The Saint of Sunset Strip

Tommy was born in Athens, Greece, in 1962 to David Lee Thomas Bass and Vassiliki Papadimitriou. The son of a soldier and a Miss Greece contestant, Tommy’s path to music was set at an early age. After moving to California, he got his first drum as a gift at the age of four. After years of practice, he would get a full drum kit as a teenager. He was influenced by his sibling, Athena Lee, the drummer of James Kottak’s band “Krunk.”

His teenage years were spent listening to Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC and Cheap Trick.

His first exposure to the public came when he joined a marching band at his high school, but his first time performing in a venue came in the late 1970s. His band was Suite 19, and they played across the Sunset Strip. It was at one of these small venues that he met Nikki Sixx, his future bandmate. Impressed by Lee, Sixx recruited him into his heavy metal band. With their group assembled, the band known as Mötley Crüe was born.

Music to Crash Your Car to

The reaction to Mötley Crüe’s debut was as immediate as it was loud, with a strong core group of fans right out the gate. Their first album Too Fast for Love was released independently in 1981. They were signed with Elektra Records soon after, and re-issued their debut one year later. Over the course of the next decade, the band rocked their way through a strong line-up of hits. Shout at the Devil (1983), Theatre of Pain (1985), Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) and Dr. Feelgood (1989) established the band’s image as one of the greatest metal bands of that era.

Of his drum solos, Lee was notorious for utilizing gimmicks. Of these gimmicks, most notable were times where he spun his drum kit on a Lazy Susan, and when he flew the entire kit over the crowds. His behavior at shows was also equally outrageous. Somewhere out in the world, thousands of pictures of him mooning the audience are circulating the internet. Off stage, the band was known for their drug usage. Drugs like cocaine and heroin, in addition to alcohol, were all freely used. No exceptions.

Of course it wasn’t all sunshine and roses in the world of heavy metal. Increasing tensions with Neil resulted in Tommy’s departure from the band. This was not a permanent departure however, as Lee returned for the band’s Greatest Hits tour in 1999.

After leaving Mötley Crüe, Lee would go on to further distance himself from the band that made him famous. Though he took part in Mötley Crüe’s autobiography The Dirt (2001), the intervening years saw a string of successes. He frequently appeared on albums by a wide variety of artists. After departing Methods of Mayhem, he recorded with Incubus, and soon after released his solo album Never a Dull Moment (2002). In 2006, he founded another band, Rock Star Supernova, with his friends Jason Newsted and Gilby Clark (of Metallica and Guns N’ Roses fame). 2005 saw the release of another solo album as well as Lee’s autobiography, Tommyland. Finally, Tommy appeared as guest DJ on Independence Day in New York City.

As of November 2007, Mötley Crüe lost Tommy Lee as a member. Lee’s departure came following a legal dispute between his manager and the band. Carl Stubner had been forcing Tommy into scheduling conflicts that interfered with the band’s tour in 2006. This was already following a separate departure from earlier that year. These claims remain refuted however. According to band mate Vince Neil, Tommy had parted from the band on good terms, and that they would continue to record new studio albums that January. Despite the controversy that came from this departure, Lee recorded a new album. He even toured with Mötley Crüe periodically until their final tour, The Final Tour.

What’s Tommy Lee Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

Since departing from Mötley Crüe, Tommy’s artistic endeavors have broadened. Of note was his foray into electronic music. He toured as an electric DJ with Chester Deitz. Electro Mayhem (as they called themselves) turned in 60 club appearances across North America just during 2007. Their debut as DJ’s was at the Ultra Music Festival in 2004.

Since their debut, Tommy and Deitz (otherwise known as Aero) have made a name for themselves on the global DJ scene as America’s biggest EDM band. Their electronic music has memorized audiences for over a decade, and continues to do so to this day.

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I am of course talking about The Cat in the Hat.

He Walked on the Sun

Like all great men before him, Mike Myers was Canadian. He was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada on May 25, 1963, to British parents. The seeds for his comedy genius were planted at an early age by his father, Eric, who proved to be a massive influence on Myers. The encyclopedia salesman would make young Mike and his brothers stay up late to watch shows like Benny Hill and Monty Python. This laid a comedic foundation for Mike, one that would follow him through to the height of his power.

His career began during his childhood. At two years old, Myers appeared in commercials for British Columbia Hydro, a Canadian power company, alongside his mother. Much later, at the age of twelve, he appeared on the television sitcom King of Kensington as Ari. Following the completion of High School, he joined the Toronto division of Second City, a famous Chicago-based comedy group.

The years spent with Second City gave Myers much-needed experience that allowed him to perfect his craft. This position was only temporary, of course. During the 80s he struck out on his own making performances in London. He soon found himself back in Toronto however after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It was after his return that two important things happened to Myers. One, he met Robin Ruzan, whom he would later marry. The other most important thing was his discovery and induction into Saturday Night Live.

The Star that Broke the Mold

The year was 1989 when Myers made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live. After winning over creator Lorne Michaels, he became a featured part of the cast and worked with some of the best talent that SNL had to offer—including Dana Carvey. While Myers made a number of characters household names, none were more popular than Wayne Campbell. With his partner Garth (played by Carvey), Wayne’s World became one of the most popular sketches in the show’s history. Other characters, like German TV personality Dieter and Linda Richman (based on Myer’s mother-in-law) further cemented his career as an SNL legend. Myers (possibly due to influence from Carvey, known for doing impressions himself) also did many impressions of his own. Whether he was splitting sides as Wayne, or satirizing Barbra Streisand, everyone with a television knew who Mike Myers was.

It was during his career on SNL that he made his foray into film. Wayne’s World was released in 1992 to critical acclaim. With fellow SNL cast member Dana Carvey, the two followed their critical success with Wayne’s World 2 in 1993. The decision to adapt his character for the big screen opened up huge opportunity for Myers. After leaving SNL in 1995, he decided to expand his filmography further with a new project. After several years in development, the world was introduced to Austin Powers.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) was released to massive success, earning more than $55 million on its opening weekend, spawning a film franchise worth over $600 million. The film featured Myers as a British secret agent, a true James Bond. Unlike James Bond, whose film franchise this movie parodies, Myers took the idea of the British secret agent into a new direction, into the style of a 60s swinger. Myers played multiple roles in the franchise, including the movie’s antagonists, Dr. Evil, Goldmember and the always lovable Fat Bastard.

The character would shag his way through two more films, 1999’s The Spy Who Shagged Me and 2002’s Goldmember. One hit franchise wasn’t enough for Myers however. It was around this time that Myers took on his second biggest franchise, Shrek (2001). Filling in for former SNL cast member Chris Farley, Myers crafted a character that would win the hearts of every child (and adult) that saw the film. The film featured the acting talents of Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, and would spawn three sequels: Shrek 2 in 2004, Shrek the Third in 2007, and Shrek Forever After in 2010. As the highest grossing animated franchise, the series would rake in hundreds of millions at the box office.

Unfortunately for Myers, diving into more family friendly roles ultimately contributed to his film career’s decline. The Cat in the Hat (2003) was a critical and financial bomb, earning only $134 million. With a budget of $100 million, this wasn’t nearly enough needed to impress investors, and sequel plans were quickly shelved. The failure of The Cat in the Hat marked a turning point in his career.

While Myers was able to maintain his standing as a successful comedian with the Shrek franchise, subsequent movies were marred by poor quality jokes and writing. One such film of quality was The Love Guru (2008), which all but killed his career. The comedy won Razzie awards for Worst Screenplay, Worst Director, Worst Actor and Worst Picture, and drew international controversy for its portrayal of Hinduism. Since then, his career has been reduced to smaller roles and cameo appearances in films like Inglourious Basterds (2009).

What’s Mike Myers Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

Not much can be said about Myer’s career currently. There have been rumors about more installments Austin Powers and Shrek, but they are just that, rumors. He is currently filming an unknown role for the movie Terminal, which is set to release in 2017. Myers is also set to star in a new comedy called Del, which is in pre-production.

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The Birth of the Man With a Thousand Faces

The comedian and actor had humble beginnings. The son of teachers Billie Dahl and Bud Carvey, Carvey was born in Missoula, Montana. Carvey’s brother Brad, who invented the Video Toaster, served as inspiration for Carvey’s Garth Algar character. At the age of three, his family moved to San Carlos, California.

Looking at his early life, one would be hard pressed to say that he had a future as an actor. But, the desire was always there. His first role was in 1981, playing Michael Elliot in the TV movie Alone at last. were minor beginning with a bit part in Halloween II (1981). He also co-starred on One of the Boys (1982), a sitcom that also featured Mickey Rooney and Meg Ryan. In 1984, he played a mime in This Is Spinal Tap (1984) alongside Billy Crystal. His first big role came to him in 1986, where he appeared alongside Kirk Douglass and Burt Lancaster in Tough Guys. 1986 would prove to be an important year for Carvey, who would be featured in one of the most important acting gigs in his life.

The Rise and Fall of the Turtle Man

In 1986, Carvey was launched into stardom when he joined Saturday Night Life. Working alongside newcomers like Phil Hartman, he completely changed SNL’s popularity. Thanks to his efforts among others, public opinion on the show completely changed. Carvey owes his early popularity to characters like the pious “Church Lady,” the zealot Church Chat host (based on people he knew growing up).

Carvey also owes much of his success to many other characters, like Hans (of “Hans and Franz”) and the Grumpy Old Man. He even portrayed George H. W. Bush during the election. A pivotal point for this role came during the 1992 presidential election. Carvey played both Bush and Ross Perot during a debate with William Clinton. This cemented him as one of the most popular impersonators on the show, and one of SNL’s best actors. After all of this, In 1993 Carvey decided to strike out on his own, and left SNL. His work on SNL resulted in him earning an Emmy in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, along with six more Emmy nominations. He even managed to return to SNL periodically up until as recently as 2011.

Of all his SNL characters, the one that would define his career was Garth Algar. Carvey re-teamed with Mike Myers to bring their Wayne’s World sketches to the big screen in 1992. The adventures of Garth and Wayne would prove popular to fans and newcomers. It earned $183 million at the box office, and a sequel in 1993.

His popularity soared with these films and the roles flooded in. Among the offers, he starred in the 1994 film Clean Slate and filmed his HBO special Critic’s Choice the following year. NBC even tried to get him to host the Late Night show when David Letterman left in 1993. However, they gave the role to Conan O’Brien instead.

In 1996, he would revive many of his SNL characters for The Dana Carvey Show. The show was famous for launching Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert into stardom. The late 90s saw Carvey taking on smaller roles in films like The Shot, The Larry Sanders Show, and Just Shoot Me! Despite the pitfalls of The Dana Carvey Show, and the smaller roles he took on, Dana’s career was strong.

And then The Master of Disguise happened.

In 2002, Carvey starred in The Master of Disguise. It faced stiff competition on its release. It released only a week after the more anticipated Austin Powers in Goldmember and suffered greatly because of it. It is named by many as one of the worst comedies ever made, and the movie that killed Carvey’s career. He did not appear again in a film until 2011, in Jack and Jill, another critically panned comedy.

Despite the metaphorical ice berg that was Master of Disguise, Carvey maintains that he withdrew from acting to focus on raising his family. In fact, he only rejected hosting Late Night because he felt overwhelmed as a new father. He simply could not abide the possibility that his career could cause him to neglect his children. Despite withdrawing from acting, he continued perform stand-up sets over the years to support his family. He made brief returns to the public eye from time to time, either as host of SNL or reprising a character for the MTV Movie Awards. He even managed to film a second HBO special, Squatting Monkey’s Tell No Lies (2008). In 2010, he reprised his role as George H.W. Bush in a Funny or Die sketch, and worked with comedian Spike Ferestein to create Spoof, a comedy show for Fox.

What’s Dana Carvey Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

To this day, Carvey has been sticking to stand-up comedy. On April 29 and 30^th 2016, his sons Tom and Dex opened for him in Boston, Massachusetts for his performances on Netflix. In a 2016 Howard Stern interview, Carvey has said that he definitely prefers stand-up comedy to acting. His performances have made him wealthy. He often boasts that he generally makes over a million dollars from all of his shows combined.

Currently, he has one film project in development. In 2017, he will be appearing in Becoming Bond. It is a documentary about George Lazenby and how he became James Bond in 1969. Beyond that, his career remains quiet.

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Sarah Palin: The “Barracuda” from Alaska

Sarah Palin was the daughter of school secretary and science teacher Sarah and Charles Heath. She was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, and was the third child in a six-family house. Only months after her birth, the Irish-German clan moved to Skagway, Alaska so that her father could pursue his teaching career. They relocated several more times early in her life, first to Eagle River in 1969, and then to Wasilla in 1972.

Sarah’s childhood was an active one, filled with cultured lessons and physical training. She started out modestly, playing flute in her junior high band before joining the girls’ basketball and cross-country running teams at Wasilla High School. During her senior year, she was the point guard of the basketball team that won the 1982 Alaska state championship. Her competitive nature earned her notoriety and the nickname “Sarah Barracuda” for the rest of her sports career.

Palin’s first exposure to the public eye came in 1984, when she won the Miss Wasilla beauty pageant and received Miss Congeniality. Following this, she finished third in the Miss Alaska pageant, and earned a college scholarship. This scholarship would prove valuable, and she would utilize it over the course of the next five years.

Her student career following high school was a lengthy one. She attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo shortly before transferring to Hawaii Pacific University for a semester in fall 1982. Sarah would go on to attend three more schools, North Idaho College, the University of Idaho and Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska. She returned to the University of Idaho for her final semester in 1986. Here, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Journalism in May 1987.

For five years, Palin worked as a sportscaster for KTVA-TV in Anchorage, and as a sports reporter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. Nobody would have believed that Sarah “Barracuda” Palin, beauty pageant winner and journalist, would ever even consider a career in politics. And yet, despite all expectations of her, she did.

“Lipstick on a Pitbull,” the rise and fall

1992 was the year that Palin first entered politics. In four years, Palin had become the mayor of Wasilla, removing John Stein from his three terms of power. As mayor, she cut property taxes, reduced spending and raised the sales tax to put money into public safety. She also managed to collect nearly $27 million in congressional earmarks, at the end of a successful term.

After losing in a 2002 bid for lieutenant governor, Sarah was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski to chair the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003. She would later go on to win in a bid for Governor, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles flawlessly. With her victory, Sarah became the first, and youngest, female governor of Alaska.

Her career was not without its controversies however. As a republican Governor, her administration operated with a strong focus on education, public safety and transportation. As a conservative Protestant, however, she found herself pushing policies influenced by her beliefs. She advocated strongly for pro-life policies, and creationist teachings in public schools. She even supported a policy to amend the Alaskan constitution in order to ban same-sex marriage. Sarah largely opposed the idea of global warming, and questioned its validity to much scrutiny. In 2008, the state approved of her plan to give a $500 million subsidy to TransCanada to build a pipeline through Alaska.

The scrutiny continued when the Alaska Legislature hired Stephen Branchflower, an independent investigator, to examine her actions following the sacking of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. It was soon determined that, while she did have the power to dismiss Monegan, the commissioner maintained that he was let go because he refused to fire Mike Wooten, Alaskan State Trooper and Palin’s former brother-in-law. Though Palin insisted that she did nothing wrong, the report filed by Branchflower stated that Palin did abuse her power as governor by violating the state’s ethics acts. Despite the information against her, the Alaska Personnel Board reported that Palin had not violated any ethics standards.

It was during this scandal that Palin was discovered by John McCain. He sought her to bring some younger blood into his bid for President in 2008. McCain officially nominated Sarah on September 4^th at the Republican National Convention. With this, she became the second woman to run for Vice President, and the first Republican female at that. Palin immediately appealed to her voter base, jokingly calling herself a “hockey mom.”

Palin faced public scrutiny almost immediately. Following a televised interview with ABC, pundits began to notice her lack of experience with foreign policy. People doubted her ability to lead the country should any tragedy befall McCain. Among her critics were journalists at The Washington Post, who found her comments completely devoid of “diplomatic language.” The criticism only worsened when Palin admitted during an interview that she had never met a foreign leader. In fact, she could count the number of countries she visited on one hand.

Following these interview blunders, Sarah soon found herself at the mercy of the mainstream media. An interview with Katie Couric revealed her complete inability to cite examples of McCain’s support for financial regulations (or anything else for that matter). Following this interview, her poll numbers tanked, and McCain lost the election.

After the 2008 election ended, Palin returned home to Alaska, where she resumed her responsibilities as Governor. Though locked to her own state, she continued to stay active politically on a national level until 2009. That July, Palin announced that she would resign as Governor. This only threw gasoline on the speculative fire that she intended to run for President in 2012. Of course, this was not the case. It was the many ethical complaints and constant lawsuits that sapped her of her drive to continue as a politician.

What’s Sarah Palin Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

After stepping down from office, Palin aligned herself with the Tea Party movement. She fit right in with the conservative and libertarian group. Palin lead many of their efforts in reducing government spending, lowering taxes while adhering to the original Constitution. A small group of successful Tea Party candidates soon found themselves being endorsed by her for the 2010 mid-terms. She started the “Pink Elephant Movement” as a means to support female GOP candidates running for public office.

In the intervening years, Palin authored three books: America by Heart (2010), Good Tidings (2013) and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas (2013). In 2014, she founded the Sarah Palin Channel as a means of connecting with her fans through videos and articles by her. Though lasting only a year, the channel left a lasting impact on her supporters.

As of 2017, Palin has mostly been quiet, though she has been an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump. Recently, there have been rumblings of her being selected for U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Other than some off-hand comments made by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, there is nothing substantial to support these rumors.

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Not many people know just how extensive Christopher Lloyd’s acting career actually is. He has starred in literally hundreds of roles, both on-stage as a Shakespearian actor, and on the big screen. He has appeared in countless productions, films, television shows and video games. Yet, despite his supreme acting prowess, the people of the world only recognize him as the frizzy haired, wide-eyed scientist who made a mockery of the space-time continuum. Not many people even know what he is currently doing today. We all know what happened in 1985, but what has Christopher Lloyd been up to in 2017?

The Space Man from Pluto: Back to the Past

The time hopping story of Christopher Lloyd begins on October 22, 1938. He was born to Samuel and Ruth Lloyd, an attorney and a musician. Christopher Allen Lloyd was the youngest of three boys and four girls and the Grandson of one of the founders of Texaco.

Lloyd first discovered his passion for acting at the age of fourteen by apprenticing himself at theatres over the summer in Mount Kisco, New York and Hyannis, Massachusetts. At the age of nineteen, Lloyd enrolled himself in classes at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He was trained under Sanford Meisner, the creator of the unorthodox (but effective) Meisner Technique, and the teacher of many acting giants like Sandra Bullock, Christoph Walz and Alec Baldwin.

With his foot in the door of the New York theater scene, Lloyd made his stage debut in a production of And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers.

“I was a replacement and it was my first sort of job in New York.” It was a last minute casting change that would launch his career as an actor. His next role, and Broadway debut, was during a production of Red, White and Maddox. While it failed to attract the crowds, it was another notch in his belt. He would go on to work heavily in theater, taking part in many Shakespeare festivals and off-Broadway shows like The Seagull, Macbeth, What Every Woman Knows and Kaspar. He even worked with a young Meryl Streep while starring as Oberon in a Yale University production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1975. Despite the occasional Broadway role, Lloyd never really expanded outside of his acting realm. It was 1975, when he first entered the film scene, that his acting prowess really showed.

By the time Lloyd appeared in his first film, he had worked in over 200 stage productions on Broadway. His debut role was Max Taber, the belligerent psychiatric patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). The film won five Academy Awards, including best picture, and would inspire Lloyd to move to California to pursue more film work. He appeared in many films over the years, including Three Warriors (1978), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Mr. Mom (1983) and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension (1984).

It wasn’t until 1985 that he would appear in the role that would cement him as a pop culture icon.

Great Scott! The Curse of the Type-Cast

1985 saw the birth of Dr. Emmett Brown (AKA the “Doc”) in the commercial smash hit Back to the Future.  Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the sci-fi comedy starring Michael J Fox would go on to make $381 million. It would spawn two sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990).

The 80s and early 90s would see a number of huge roles landing in Lloyd’s lap. His roles were wide and famous ones, like the villains in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); and Uncle Fester, appearing alongside Raul Julia and Angelica Houston, in both The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). None of these roles would define his career as The Doc in Back to the Future has. He has since reappeared as Doc no less than thirteen times in cameo appearances in other films, television shows and video games throughout the decades. Lloyd is the Doc, and the Doc is Lloyd.

He tried to branch out beyond his most well-known character, but he could not escape the curse of being type-cast. During his career, he took on a wide variety of television roles, but sometimes he would be called upon to take on the role of a professor or mad scientist. He played Professor B.O. Beanes on Amazing Stories (1986). He even won an Emmy (for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series”) in 1992 for his guest appearance as professor Dimpie on Road to Avonlea (1992). TV fans know him for his role as “Reverend” Jim Ignatowski on Taxi (1978-1983). Despite this renowned role, and the Emmy awards that came with it, the vast majority of his fans still love to see him as a mad scientist or a genius professor.

What’s Christopher Lloyd Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

To this day, while Lloyd is as popular as ever, his presence has quieted down. While he often plays a wide variety of wacky characters in his films, Christopher Lloyd is a quiet individual. He seldom does interviews, and as an actor, roles have begun to dry up. That’s not to say that he has gone completely silent, however. He is slated to appear in Season 3 of 12 Monkeys. He has several upcoming roles in the films The Sound, Making a Killing, Boundaries, and Going in Style.

Did he reach his peak in 1985? It’s hard to say. He is still around and producing quality films. Ask any film fan about Christopher Lloyd’s career. They will almost certainly look back at that time he nearly broke time itself.

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Pauly Shore: A Product of His Time

Pauly was born into a Jewish family of comedians. He grew up in Beverly Hills, California. Education was never a concern for Pauly, who always kept his finger on the pulse of the comedic underground. College was never an option for him. While his peers were preparing for their SATs, he was planning his career.

Being born to comedians, young Pauly was immersed in an environment where he was exposed to humor on a near constant basis. As such, he developed his own knack for it over the course of his childhood. Mentored by Sam Kinison and inspired by his parents’ comedic contributions to show business, 17 year old Pauly made his first stand-up appearance. It was while touring various comedy clubs that Shore combined surfer lingo, “dudespeak” slang, and many of his own catchphrases to create the character that would define his career—the Californian surfer persona known as “The Weasel.”

The Rise and Fall of the Weasel

His career would never be the same again, as the birth of the Weasel launched him into the world of MTV. From 1989 until 1994 he was a personality on MTV, which helped launch his career.

The Weasel hit it off well with viewers immediately. His success was owed to his performance which perfectly captured MTV’s primary demographic: teenagers. Viewers wanted a fun, hip, partier to entertain them after school, someone who completely understood the nuances of music and culture and respected them as viewers. Pauly filled that niche perfectly. A rise of popularity in young adult male viewers gave him his own show. It was a shenanigans show, featuring pranks and hijinks with members of the general public by the Weasel. During the height of his MTV days, he was allowed to host the networks annual Spring Breakcelebration.

1992 was a busy year for Shore. After starring in Encino Man, which went on to make $40 million at the box office, he launched into stardom as an actor. He went on to star in scores of movies. These films were much less successful, grossing less and less at the box office every year.

Unfortunately for Shore, his films suffered decline in popularity after the late 90s. It would seem that he peaked at Encino Man. In 1997, he tried to get back into TV with Pauly, a televised sitcom for Fox, but the show was quickly canned. Attempts at rising back to the top with films like Curse of the Inferno (1997) were equally fruitless. Pauly would spend the remainder of the decade making cameo appearances in music videos like Limp Bizkit’s “N 2 Gether Now” and “Break Stuff”. Shore found work in uncredited roles in films and on animated shows like King of the Hill (1999) and Futurama (2000).

Shore’s career did not go down with the end of the millennium, however. In 2003, Shore wrote, directed and starred in Pauly Shore is Dead,. Adopting a self-depreciating brand of humor, Shore used the film to poke fun at himself and his pitfalls. In recent years, Pauly has turned to the internet to provide comedic entertainment, with various projects on Funny or Die. He has also returned to the stage with stand-up, and puts on shows across the country to this day.

What’s Pauly Shore Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

Pauly Shore may have been down over the years, but he was never out. While his career suffered a decline in the late 90s, his new approach at humor and the rise of the internet in the early to mid-2000s has brought him back.

Recently, he released Pauly Shore Stands Alone on Showtime. It is a road trip documentary that follows his tour through Wisconsin while dealing with life at home. He also took part in a Funny or Die sketch by Anthony Weiner, which earned half a million views.

Pauly is also a prolific podcaster. He runs the Pauly Shore Podcast Show on his website. He plans on releasing videos for it on Crackle in 2017. His guests have included Gallagher, Bob Saget, Nick Kroll and many other comedians.

He is currently working on a documentary of his life. It chronicles his childhood in the 70s and his career in the 80s and 90s. He is also working with Adam Sandler on Sandy Wexler, a new movie which is coming to Netflix this year.

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The Hawk Hatches

Tony’s path to greatness began early. He was born on May 12, 1968 in Carlsbad California and was raised in San Diego. Even at a young age, his hyperactivity manifested itself to his family. He even suffered from anxiety, especially when it came to completing tasks. His anxiety had reached a point where he once had to be physically coaxed out of a hiding spot when he struck out in a baseball game. After being evaluated by councilors, they discovered that he had been gifted with an I.Q. of 144. Tony found himself placed in more advanced classes to challenge him, though they rarely did. He attended Jean Farb Middle School from 1980 to 1981, to much success, but he didn’t discover his true passion until his early teens.

Burdened with an excess of energy and time, Hawk turned to more physical activities and soon discovered skateboarding. Through constant practice, young Tony attracted attention by performing stunts well beyond what a small boy should be capable of. At the age of 12, he was winning contests across the state. With the support of his parents, his skills with a skateboard quickly improved, and by the age of 14 he had gone pro. By the age of 16, he became one of the best competitive skateboarders in the country. By adulthood, he had competed in over 100 professional contests, winning 73 and placing second in 19 of them. This legendary winning streak established records that still haven’t been broken to this day. For twelve years he was the National Skateboard Association’s world champion, and it was all through his hard work and drive.

His journey to success was hard fought, however. While he made more money than his teachers from royalties and from performing at contests around the country, his income shrank dramatically when interest in skateboarding as a sport began to drop unexpectedly. He soon found himself living by the skin of his teeth on a minimum-wage budget and a fast food diet.

Taking Flight

Despite sudden and unexpected financial hardships, Tony refused to give up Skateboarding. When his peers began to move on from skateboarding to options more financially stable, Tony never stopped believing in the sport. With the help of a friend, he refinanced his home and launched his first company, known as Birdhouse Projects. Birdhouse faced an uphill struggle, filled with financial hardships and uncertainty. Fortunately, his hard work would pay off again in the early 90s. A resurgence of skateboarding popularity brought new interest to the sport—and to Birdhouse. The small company in time became one of the biggest and most celebrated skateboard companies in the world, courtesy of endorsement deals signed by Tony. The financial success of this also lead to other lucrative business ventures for Tony, namely Hawk Clothing, a skate clothing company designed with children in mind.

Not content with the clothing industry, Tony branched out into more technological fields. Partnering with Activision in 1999, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game series was born. It quickly became one of the most popular franchises in the world. Currently, it has surpassed $1.4 billion in sales, a number that continues to climb to this day.

Financial successes from his businesses were not enough for Tony, however, who continued to impress audiences with tricks and feats as a professional skater. His greatest feat occurred at the X Games in 1999. After 10 years of practice and mishaps, Tony successfully landed a 900, a 2 ½ revolution aerial spin. In doing so, he made history as the first skateboarder ever successfully complete one of the most demanding trick in skateboarding. Accomplishing this, on national TV no less, propelled him into the public eye as a celebrity.

At this point, having accomplished so much on a personal and business level, that he had reached his peak. Though he continued to tour and put on exhibitions at skate and theme parks across the word, the 1999 X Games saw the end of competitions for Tony. His tours would include the world’s best skaters, BMXers and motocross riders. To this day, his shows continue to draw attention from aspiring skaters and fans alike.

Tony’s achievements have bagged him numerous awards, from Make-A-Wish’s Favorite Male Athlete, to the Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Award’s Favorite Male Athlete. Through this, he has become one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, alongside Koby Bryant and Tiger Woods.

His fame doesn’t come from his celebrity alone, however. Tony founded the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2002 to help finance public skate parks in low-income areas. It has donated over $5 million to hundreds of skate parks across the country since its creation. It aims to help provide a means for a new generation of skaters to pursue their hobbies. Every year, it infuses and revitalizes the aging sport with fresh faces and new blood. 2007 was also the year in which Tony teamed up with numerous other athletes (notably Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong and Mia Hamm), to found “Athletes for Hope,” a charitable organization designed to inspire people to support their communities with the help of professional athletes.

Recognition of his achievements and philanthropy came in 2009. President Obama invited him to the white house, bringing this story full circle.

What’s Tony Hawk Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates?

Tony Hawk never exactly lost popularity. He just pulled himself back from the public eye to focus on other things. In recent years, he has been sticking to his philanthropy, while occasionally performing stunts and demos. As of 2017, the Tony Hawk Foundation has helped inspire millions of kids interested in skating to pursue their dreams. At the age of 48, Birdhouse is still as successful as ever. A constant influx of royalties from his video games have secured a future for him and his family. Recently, Tony has expanded into content creation online. Content created by his own film company, 900 Films, for Ride Channel on YouTube goes online daily. The channel showcases the feats of aspiring skaters to inspire younger skaters to push on and work hard as Tony.

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“Eight meters!” Hudson stammered, looking at his M314 motion tracker. With every second, the hand-held box emitted a shrill beeping sound, letting the surviving colonial marines know that they would not be alone for much longer. The marines and their civilian allies looked to their hastily erected barricades, not knowing how long welded-shut blast doors would hold against the horde outside.

“Seven… Six!” Hudson counted down as globs of sweat dripped down his chin.

“That can’t be, that’s inside the room!” Ellen Ripley stated. The Warrant Officer turned dock worker turned advisor on the doomed mission gripped the barrel of her Pulse Rifle tighter and held it at the door, ready to fire at the slightest scratch against its metal skin.

“It’s reading right, man! Look!” Hudson’s voice began to break as he held the screen closer. Waves of sound bounced against the walls and back, filling the 3X5 monitor with dozens, if not hundreds of white dots.

“Well you’re not reading it right!” Hicks barked.

“Five meters, man! What the hell?” Ripley looked to her own motion scanner. Hudson was not wrong. Hordes of vicious aliens bent on their evisceration swarmed at all sides. In the hour it took the team of marines to secure the facility, there was one entry-point they hadn’t counted on the aliens using. Their problem wasn’t fire power, or a lack of it. They were just looking at the wrong direction. Slowly, she and the other marines looked up to the ceiling—and the maze of vents just beyond the ceiling tiles.

In seconds, Hicks was mounting a box, flashlight in hand.  He pushed open one of the tiles, and his panicked eyes peered into darkness—to find a dozen snapping, drooling jaws inching closer towards him.

He fell backwards. Squeezing the trigger of his Pulse Rifle, a burst of noise like a chainsaw sent fifteen explosive caseless rounds into the blackness above. Ceiling tiles all across the room ruptured, and the glistening black demons that made the vents their home rained from above amidst a symphony of pulse rifle fire and inhuman shrieks.

At the end of the day, Corporal Hicks entered a cryo-pod wounded, but alive. He lost his entire squad on planet LV-426, but emerged from the ordeal alive with Ripley, Newt (A young surviving colonist), and half of an android.

He would go on to have many more adventures fighting against the Xenomorphs that threatened the human race, because Alien 3 didn’t happen. At least, that’s what his actor Michael Biehn likes to think. It was his exclusion from Alien 3 that marked his decline in film. But what happened to Michael Biehn?

How He Got Started – The Rise of Biehn

To find out what happened to Biehn’s career, we must first look at his early life and how he began it. He was born in Anniston, Alabama to Marcia and Don Biehn and was the second out of three siblings. He was moved to Lincoln, Nebraska and later on to Lake Havasu, Arizona at an early age. The act of moving, or picking up your life and dropping it in a different region, can be hard on anyone, especially children. This was not the case for Biehn, who pressed on in search of his passion. It was at Lake Havasu that he found that passion, occupying his time at his high school’s drama club to discover himself as an actor. After graduating, he attended the University of Arizona, where he attended more drama programs before graduating and moving to Hollywood to jumpstart his career.

His career began quietly, with a bit-part role in the film Grease in 1978. While he only appears in two scenes, they were both memorable (the trained eye can spot him getting hit in the stomach by John Travolta while playing basketball). His first real role came in 1981, in which he played the antagonist in The Fan, a stalker out to get his idol. The film ultimately received mixed reviews, earning only $3 million on a $9 million budget. Before The Fan, his early years had comprised of parts in made-for-television movies and lesser known films like Hog Wild. It wasn’t until 1984 that his career really took off.

Biehn: A Fallen Legend

It was the year 1984 when Biehn became a household name, with his character Kyle Reese in The Terminator making him a pop culture icon. His portrayal of a battle weary soldier, misplaced by time and in-love, cemented him in the hearts of viewers as the ultimate likeable protagonist. This film was the film that gave Biehn the chance he needed to flex his acting muscles, and it built him a relationship with director James Cameron. Biehn would go on to feature heavily in Cameron’s other films, notably in The Abyss and Aliens, the latter of which is considered to be one of the greatest action movie sequels of all time next to Terminator 2.

Unfortunately, it was around this time in the early 90s that his career began to drop. Plans for him being the main character in Alien 3 (replacing Ellen Ripley in an early draft by William Gibson) had fallen through. In the final draft, written by Walter Hill and David Giler, Hicks was killed off within the first seconds of the movie. This came as a complete shock to Biehn, who was informed of this decision later during the already troubled production of the film. This didn’t stop producers from using his likeness in the film, however, which lead to legal disputes between him and the filmmakers which further complicated the production.

The coming of the 2000s saw his decline into obscurity. While he took roles in big budgeted films like The Art of War and Clockstoppers, the films themselves were not well received critically or financially enough to get him back in the public eye. As a result, he was forced to take on more minor roles in independent films like Havoc, and voice acting roles in video games like Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. To make ends meet, he starred in TV dramas like The Magnificent Seven (which ran from 1998 to 2000) for CBS, the syndicated television series Adventure Inc. (Which ran only a year, from 2002 to 2003), and the NBC show Hawaii in 2004. All of these shows were cancelled due to low audience interest.

At one point, he was considered for the role of Colonel Miles Quaritch, the antagonist of James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009. Cameron ultimately decided to cast Stephen Lang for the part however, believing that Sigourney Weaver’s role in the film would remind people too much of Aliens.

Most recently, Biehn was featured as the protagonist of Far Cry 3’s expansion Blood Dragon, a role that paid tribute to 80s action heroes like himself. He also reprised his role as Corporal Hicks in the game Aliens: Colonial Marines. The retconning his death in Alien 3 brought his character back to the land of the canonically living for future roles in the franchise.

What’s Michael Biehn Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

Corporal Hicks’ fate being unsealed has opened up a variety of doors for Michael Biehn in future films. While Biehn himself has faded into the background with roles in mediocre movies (Scorpion King 4 didn’t exactly do his career any favors), the possibilities of him returning to the Alien franchise and revitalizing his career as an action star have never been higher. Rumors of a fifth installment directed by Niel Blonkamp, director of District 9 and Elysium, have been circulating the internet. If these rumors of a soft reboot turn out to be true, we will get a sequel that will rectify the franchise’s mistakes of the past and put Biehn back in the spotlight as one of Hollywood’s greatest under appreciated action stars.

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The Rise of Jon Lovitz – How He Got Started

Lovitz was born on July 21, 1957 in Tarzana, California. Demonstrating a knack for comedy, Lovitz spent in his early years making his friends laugh with funny faces and childish jokes at sleepovers and across schoolyards. He never actually considered Comedy to be his career though, until the age of thirteen where he saw the Woody Allen film Take the Money and Run. Of course, Woody Allen wasn’t the only figure who influenced his drive to entertain and make people laugh. Other comedians, such as Al Jolson and the Marx Brothers contributed significantly, as well as his childhood friend Lisa Kudrow (Yes, the same Lisa Kudrow who would later go on to play Phoebe on Friends). Ultimately it was the book The Collected Plays of Neil Simon, given to him as a gift by his mother, which pushed him to become a comedian.

The urge to create comedy followed him through his school days at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles and during his time attending the University of California in Irvine. It was here that he studied drama under Robert Cohen, acting theorist and instructor. By looking at the greatest actors, and what made their material work, he learned to strive for greatness in his work. His nights were spent locked away in his dorm, studying acts by performers like Woody Allen to figure out what made them funny. It was a process of reverse engineering that allowed him to vastly improve his own performances during practice exercises and beyond when he made his way onto the professional stage.

After graduating in 1979, Lovitz went on to join the Groundlings, a sketch comedy group in Los Angeles, where he met fellow comedians Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens (of SNL and Pee Wee’s Playhouse fame). He made a name for himself in this group, performing small venues with Hartman and Reubens, all the while improving and perfecting his craft as he went along. While Lovitz did enjoy his time performing with the Groundlings, working in a relatively small comedy troupe was hardly a bread winner. Until his big break, he was stuck working part-time as a messenger to keep the lights on.

That big break came in 1984, when he and the Groundlings appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. While appearing on television was initially daunting, he soon learned from Jack Lemmon (who was doing a profile for 60 Minutes at the time) to keep his act simple. His first time on stage in the public eye, he went out and did his skit. He kept it simple, and it worked, leaving a lasting impression with audience members and viewers across the country.

A year later, all of Lovitz’s hard work and practice finally paid off, when he received his invitation to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. From there, he went on to create some of the most memorable characters in the history of SNL, entertaining millions of viewers in the five years he was on the show with characters like Tommy Flanagan the Pathological Liar and Master Thespian.

The Disappearance—and Resurgence—of Jon Lovitz

After leaving SNL in 1990, Lovitz found huge success in the entertainment industry performing in the realms of film, stage and television. He turned in great performances for memorable roles in films like A League of Their Own, and The Wedding Singer, and later on was featured in films like Little Nicky, Rat Race and The Producers. He even managed to work with Woody Allen, the man who got him started in comedy, in Small Time Crooks.

Not content with confining himself to film, Lovitz took on the world of television, and enjoyed a long and very successful career lending his acting talents to more minor bit-part roles in shows like Seinfeld, Two and a Half Men, and New Girl. It was working in television that he lent his unique voice to animation, starring in The Critic and appearing semi-frequently on The Simpsons.

Unfortunately, the era when The Simpsons was still considered “good” by many was the era when he, like many actors of his generation, began to fade into semi-obscurity. By the mid-2000’s the days of Dan Akroyd, Chris Farley and Dana Carvey had come and gone, replaced by the likes of Will Ferrel, Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan. While he did see success in more minor TV and movie rolls, some in 2016, Lovitz had already reached his peak. Age had finally caught up with his generation. Like many actors before him, it was only a matter of time before newer, more relevant actors came to replace him.

It was during his fade into television and movie obscurity that Lovitz began to push his career forward into a direction that, for the longest time, he tried to avoid. Despite his successes, he could never work up the courage to perform stand-up until somewhat recently. In the early 2000s, Lovitz began to perform very brief comedy sets at the Laugh Factory, a famous club in Hollywood known for featuring performers like Adam Sandler, Bill Burr and Carlos Mencia.  Initially recycling old SNL routines, he soon found that self-depreciating humor (in other words, making fun of himself) proved to be more effective with audiences. Then in 2007, he founded the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in San Diego (with a second location opening in LA two years later), where he continued to make fun of himself to the delight of thousands. These venues proved to be very successful, having hosted many other famous comedians, while giving newcomers a means of getting themselves exposure.

What’s Jon Lovitz Doing Now in 2018- Recent Updates 

Today Lovitz has been sticking to his standup routines, living a comfortable life in California succeeding in his childhood dream of making people laugh. While sticking mostly to stand-up, he has also found success in minor film roles, in movies like Hotel Translyvania, Grown Ups 2, A Mouse Tale and Mothers Day. He even has new releases on the horizon, with films like Killing Hasselhoff and Death: Take 2 coming in 2017.

It’s hard trying to stay relevant today, especially in Hollywood. Actors have come and gone throughout the years, some fading faster than they can emerge. The comedians though, like Jon, are the ones who stay relevant forever in the swirling maelstrom that is the film industry. There will always be a place for them, even when it seems like the world turns a blind eye and forces us to look. As Leonard Nimoy said once, “The world needs laughter.”

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