The Spanish Prisoner - About The Cast

The Spanish Prisoner: About The Cast

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CAMPBELL SCOTT (Joe Ross) shared the Critics Prize at the 1996 Deauville Film Festival for co-directing "Big Night" with Stanley Tucci. Scott studied with Stella Adler and Geraldine Page and made his stage debut in a summer stock production of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1985. His many Broadway and off-Broadway appearances include O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness" and "Long Day's Journey into Night," and he recently starred in the Williamstown production of "Dead End." His films include Tony Bill's "Five Corners," Norman Rene's "Longtime Companion," Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Sheltering Sky," Kenneth Branagh's "Dead Again," Joel Schumacher's "Dying Young," Cameron Crowe's "Singles," John Schlesinger's "The Innocent," Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," Greg Mottola's "The Daytrippers," which he also executive produced, and Stanley Tucci's upcoming comedy "Ship of Fools." He recently completed the Hallmark Hall of Fame telefilm "The Love Letter" and is about to begin filming Roger Hedden's "Hi Life."

REBECCA PIDGEON (Susan Ricci) has combined successful careers as both an actress and singer/songwriter. Currently appearing in the Broadway production of husband David Mamet's play "The Old Neighborhood," she had previously starred in his plays "Oleanna" in New York, "Speed-the-Plow" at the Royal National Theatre in London and in his film "Homicide" and TV movie, "The Water Engine." Her other stage credits include "School for Scandal" at Cambridge Theatre Company and "The Changeling," "When We Were Women" and "Bow Down" at the Royal National Theatre. As a singer, Pidgeon has recorded two albums with the British folk/pop band Ruby Blue and three on her label, Chesky Records: "The Raven," "The New York Girl's Club," and the upcoming "Four Marys." She also composed the music for Mamet's film version of "Oleanna." Pidgeon can be seen in the film "The Dawning," with Anthony Hopkins and Hugh Grant, and the TV movie "She's Been Away," with Peggy Ashcroft.

BEN GAZZARA (Klein) was born in Manhattan, the son of Sicilian immigrants. He attended the City College of New York, the New School for Social Research, and became a member of the Actor's Studio in its early years. Gazzara received critical acclaim for his stage debut as Jock de Paris in "End as a Man," and had his film debut in 1957 in the filmed version, "The Strange One." His next film role was in Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder" with James Stewart and Lee Remick in 1959. Gazzara is perhaps best known for his work with maverick film director John Cassavetes in "Husbands," "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie," and "Opening Night." For director Peter Bogdanovich, Gazzara appeared in "Saint Jack" and "They All Laughed." Among Gazzara's many other films are "Voyage of the Damned," "Tales of Ordinary Madness," and "Roadhouse." In 1990, he directed his first motion picture, "Beyond the Ocean," filmed entirely on the island of Bali. Gazzara currently lives in Italy, where he has acted in films directed by Marco Ferreri, Pasquale Festa Campanile and Giuseppe Tornatore, among others. Gazzara first appeared on television in the highly regarded live programs "Philco Playhouse," and "Playhouse 90." Among his other television credits are the popular 1950's series "Run for Your Life" and the acclaimed television movie "An Early Frost," for which he received an Emmy nomination. Throughout his career, Gazzara has continued to appear in theater. For director Elia Kazan, he starred in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and his other stage appearances include "A Hatful of Rain," "Strange Interlude," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "Love Letters," and "Chinese Coffee." Upcoming are roles in Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Big Lebowski" and Todd Solondz's untitled new film.

FELICITY HUFFMAN (McCune) is a member of a recurring group of David Mamet players, having been directed by the playwright off-Broadway in "Cryptogram" and "Dangerous Corner," and in his film "Things Change." She has also been directed by Mamet regulars William H. Macy in the "Joy of Going" and Gregory Mosher in "Oh, Hell!" and "Speed-the-Plow." Huffman studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and at the American Academy of Drama. On television, she has had regular roles in "Jules," "The Human Factor," "Golden Years," and "Thunder Alley" and has made guest appearances on the series "Early Edition," "Chicago Hope," "The X-Files" and "Law and Order." Huffman also starred in the television movies "Quicksand," "Heart of Justice" and David Mamet's "The Water Engine."

STEVE MARTIN (Jimmy Dell), the TV and movie comic, has written a number of acclaimed plays and films, from his 1978 Oscar-nominated short, "The Absent-Minded Waiter," to "The Jerk," "L.A. Story," and his modernized scripts of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Silas Marner" as "Roxanne" and "A Simple Twist of Fate." Born in Waco, Texas, and raised in California, he got his start in show business at age ten by selling guidebooks and performing magic tricks at Disneyland. After majoring in philosophy in college, he wrote for television comedy shows, winning an Emmy for his work on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," before performing his own material and becoming a star on "Saturday Night Live." His comedy albums, "Let's Get Small" and "A Wild and Crazy Guy," won Grammy Awards and his single "King Tut" became a gold record. Martin also collected writing and acting awards for the films "Roxanne" (L.A. Film Critics Award for Best Actor) and "All of Me" (N.Y. Film Critics Award for Best Actor). In 1988, he starred in Mike Nichols's stage production of "Waiting for Godot," opposite Robin Williams, at New York's Lincoln Center. Martin's first play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," was produced by the Steppenwolf Company in Chicago and off-Broadway, and four of his one-act plays were staged by New York's Joseph Papp Public Theater in 1995. Martin will next star with Goldie Hawn in a new version of Neil Simon's classic comedy "The Out-of-Towners."

RICKY JAY (George Lang) has performed on stage and television on five continents as a sleight-of-hand artist. His one man show, "Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants" (directed by David Mamet), set records as the fastest-selling attraction in Off-Broadway history and garnered Jay the Lucille Ortel and Obie Awards. He can be seen in the numerous recent broadcasts of the HBO version of the show. A professional magician for 40 years, Jay is recognized as one of the most adept manipulators of playing cards in the world. Jay has teamed memorably with Mamet on Mamet's films "House of Games," "Things Change" and "Homicide." He can currently be seen as the cameraman in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights" and upcoming in the new James Bond film "Tommorow Never Dies." Through his consulting firm Deceptive Practices, Jay has provided expertise to such productions as "Forrest Gump," "Congo," "I Love Trouble," "Leap of Faith" and "Sneakers." An historian in the fields of deception and unusual entertainment, Jay is the author of The Magic Magic Book, Many Mysteries Unraveled, Cards As Weapons, the ongoing Jay's Journals of Anomalies and Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, which became the basis for a television special which Jay wrote, hosted and produced.

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