SAMUEL L. JACKSON (Danny Roman) made an indelible mark on American cinema with his portrayal of Jules, the philosophizing hitman, in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." He received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor for his performance, and a Best Supporting Actor Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, as well as unanimous critical acclaim.
Most recently, Jackson starred in "187," the award-winning "Eve's Bayou" (which he also produced), the Quentin Tarantino-directed "Jackie Brown" (for which he received both the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival and a Golden Globe nomination), and "Sphere," opposite Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone and directed by Barry Levinson. He also stars in two upcoming releases, "The Red Violin," directed by Francois Girard;" and the prequel to "Star Wars," in which he makes a cameo appearance.
In 1996, he starred opposite Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Kevin Spacey in Joel Schumacher's film of the John Grisham novel A Time to Kill, earning a Golden Globe nomination and an NAACP Image Award for his performance.
Jackson preceded his work in "Pulp Fiction" with a performance in the inner-city drama "Fresh." He also starred opposite Bruce Willis in "Die Hard With a Vengeance," which was the number-one grossing movie internationally in 1995. His other recent credits include "The Long Kiss Goodnight," "Hard Eight," "Kiss of Death," "Losing Isaiah" and "Amos and Andrew."
Jackson made movie history with his portrayal of a crack addict in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever," when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for that performance.
On television, Jackson starred in John Frankenheimer's Emmy Award-winning "Against the Wall" for HBO. His performance earned him a CableACE nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
Jackson's career began upon his graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a degree in dramatic arts. He went on to perform onstage in numerous plays, including "Home," "A Soldier's Play," "Sally/Prince" and "The District Line," and originated roles in two of August Wilson's plays at Yale Repertory Theatre: Boy Willie in "The Piano Lesson" and Wolf in "Two Trains Running." In another Wilson play, "Fences," he portrayed Lyons at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. For the New York Shakespeare Festival, Jackson appeared in "Mother Courage and Her Children," "Spell #7" and "The Mighty Gents."
While still a student at Morehouse, Jackson made his film debut in "Together for Days." His numerous film credits include "Ragtime," "Sea of Love," "Coming to America," "Ray," "Do the Right Thing," "School Daze," "Mo' Better Blues," "GoodFellas," "Strictly Business," "White Sands," "Patriot Games," "Jumpin' at the Boneyard," "Fathers and Sons," "Juice" and "True Romance."
KEVIN SPACEY (Chris Sabian) starred last year as Detective Jack Vicennes in the critically acclaimed, award-winning "L.A. Confidential," co-written and directed by Curtis Hanson.
Spacey received the 1995 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in "The Usual Suspects," directed by Bryan Singer. In addition, The National Board of Review, New York Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, Boston Film Critics, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, Seattle Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards and the MTV Awards honored him for his performances in 1995.
Spacey's other films include "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," "A Time to Kill," "Looking For Richard," "Seven," "Swimming With Sharks," "Outbreak," "Iron Will," "The Ref," "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Consenting Adults."
His extensive New York stage career began when he played a messenger in Joseph Papp's Central Park production of "Henry IV, Part I" and, a year later, starred opposite Liv Ullman in Ibsen's "Ghosts." His breakthrough performance came as Jamie Tyrone opposite Jack Lemmon in Jonathan Miller's 1986 Broadway/London production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night." He won the 1991 Tony Award for his performance as Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" with Irene Worth and appeared in "Playland" at the Manhattan Theatre Club, directed by its author, Athol Fugard.
Television audiences are familiar with his work as Mel Profitt on the CBS series "Wiseguy" and for his performance as Clarence Darrow in the American Playhouse production of "Darrow," directed by John Coles.
In addition to his acting career, Spacey made his directorial debut in 1997 with the film "Albino Alligator," starring Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway and Gary Sinise.
He recently completed a starring role in "Hurlyburly" opposite Sean Penn, Chazz Palminteri, Robin Wright Penn, Meg Ryan and Anna Paquin.
Currently he is starring on the London stage in Howard Davies' acclaimed production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" at the Old Vic which he is also producing, following its sold out run at the Almeida Theatre.
DAVID MORSE (Commander Adam Beck) made his motion-picture debut in Richard Donner's "Inside Moves" and has since co-starred in numerous films, including the box-office hit "Contact," "Extreme Measures," "The Long Kiss Goodnight," "The Rock," "Twelve Monkeys," "The Crossing Guard," "The Getaway," "The Good Son," "Indian Runner," "The Desperate Hours" and "Personal Foul." He also starred in "George B," which was In Competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
On television, Morse is perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the Emmy-winning ensemble drama "St. Elsewhere." His other television series roles include "Our Family Business" for ABC and the sitcom "Big Wave Dave's" for CBS. Morse also starred in the made-for-television movies "Murder Live," "Tecumseh: The Last Warrior," "The Langoliers," "Miracle on I-880," "Dead Ahead," "A Cry in the Wild," "Cross of Fire," "Winnie," "Brotherhood of the Rose," "A Place at the Table," "Down Payment on Murder," "Six Against the Rock," "When Dreams Come True," "Shattered Vows" and "Prototype."
On stage, Morse most recently starred with Mary-Louise Parker in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Off-Broadway production of "How I Learned to Drive," for which he was awarded a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Drama League Award and an Obie Award -- all for Best Actor. He also starred in the award-winning one-man production "An Almost Holy Picture" at California's La Jolla Playhouse and at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.
Morse co-starred in the Broadway adaptation of "On the Waterfront" and won a DramaLogue Award and an L.A. Weekly Award for his role in the Los Angeles production of "Of Mice and Men." His other stage appearances include the Off-Broadway productions of "The Trading Post," "Threads" and "A Death in the Family." He starred in the Seattle Rep presentation of "Redwood Curtain" and worked in more than 30 productions between 1971 and 1977 with the Boston Repertory Company.
RON RIFKIN (Commander Frost) most recently co-starred in the critically acclaimed "L.A. Confidential." Previously, he starred in the film adaptation of the award-winning play "Substance of Fire," recreating the role of Isaac Geldhart that he originated on stage in New York and Los Angeles and which won him an Obie, a Drama Desk Award, a Lucille Lortel Award and a DramaLogue Award.
Rifkin's other film credits include Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery," "Last Summer in the Hamptons," "Wolf," "JFK," "The Sting II," "The Big Fix," "The Sunshine Boys" and "Silent Running."
Rifkin's television credits include made-for-television movies and miniseries such as "The Sunset Gang" and "Concealed Enemies" for PBS; "Buying a Landslide" for the BBC; and "Evergreen," "The Winds of War," "Dress Gray," "Do You Remember Love?," "Mother Courage," "The Chicago Conspiracy Trial," "Mrs. R's Daughter" and "Question of Guilt." He is particularly familiar to television audiences as Sharon Gless' boss in "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," as well as for the situation comedy, "One Day at a Time."
Other series credits include a recurring role on "ER," "Law and Order," "Falcon Crest," "Soap" and "Hill Street Blues." Most recently, he co-starred in the series "Leaving L.A." and in an episode of "The Outer Limits," for which he received a CableACE nomination.
On stage, after his success in "Substance of Fire," Rifkin followed with another award-winning portrayal in another Jon Robin Baitz play, "Three Hotels," for which he received a Drama Desk nomination and a second Lucille Lortel Award. His other theater credits include "Rosebloom," "Afternoon Tea," "Scandalous Memories," "The Three Sisters," "Cross Country," "Ice," "Gethsemane Springs," "Ghetto," "Detective Story," "Tally's Folly," "The American Clock," "Nothing Sacred," "The Tenth Man," "The Art of Dining," "The Goodbye People," "Come Blow Your Horn" and "Temple." His most recent stage appearances were in Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass," Turgenev's "A Month in the Country" and Neil Simon's "Proposals." Rifkin is currently being seen in the Broadway revival of "Cabaret," for which he received a Tony Award nomination.
Following an award-winning career on Broadway and in regional theater, JOHN SPENCER (Chief Al Travis) turned to acting in features and, in a short span of time, was featured in "Sea of Love," "Black Rain" and "Green Card," and had a co-starring role opposite Harrison Ford in "Presumed Innocent."
His role in that feature led to his joining the cast of the long-running hit television drama "L.A. Law" and roles in the telefeatures "The Tangled Web" and "A Jury of One."
He co-starred with Billy Crystal and Deborah Winger in "Forget Paris" and also starred in "Cafe Society." Spencer's most recent film roles include "The Rock," "Coldheart," "Albino Alligator" (directed by Kevin Spacey), "Lesser Prophets," "Copland" and "Twilight," starring Paul Newman and directed by Robert Benton.
He received critical acclaim in the Broadway production of "Execution of Justice," for which he won a Drama League Award, recreating the role he originated at Actor's Theatre of Louisville. He won an Obie award for his performance in "Still Life." His other stage roles include "A Worker's Life," "Lakeboat," "Division Street," "Fishing," "El Salvador," "Amulets Against the Dragon Forces" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune." Spencer recently returned to the stage in Peter Hedge's "Good As New."
J.T. WALSH (Inspector Niebaum) most recently appeared opposite Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan in the critically acclaimed box-office hit "Breakdown" as the evil truck driver who terrorizes an unsuspecting couple. Previously, he appeared in "Sling Blade," for which he and the rest of the cast were nominated for a SAG Award for "Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture."
Walsh's prolific feature film career includes work for many of the industry's most respected directors, including Sidney Lumet in "Power," Robert Towne in "Tequila Sunrise," David Mamet in "House of Games," Barry Levinson in "Tin Men" and "Good Morning, Vietnam," Ron Howard in "Backdraft," Rob Reiner in "A Few Good Men," Joel Schumacher in "The Client," Wolfgang Peterson in "Outbreak" and Oliver Stone in "Nixon." Among Walsh's other credits are "The Grifters," "Red Rock West," "The Big Picture," "Narrow Margin," "Hoffa," "Blue Chips," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Executive Action."
On television, Walsh most recently co-starred with Christine Lahti and Catherine O'Hara in TNT's telefeature, "Hope," which marked Goldie Hawn's directorial debut. Previously, he appeared in the television movies "Gang in Blue" for Showtime and "Crime of the Century" for HBO. Walsh was also a series regular in the role of Frank Bach, the ominous Navy Captain, in "Dark Skies."
On stage, Walsh began acting in Off-Broadway productions, among them "Ice," "Half a Lifetime" and David Mamet's Obie Award-winning "American Buffalo." The turning point in Walsh's career came with his memorable performance as one of the corrupt realtors in the Broadway production of Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross."
Walsh died early in 1998.
REGINA TAYLOR (Karen Roman) has had major roles in "Courage Under Fire," "A Family Thing," "Clockers," "Losing Isaiah" and "Lean On Me."
On television, she was a series regular on "Feds" as well as in "I'll Fly Away," for which she received the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Dramatic Television Series. She also received the NAACP Image Award and was nominated for an Emmy for her role in that series.
Taylor has additionally appeared in two episodes of "Law and Order." Her made-for-television movies and miniseries include "Children of the Dust," "Making the Case for Murder: The Howard Beach Story," "Crisis at Central High," "Concealed Enemies" and "Nurse."
On stage, Taylor has appeared in Broadway productions of "Romeo and Juliet," "As You Like It" and "Macbeth." Her Off-Broadway credits include "The Love of Don," "The Illusion," "Doctor Faustus," "Map of the World" and "The Box." She was also a company member of the New York Shakespeare Festival Players.
Among Taylor's regional theater credits are "The Heliotrope Bouquet" and "All's Well That Ends Well" at the Center Stage; and "For Colored Girls...," "King Lear," "Boseman and Lena" and "The Tempest" at the La Jolla Playhouse, the last of which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She is a also a Greer Garson Award recipient.
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