KEVIN KLINEA two-time Tony Award-winner and recipient of the Academy Award for his work in the hit comedy "A Fish Called Wanda," KEVIN KLINE's (Dave Kovic/President Bill Mitchell) diverse talents have brought him recognition as a star on stage and in motion pictures. From his many acclaimed stage performances in such dramas as "Hamlet" to his work in such highly praised films as "Sophie's Choice" and "Cry Freedom" and his multidimensional portrayals of contemporary men in "The Big Chill" and "Grand Canyon," Kline has built a worldwide following.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Kline was accepted to the prestigious Indiana University School of Music to study piano, composing and conducting. He took an acting course, got a part in a production of "Macbeth," and two years later, transferred to the theater department. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Drama.
At Juilliard, Kline studied under John Houseman and became a founding member of Houseman's The Acting Company, with whom he toured for the next four years.
Soon after Kline left The Acting Company, he made his Broadway debut in Hal Prince's 1978 musical "On the Twentieth Century," receiving his first Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance.
He next appeared in Michael Weller's drama "Loose Ends," directed by Alan Schneider. First performed at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., the production then moved to the Circle in the Square on Broadway.
In the summer of 1980, Kline was the Pirate King in Joseph Papp's original Central Park production of "The Pirates of Penzance," with Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith and George Rose. Kline's imaginative performance won an Obie Award, and when Papp transferred it to Broadway, the actor received his second Tony Award and another Drama Desk Award, both for Best Actor in a Musical.
He made his motion picture debut starring opposite Meryl Streep in Alan J. Pakula's "Sophie's Choice," a performance which earned him nominations for both the British Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award. This was followed by his first collaboration with Kasdan, "The Big Chill."
Returning to the stage, Kline played the title roles in "Richard III" and "Henry V" for Papp's Shakespeare Festival and starred in "Arms and the Man" on Broadway. He won a second Obie Award for sustained achievement for his performance in the title role of "Hamlet" in Papp's Shakespeare Festival at the Public Theater.
In 1985 Kline starred in Kasdan's Western, "Silverado," opposite Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn and Danny Glover, followed by "Violets are Blue" with Sissy Spacek. In 1987 he portrayed Donald Woods in "Cry Freedom" for director Sir Richard Attenborough.
During the same week in July 1988, Kline opened in Central Park as Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing" and on screen in "A Fish Called Wanda." The film, in which he starred with John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis, grossed over $180 million at the box office and earned Kline the 1988 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a lunatic hit man.
His next film was "The January Man," followed in 1990 by Kasdan's "I Love You to Death." Kline has recently starred in the films "Soapdish," "Grand Canyon" and "Consenting Adults," and played a cameo role in Sir Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin."
In 1989 he received the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theater from the Shakespeare Theater at the Folger in Washington, D.C. in recognition of his contribution to classical theater.
In the spring of 1992, Kline directed and played the title role in "Hamlet" at New York's Public Theater. The production received five Drama Desk nominations, including two for Kline as director and lead actor. Subsequently, he co-directed a taped version of this production for the PBS series "Great Performances."
In March, 1993, Kline was named Artistic Associate for the New York Shakespeare Festival, where he will be collaborating with the Festival's director, George C. Wolfe.
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SIGOURNEY WEAVER (Ellen Mitchell) has had major roles in several blockbuster pictures, including Ivan Reitman's "Ghostbusters" I and II and the "Alien" trilogy.
Born and educated in New York City, Weaver graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Stanford University and went on to receive a Master's degree from the Yale School of Drama. Her first professional job was as an understudy in Sir John Gielgud's production of "The Constant Wife," starring Ingrid Bergman, which toured before being presented on Broadway.
She made her first stage appearance in an Off-Off Broadway production of Christopher Durang's "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe," following it with another Off-Broadway double bill, "Titanic" and "Das Lusitania Songspiel," the latter of which she co-authored with Durang. "Das Lusitania" won Drama Desk nominations for both Weaver and Durang.
Weaver subsequently appeared in more Off-Broadway productions in New York, working with such writers as John Guare, Albert Innaurato, Richard Nelson, Len Jenkin and Christopher Durang. In regional repertory, she performed in plays written by Pinter, Williams, Feydeau and Shakespeare. She also appeared in the PBS series "The Best of Families."
Following her 1979 film debut in "Alien," Weaver turned in distinguished performances in such films as "Eyewitness," "The Year of Living Dangerously," "Half Moon Street," "Ghostbusters" and the French film "One Woman or Two."
Weaver received a Tony Award nomination for her starring role in "Hurlyburly" on Broadway. After completing her role in "Aliens," for which she received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination, she collaborated for the first time with her husband, theater director Jim Simpson, playing Portia in the Classic Stage Company of New York's production of "The Merchant of Venice."
This was followed by her starring roles in three hit movies: "Gorillas in the Mist," in which she portrayed primatologist Dian Fosse; the Mike Nichols comedy "Working Girl"; and "Ghostbusters II." Weaver received her second and third Academy Award nominations for "Gorillas in the Mist" and "Working Girl," and received Golden Globe Awards for her performances in each of these films.
Weaver co-produced and starred in "Alien 3" and most recently appeared as Queen Isabella in Ridley Scott's "1492."
Through her production company, Goat Cay, Weaver is developing several films, including "Then She Found Me" by Alice Arlen, a
comedy about adoption; "Black Lizard," a thriller by Yukio Mishima; and "Dear Rosie," by June Roberts.
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FRANK LANGELLA (Bob Alexander) has achieved wide recognition for his performances on both stage and screen. His recent film work includes Ridley Scott's "1492" and "Body of Evidence."
The recipient of the Best Actor Award from the National Society of Film Critics for his role in "Diary of a Mad Housewife," Langella also starred in John Badham's "Dracula,""Those Lips, Those Eyes," "The Deadly Trap," "The Wrath of God," "Sphinx" and Mel Brooks' "The Twelve Chairs," among other films.
Langella has received numerous theater awards, including the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for his Best Supporting Actor performance in "Seascape." Other award-winning performances include his work in "Dracula," which earned him a Tony Award nomination and the DramaLogue Award for Best Actor, "Cry of Players," "Good Day," "The White Devil" and "Benito Cereno - The Old Glory."
Langella has also starred in Broadway's "Hurlyburly" for director Mike Nichols, "Design for Living," as Salieri in "Amadeus," in "Sherlock's Last Case," in Off-Broadway's "After the Fall" and in "The Prince of Homborg," as well as in an extensive list of regional theater productions.
The actor studied at the Lincoln Center Repertory Company with Elia Kazan and is a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee for Best Actor.
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KEVIN DUNN (Alan Reed) adds "Dave" to a growing list of film credits which includes Ridley Scott's "1492," Sir Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin," "Hot Shots," "Only The Lonely," "Bonfire of the Vanities," "Blue Steel," "Ghostbusters II" and "Mississippi Burning.
A native of Chicago, Dunn received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, after which he became involved in regional theater with such groups as Northlight Theater, Body Politic, the Goodman Theater and the Williamstown Theater Festival.
Dunn's television credits include appearances on such series as "The Jerry Seinfeld Show" and "Roseanne," and in the mini-series "Blind Faith."
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VING RHAMES (Duane), a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama, has recently appeared in such films as "Homicide," "Blood In ... Blood Out," "The Long Walk Home," "Jacob's Ladder," "Flight of the Intruder," "Casualties of War" and "Patty Hearst."
Rhames' television credits include the PBS American Playhouse production of "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and the TNT miniseries "The Iran Project." He was a series regular on ABC's "Men" and the soap opera "Another World." Other television appearances include "Miami Vice," "Spenser For Hire," "Tour of Duty" and "Crime Story."
Rhames appeared on Broadway in "The Boys of Winter," and Off-Broadway in "Map of the World," "Short Eyes," "Richard III" and "Ascension Day." He also toured Europe with Peter Sellar's production of "Ajax." He will soon be seen in the Warner Bros. film "The Saint of Fort Washington."
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BEN KINGSLEY (Vice President Nance) made an auspicious film debut when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Gandhi." Since then, he has appeared in such films as "Sneakers," "Bugsy," for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination, "Without a Clue," "Pascall's Island," "Testimony," "The Train," "Turtle Diary" and "Betrayal."
Kingsley's theatrical credits are equally impressive, including performances in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Measure for Measure," "The Tempest," "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "Hamlet," "The Country Wife," "The Cherry Orchard," "Julius Caesar," "Nicholas Nickleby" and "Othello."
Kingsley starred as Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in the HBO production of "Murders Among Us." He also participated with Julie Andrews and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra in a special recording of the popular musical "The King and I," which was released in late 1992.
Kingsley also starred in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," filmed on location in Poland.
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CHARLES GRODIN (Murray), an accomplished actor/writer/director/producer, made his screen debut as Mia Farrow's doctor in the occult classic "Rosemary's Baby," followed by the role of Aardvark in Mike Nichols' "Catch-22." His most recent film work includes starring roles in "Heart and Soul," "Clifford" "Beethoven" and "Beethoven's 2nd."
Grodin became a favorite of filmgoers for his performances in such films as "The Heartbreak Kid, " "Ten Harrowhouse," "Thieves," "King Kong," "Real Life," "Heaven Can Wait," "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," "Seems Like Old Times," "It's My Turn," "The Great Muppet Caper," "The Woman in Red," "The Lonely Guy," "Ishtar," "The Couch Trip," "Midnight Run" and "Movers and Shakers," adapted from his original screenplay.
Among his television credits are the ACE Award-nominated cable productions of "Grown Ups" and "Charley's Aunt." He wrote and starred in the television special "Love, Sex and Marriage..." with Marlo Thomas; directed the Emmy-winning special "Acts of Love and Other Comedies"; produced and directed the Emmy-nominated special "Paradise"; wrote and directed "The Simon and Garfunkle Special"; and received an Emmy Award for his writing on "The Paul Simon Special."
Grodin's theatrical credits include "Same Time Next Year," "Tchin, Tchin," and "Absence of A Cello." He also starred in the autobiographical one man show "An Evening with Charles Grodin" and "Hooray! It's A Glorious Day...And All That."
