by Peter Maas with the assistance of its subject, Frank Serpico. The story details Serpico's struggle with corruption within the New York City Police Department during his eleven years of service, and his work as a whistleblower that led to the investigation by the Knapp Commission.
Emanuel Hirsch Cohen, better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor.
Francesco Vincent Serpico is an American retired New York Police Department detective, best known for whistleblowing on police corruption. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a plainclothes police officer working in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan to expose vice racketeering. In 1967, he reported credible evidence of widespread police corruption, to no effect. In 1970, he contributed to a front-page story in The New York Times on widespread corruption in the NYPD, which drew national attention to the problem. Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed a five-member panel to investigate accusations of police corruption, which became the Knapp Commission.
Family is an American television drama series that aired on ABC from March 9, 1976 to June 25, 1980. It was conceived as a six-episode limited series, but initial high ratings led to the production of 86 weekly episodes. Creative control of the show was split among executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling and Mike Nichols.
Meredith Ann Baxter is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972–1973), ABC drama series Family (1976–1980) and the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, one of her nominations was for playing the title role in the 1992 TV film A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story.
Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including small but important supporting roles such as Earl Frank in Straight Time (1978), the Madman in The Jerk (1979), Captain Bryant in Blade Runner (1982), Harv in Critters (1986), and Walt Scheel in Christmas with the Kranks (2004). He starred as private detective Loren Visser in Blood Simple (1984), the Coen Brothers' first film for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
Dudley Sutton was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series Lovejoy.
Tom Atkins is an American actor. He is known for his work in the horror and thriller film genres, having worked with writers and directors such as Shane Black, William Peter Blatty, John Carpenter, Fred Dekker, Richard Donner, Stephen King, and George A. Romero. He is also a familiar face to mainstream viewers, often playing police officers and tough authority figures and is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Alex Diel in The Rockford Files (1974–1977).
This Is Tom Jones is an ATV variety series starring Tom Jones. The series was exported to the United States by ITC Entertainment and was networked there by ABC.
Harry O, sometimes spelled Harry-O, is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was executive producer. Harry O followed the broadcast of two pilot films: firstly Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On and secondly Smile Jenny, You're Dead, both starring Janssen.
David Edwin Birney was an American actor and director whose career included performances in both contemporary and classical roles in theatre, film, and television. He is noted for having played the title role in the television series Serpico. He also starred in Bridget Loves Bernie, an early 1970s TV series about an interfaith marriage that also starred Meredith Baxter. He also portrayed Dr. Ben Samuels in St. Elsewhere from 1982 until 1983.
Tom Sullivan is an American singer, actor, writer, and motivational speaker. Blind since infancy, he has been a public advocate for assistive services for the blind, and research into treatments for blindness.
The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, president of the Greater Michigan Foundation Donald Weeks, general manager of the Detroit Lions W. Nicholas Kerbawy and George Alderton of the Lansing State Journal. The inaugural class was inducted in 1955. Scott Lesher is its current chairman and Jordan Field the president.
Soundstage is an American live concert television series produced by WTTW Chicago and HD Ready. The original series aired for 13 seasons between 1974 and 1985; a new series of seasons began in 2003, with the latest starting in April 2018, each presented in high-definition with surround sound. Some performances have been made available on DVD. The performances are taped on stage at the WTTW television studio in Chicago, as well as large venues throughout the United States.
Jack Kehoe was an American film actor appearing in a wide variety of films, including the crime dramas Serpico (1973), The Sting (1973), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) and Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987), as well as the cult favorites Car Wash (1976) and Midnight Run (1988), the popular western Young Guns II (1990), and On the Nickel (1980).
Julian Schlossberg is an American motion pictures, theatre and television producer. He has been a college lecturer and television host regarding films, as well.
Nero Wolfe is a 1979 American made-for-television film adaptation of the 1965 Nero Wolfe novel The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout. Thayer David stars as Nero Wolfe, gourmet, connoisseur and detective genius. Tom Mason costars as Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's assistant. Written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy, the made-for-TV movie was produced by Paramount Television as a pilot for an ABC television series, but the movie was shelved by the network for more than two years before finally being broadcast December 19, 1979.
The Feather & Father Gang is a 1976–1977 American crime-drama television series starring Stefanie Powers and Harold Gould, which centers on an attorney who enlists her con-man father and his team of bunco artists to help her solve crimes. The show aired on ABC from December 6, 1976 until July 30, 1977.
Little Ladies of the Night is a 1977 American made-for-television drama film starring David Soul, Louis Gossett Jr. and Linda Purl. When it was broadcast, it became the highest-rated TV movie of all time.
