Dharma on TV's Dharma and Greg

A California babe, Jenna Elfman starred in the sitcom Dharma and Greg (1997-2002). She also starred in the short-lived 2006 sitcom series Courting Alex. Her films include Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), EDtv (1999) and Town and Country (2001). Elfman executive-produced and starred in the independent film Touched in 2005, then made a development deal with CBS in 2006. She starred briefly in the TV series Courting Alex - a dozen episodes in 2006.

Her character's full name in Dharma and Greg was Dharma Freedom Finkelstein-Montgomery. With her blonde, lanky good looks and a quirky comedic talent, Jenna Elfman possesses many abilities, one of which is that of making the transition from television to film. With the popularity of her ABC sitcom, Dharma and Greg, and a growing screen career, Elfman has become one of the few actresses to successfully straddle the great divide between large screen and small.

Born Jennifer Mary Butula on September 30, 1971, in Los Angeles, Elfman initially trained as a classical ballerina. However, a foray into acting brought with it new opportunities and Elfman found work in various television shows before being cast in a bit role in Grosse Point Blank in 1997. The same year, she won the role of Dharma in Dharma and Greg and was soon being touted as one of the most exciting new actors on television. Such acclaim led to a large role in the 1998 Richard Dreyfuss vehicle Krippendorff's Tribe and an uncredited appearance in the same year's Can't Hardly Wait. 1999 brought with it Elfman's lead role in Ron Howard's EdTV, a film that fared respectably with both critics and audiences alike. In her role as Ed's girlfriend Shari, Elfman displayed more of the comic finesse and unconventional charm that had endeared her to her television audience. Those qualities were again on display in Keeping the Faith (2000), a romantic comedy that cast the actress as the love interest of both a priest, Edward Norton and a rabbi, Ben Stiller.

Dharma and Greg | TV on DVD

If Elfman's last name sounds familiar, it's probably because she is related to Danny Elfman, composer of soundtracks ranging from The Simpsons to Good Will Hunting. The composer is uncle to Bodhi Elfman, whom Jenna Elfman married in 1995.

Sources:
Internet Movie Data Base
Wikipedia

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Patrick Swayze: 1952 - 2009

Actor Patrick Swayze was best known for his romantic roles in the surprise movie hits Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990). Trained as a ballet dancer, Swayze got his start in acting on the New York stage, and his success in the Broadway production of Grease led to a career in Hollywood. His performance as the eldest "greaser" in the Francis Ford Coppola film The Outsiders proved his talent and marketability as leading man. After action films such as Uncommon Valor and Red Dawn, Swayze got back to dancing in the box office smash Dirty Dancing. The role made him a famous beefcake, his place as a romantic hunk was cemented with the even bigger hit Ghost. Then came the 1990s, the ridiculous and yet beloved Point Break, his sister's death, troubles with alcohol and forgettable movies. Swayze bounced back in the 2000s, in a key role in the Jake Gyllenhaal film Donnie Darko (2001). His other films include Road House, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and Green Dragon. He began starring as a rogue FBI agent in the TV series The Beast in 2008, but he was soon incapacitated by pancreatic cancer and died in September of 2009.

The National Enquirer reported in March of 2008 that Swayze was ill with pancreatic cancer and had five weeks to live. Swayze announced that he did have pancreatic cancer but had been given no such timeline. He went on to begin filming episodes of his TV series The Beast while undergoing treatment.

Patrick Swayze passed away last September 14, 2009 at home with his family. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and his condition took a turn for the worse earlier this year. He was 57 years old. Swayze is survived by his wife, who he's been with since he was 18 years old, Lisa Niemi. Patrick has a very special place in our hearts for many of his movies like Ghost and Point Break to name a couple, but perhaps most of all for Dirty Dancing. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, and he will be missed.

Sources:
Yahoo News
Wikipedia

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Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane

Teri Hatcher jumped into acting after a brief stint as a cheerleader for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. After several small roles, she was cast in 1993 for the television episodes Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The show was a hit, and Hatcher's success on TV was matched by her success on the Internet: in the early days of the World Wide Web, Hatcher was unofficially "the most downloaded woman in the world." After Lois & Clark, Hatcher moved into feature films, including the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, with Pierce Brosnan as Bond and Spy Kids (2001). In 2004 she landed a role on another hit series, the jokey, soapy television show drama Desperate Housewives, playing as her show bio put it, "a single mom searching for love amid the sometimes sordid, always intriguing goings-on of her suburban neighborhood."

Hatcher's TV debut was as a “Love Boat Mermaid” on the TV series The Love Boat. She is also known for her long-running series of Radio Shack TV commercials with former NFL star Howie Long. Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria co-star with Hatcher many on Desperate Housewives.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

One of the most beloved characters in comic book history, Superman was created in 1938 by artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel. Superman came to Earth as a baby from the planet Krypton; on Earth he had super strength, X-ray vision and could fly. His only weakness was the substance Kryptonite, which rendered him powerless. He kept his identity secret, posing as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and changing into his Superman costume with the distinctive "S" on the chest whenever he set out to do good deeds. Other key characters included his love interest Lois Lane, his news editor Perry White, and the villainous Lex Luthor. Superman was played in the movies most famously by actor Christopher Reeve, and in the popular 1950's television series The Adventures of Superman he was played by George Reeves. His popularity was renewed by the 1990s TV series Lois and Clark, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher.

Traditionally Superman is "more powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/

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