Photo by Aubrey Reuben
Source: playbill.com

Sutton Foster
(1975 - )

She performed in the ensembles of the Broadway companies of LES MISERABLES, GREASE, ANNIE and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL before getting her big break in 2002 when she was cast as the lead in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. She was understudying the role during the pre-Broadway run in San Francisco when the original leading lady dropped out. In very 42nd STREET-like fashion, the relative unknown "came back a star" garnering rave reviews and that year's Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

She played another spunky heroine, Jo March, in the musical adaptation of LITTLE WOMAN with Maureen McGovern as Marmee.  While not a successful as MILLIE, Foster's soaring rendition of the ballad "Astonishing" was a nightly crowd pleaser.

Her comedic abilities shone full force in her next two roles -- famous movie star and bride-to-be Janet in the smash hit THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and the doctor's sexy lab assistant Inga in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

She is currently appearing as Princess Fiona, the green ogre's beloved, in Broadway's latest hit, SHREK THE MUSICAL.

On TV, she has appeared as Tina in JOHNNY & THE SPRITES opposite her SHREK co-star John Tartaglia (Pinocchio) and  Bret's girlfriend Coco in the HBO series THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.

Source: Britannica.com

While on contract at 20th Century-Fox, he landed good supporting and lead roles in many popular musicals of the day including LILLIAN RUSSELL, MOON OVER MIAMI, DOWN ARGENTINA WAY, and THAT NIGHT IN RIO.

But possibly his best known film role was the title character in the non-musical THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, a very Hollywood version of the inventor of the telephone.  The film was such a success that referring to a phone as an "Ameche" become a popular 40s slang term.

He enjoyed a tremendous following on radio, mostly from the hit program THE BICKERSONS with Frances Langford.

During the 50s-60s, he tackled the Broadway musical stage with roles in the hit SILK STOCKINGS and short-lived GOLDILOCKS, 13 DAUGHTERS and HENRY, SWEET HENRY.

Still performing well into his "golden years," he won the 1985 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for COCOON and appeared in the sequel COCOON: THE RETURN.  In one of his final films, he and Ralph Bellamy were the deliciously evil, wealthy Duke brothers who make a dollar bet that they can viciously ruin one of their employees (played by Dan Ackroyd) in the comedy TRADING PLACES. The Duke brothers (again played by Ameche and Bellamy) went on to make a cameo appearance in the Eddie Murphy comedy COMING TO AMERICA.

Next update to this page: Sunday, May 3, 2009