Who is Franklin Caliendo?

Who is Franklin  Caliendo? The entertainment and comedy world knows Frank Caliendo  as an American comedian and impressionist, best known for his work on the Fox Network television series MADtv, and has been the in-house prognosticator for Fox NFL Sunday. In 2007 and 2008, he performed his impersonations on his own show, Frank TV, which aired on TBS. He is known for his impressions of Charles Barkley, NFL color commentator John Madden, sportscaster Jim Rome, comedian Robin Williams, actor William Shatner, and United States Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and for his frequent appearances on The Bob & Tom Show. He has performed as many as 120 impressions. He currently has a show in Las Vegas.

Biography

Early life and career

Caliendo was born January 19, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he attended Waukesha South High School. He is of Italian ancestry.^[2] After graduation from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Caliendo began performing stand-up comedy, taking a job as a master of ceremonies at a local comedy club. Within a year he was headlining. He made his network series debut on the 2000-2001 sketch comedy series Hype. He gained significant national exposure on the comedy series MADtv.
Caliendo has performed stand-up on such series as cable's Premium Blend, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, The View, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
His signature 'John Madden' impression is frequently seen on Fox NFL Sunday, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Mohr Sports. Caliendo has also appeared on Comedy Central's Comedy Central Presents, as well as many radio shows, including the WDVE Morning Show with Jim Krenn and Randy Bauman in Pittsburgh PA, The Dan Le Batard Show, The Junkies, Bob & Sheri, The Bob & Tom Show, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Opie and Anthony, The Don and Mike Show, Rise Guys, Bubba the Love Sponge, The John Boy and Billy Big Show, The Howard Stern Show, Mike and the Mad Dog, Elliot in the Morning, The Sports Inferno, The Rick and Bubba Show, The Roe Conn Show, Preston and Steve, The Glenn Beck Program, and Holmberg's Morning Sickness, and Lamont & Tonelli on 107.7 The Bone in San Francisco.

Frank TV

For two short seasons, Caliendo starred on Frank TV, his own sketch show on the TBS that began airing in November 2007. Frank was its host and performed in sketches in full makeup as characters he impersonated. Frank joked that he "wanted the show to be called The Chappelle Show [ sic ], but the lawyers wouldn't allow it," referring to the publicity he would likely receive from naming his show after another popular comedian.
In early 2008, TBS announced that they ordered eight more episodes, which ran later that year.^[3] The show ended after the fifteenth episode, which aired on December 23, 2008.

MADtv

Caliendo officially joined the cast of MADtv in 2001 as a repertory performer, for the seventh season, and as MADtv's equivalent to Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond. In 2002, Caliendo replaced Will Sasso as the impersonator of George W. Bush, but he won audience members over with an offbeat impersonation of former Fox sports announcer John Madden and also many other Fox personalities. Both became some of the cast member's most popular impressions on MADtv, and were featured quite prominently during his tenure. Frank also did the announcing for the best of scenes on the MADtv season 1 DVD, and the announcing for the Season 2 DVD release which was cancelled due to poor sales of the first season DVD.
In August 2006, Caliendo announced he would not return to MADtv for its 2006-2007 season.

Fox NFL Sunday

On November 5, 2000, Caliendo appeared on Fox NFL Sunday, as a guest to comedian Jimmy Kimmel. He performed his increasingly noteworthy John Madden impression and was well-received. He returned again the same season on January 7 during the playoffs.
In 2001 and 2002, Caliendo returned as a semi-regular guest on Fox NFL Sunday. He frequently appeared impersonating Madden or occasionally as pundit Jim Rome during some of Kimmel's prognostication skits. At times he appeared live in the studio with the main hosts.
In 2003, Kimmel departed the program, and Caliendo was named his permanent replacement. As the prognosticator for the NFL on Fox, he gives his predictions ("Cold Hard Picks") for the day's NFL games. Typically these come during a skit (usually a one-man skit), where he does one of his famous impersonations. For example, for the first week's Fox NFL Sunday of the 2006 NFL season, he impersonated James Brown, who left the show in the off-season to join The NFL Today on CBS. He also imitates the cast of Fox NFL Sunday on occasion, most frequently Terry Bradshaw.

The Comebacks

Caliendo appeared in the 2007 film The Comebacks. He impersonates John Madden and Al Michaels in the championship game between the Comebacks and The Unbeatables. His Character is "Chip Imitation".

White House Correspondent's Dinner

Caliendo’s impression of President George W. Bush earned him an invitation to perform during the 2007 annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

The Comedy Festival Presents: Funniest Movies of the Year 2008

During The Comedy Festival Caliendo hosted a special called The Comedy Festival Presents: Funniest Movies of the Year 2008 where, from Caesars Palace, Caliendo introduced the top ten list for funniest films of 2008 based on an Internet poll.

Television and film appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	The Comedy Festival Presents: Funniest Movies of the Year 2008	Himself/Host
	Fox NFL Sunday	Various	2000-present
2007	The Comebacks	Chip Imitation
	The 2007 White House Correspondents Dinner	Himself
	Frank TV	Host: Various	2007-2008
	Frank Caliendo; All Over the Place	Himself
2005	Mind of Mencia	George W. Bush	Voice Only
2004	Comedy Central Presents	Himself
	National Lampoon Live: New Faces - Volumes 1 & 2	Himself/host
	Wisconsin Born & Bred: The Entertainers	Himself
2001	MADtv	Himself-Various	Appeared in 117 Episodes (2001-2006)
	Late Friday	Himself
2000	Hype	Himself-Various

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Who is Keanu Charles Reeves?

Who is Keanu Charles Reeves? The entertainment and acting world know Keanu Reeves as a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix. He has worked under major directors, such as Stephen Frears (in the 1988 period drama Dangerous Liaisons); Gus Van Sant (in the 1991 independent film My Own Private Idaho, also written by Van Sant); and Bernardo Bertolucci (in the 1993 film Little Buddha). Referencing his 1991 film releases, The New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Reeves' versatility, saying that he "displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanour that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles."^[1]
In addition to his film roles, Reeves has also performed in theatre. His performance in the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet was praised by Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times, who declared Reeves "...one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he is Hamlet." On January 31, 2005, Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A 2006 ET online survey placed him in the "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".

Early life

Reeves was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist.^[2] Reeves' mother is English, and his father is a Hawaiian-born American of English, Irish, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Chinese descent.^[3][4] Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Reeves' father worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaii for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport.^[5] He abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was three years old, and Reeves does not currently have any relationship with him.^[5]
Reeves moved around the world frequently as a child and he lived with various stepfathers. After his parents divorced in 1966, his mother became a costume designer and moved the family to Australia and then to New York City. There she met and married Paul Aaron, a Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple moved to Toronto; they divorced in 1971. Reeves' mother married Robert Miller, a rock promoter, in 1976; the couple divorced in 1980. She subsequently married her fourth husband, Jack Bond, a hairdresser, a marriage that broke up in 1994. Grandparents and nannies babysat Reeves and his sisters, and Reeves grew up primarily in Toronto. Within a span of five years, he attended four different high schools, including the Etobicoke School of the Arts, from which he was later expelled. Reeves stated he was expelled "...because I was greasy and running around a lot. I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school. I was just getting in their way, I guess."
Reeves excelled more in hockey than in academics, as his educational development was challenged by dyslexia. He was a successful goalie at one of his high schools (De La Salle College "Oaklands"). His team nicknamed him "The Wall," and voted him MVP. While Reeves dreamed of becoming an Olympic hockey player for Canada, an injury ended his hopes for a hockey career. After leaving De La Salle College, he attended an anarchistic free school (Avondale Alternative), which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor; he later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.
In January 2011, on the BBC program 'The One Show', he spoke of his English ancestry, via his mother, mentioning his happy watching of 'The Two Ronnies' comedy show amongst others when younger, and how his mother imparted English manners that he still has today.

Career

1980s

Reeves began his acting career at the age of nine, appearing in a theater production of Damn Yankees. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves made his screen acting debut in a CBC Television comedy series entitled Hangin' In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one for Coca-Cola), short films including the NFB drama One Step Away^[6] and stage work such as Brad Fraser's cult hit Wolfboy in Toronto. In 1984, he was a correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV youth program Going Great.^[7]
Reeves' first studio movie appearance was in the Rob Lowe ice hockey film Youngblood, in which he played a Québécois goalie. Shortly after the movie's release, Reeves drove to Los Angeles in his 1969 Volvo. His ex-stepfather Paul Aaron, a stage and television director, had convinced Erwin Stoff to be Reeves' manager and agent before he even arrived in Los Angeles. Stoff has remained Reeves' manager, and has coproduced many of his films. After a few minor roles, Reeves received a more sizable role in the 1986 drama film River's Edge, which depicted how a murder affected a group of teens. Following this film's critical success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including Permanent Record, and the unexpectedly successful 1989 comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which, along with its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, typecast Reeves as a spaced-out teen. Much of his portrayal in the press and much of the response to his acting in the early 1990s still mentioned his portrayal of the airheaded Ted.

1990s

During the early 1990s, Reeves started to break out of his teen-film period. He appeared in high-budget action films like Point Break, for which he won MTV's "Most Desirable Male" award in 1992. He was also involved in various lower-budget independent films, including the well-received 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho with his close friend, the late River Phoenix. In 1994, Reeves' career reached a new high as a result of his starring role in the action film Speed. His casting in the film was controversial since, except for Point Break, he was primarily known for comedies and indie dramas. He had never been the sole headliner on a film. The summer action film had a fairly large budget and was helmed by novice cinematographer-turned-director Jan de Bont. The unexpected international success of the film made Reeves and co-star Sandra Bullock into A-List stars.
Reeves' career choices after Speed were eclectic: despite his successes, Reeves continued to accept supporting roles and appear in experimental films. He scored a hit with a romantic lead role in A Walk in the Clouds. He made news by refusing to take part in Speed 2: Cruise Control and choosing to play the title role in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba.^[8] Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times critic, wrote, "He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark...He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he *is* Hamlet."^[9]

Reeves' other choices after A Walk in the Clouds, however, failed with critics and audiences. Big-budget films such as the sci-fi action film Johnny Mnemonic and the action-thriller Chain Reaction were critically panned and failed at the box office, while indie films like Feeling Minnesota were also critical failures. Reeves started to climb out of his career low after starring in the horror/drama The Devil's Advocate alongside Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. Reeves deferred his salary for The Devil's Advocate so that Pacino would be cast, as he would do later for the less successful The Replacements, guaranteeing the casting of Gene Hackman. The Devil's Advocate did well at the box office, received good reviews, and proved that Reeves could play a grown-up with a career, although many critics felt that his poor performance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable movie. The 1999 science fiction-action hit The Matrix, a film in which Reeves had a starring role, was a box office success and attracted positive reviews.

2000s

In between the first Matrix film and its sequels, Reeves received positive reviews for his portrayal of an abusive husband in The Gift. Aside from The Gift, Reeves appeared in several films that received mostly negative reviews and unimpressive box office grosses, including The Watcher, Sweet November and The Replacements. However, the two Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Something's Gotta Give, and the 2005 horror-action film, Constantine, proved to be box office successes and brought Reeves back into the public spotlight.
His appearance in the 2006 film, A Scanner Darkly, based on the dystopian science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, received favorable reviews, and The Lake House, his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, did not do well at the box office. He went on to play the lead character in two 2008 films, Street Kings and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In February 2009 The Private Life of Pippa Lee was presented at Berlinale.^{[citation needed]}

2010s

Reeves started filming the surrealist romantic comedy Henry's Crime in December 2009, with filming set to wrap in early 2010. After this he will be starting work as producer and star on the science-fiction space drama Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts.^[10]
In January 2009, it was revealed that Reeves will star in the live-action film adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop,^[11][12] slated for release in 2011. Other upcoming projects include the samurai film 47 Ronin, Chef - story by Reeves and written by Steven Knight, and a modern retelling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, scripted by Justin Haythe and titled Jekyll. Nicolas Winding Refn is in negotiations to direct and was later replaced by Dennis Iliadis and produced by Universal Pictures.^[13]
In April 2011 Reeves confirmed that a third installment of the Bill & Ted movie series was underway.^[14]

Personal life and other interests

For nearly a decade following his initial rise to stardom, Reeves preferred to live in rental houses and hotels. He was a long-term resident of the Chateau Marmont. Reeves bought his first house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles around 2003. He also has an apartment on Central Park West in New York City.
He is a U.S. citizen through his American father, and also holds Canadian citizenship by naturalization; he grew up as a Canadian and identifies as such. Due to April 2003 changes in the law, he is entitled to British citizenship through his English mother.

Jennifer Syme

Reeves has never married.^[15] In December 1999, his girlfriend Jennifer Syme gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves. Syme died in 2001, a sole driver involved in an automobile wreck, while partying in Los Angeles.^[16]
Reeves was sued unsuccessfully in 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court for $711,974^[17] by paparazzo Alison Silva for allegedly hitting and injuring him with his Porsche after visiting a relative at a Los Angeles medical facility.^[18][19] The paparazzo's lawsuit took a year and a half to make it to trial, during which time Silva continued to attack Reeves and demand payment. At the trial, all 12 jurors rejected the suit needing only an hour of deliberation to reach their verdict. With the lawsuit rejected, Reeves was cleared of all the charges.^[20]
In 2010, photos of a sad-looking Keanu Reeves eating a sandwich while alone led to the spread of the "Keanu is Sad/Sad Keanu" Internet meme and the declaration of June 15 as "Unofficial Cheer-up Keanu Day" by a Facebook fanpage.^[21]

Music

Reeves played bass guitar in the grunge band Dogstar during the 1990s. In the 2000s, he performed with the band Becky.

Filmography

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Letting Go	Stereo Teen #1
	One Step Away	Ron Petrie
1986	Youngblood	Heaver
	Flying	Tommy Wernicke
	Young Again	Mike Riley, age 17
	Under the Influence	Eddie Talbot
	Act of Vengeance	Buddy Martin
	River's Edge	Matt
	Brotherhood of Justice	Derek
	Babes in Toyland	Jack
1988	Permanent Record	Chris Townsend
	The Prince of Pennsylvania	Rupert Marshetta
	The Night Before	Winston Connelly
	Dangerous Liaisons	Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny
1989	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure	Ted "Theodore" Logan
	Parenthood	Tod Higgins
1990	I Love You to Death	Marlon James
	Tune in Tomorrow	Martin Loader
1991	Point Break	FBI Special Agent John 'Johnny' Utah
	Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey	Ted "Theodore" Logan/Evil Ted
	My Own Private Idaho	Scott Favor
	Providence	Eric
1992	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Jonathan Harker
1993	Much Ado About Nothing	Don John
	Little Buddha	Prince Siddhartha/Lord Buddha
	Poetic Justice	Homeless Man	(Uncredited)
	Freaked	Ortiz the Dog Boy	(Uncredited)
	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	Julian Gitche
1994	Speed	Officer Jack Traven
1995	Johnny Mnemonic	Johnny
	A Walk in the Clouds	Sgt. Paul Sutton
1996	Chain Reaction	Eddie Kasalivich
	Feeling Minnesota	Jjaks Clayton
1997	The Last Time I Committed Suicide	Harry
	The Devil's Advocate	Kevin Lomax
1999	The Matrix	Thomas Anderson/Neo	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
	Me and Will	Himself
2000	The Replacements	Shane Falco
	The Watcher	David Allen Griffin
	The Gift	Donnie Barksdale
2001	Sweet November	Nelson Moss
	Hardball	Conor O'Neill
2003	The Matrix Reloaded	Thomas Anderson/Neo
	The Animatrix	Thomas Anderson/Neo
	The Matrix Revolutions	Thomas Anderson/Neo
	Something's Gotta Give	Dr. Julian Mercer
2005	Constantine	John Constantine
	Thumbsucker	Perry Lyman
	Ellie Parker	Himself
2006	The Lake House	Alex Wyler
	A Scanner Darkly	Bob Arctor
2008	Street Kings	Detective Tom Ludlow
	The Day the Earth Stood Still	Klaatu
2009	The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Chris Nadeau
2010	Passengers	Jim Preston
	Cartagena	Character Unknown
2011	Jekyll	Dr. Jekyll
	Cowboy Bebop	Spike Spiegel[10][11]
	Hanuman	Ram[19]

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Who is Cas Haley?

america's got talent

Who is Cas Haley? The entertainment and music world knows Cas Haley as an American singer/guitarist who was the runner-up on Season 2 of America's Got Talent. He also plays in the band Woodbelly, and plays both acoustic and electric guitar.

Career

Cas Haley was born December 27, 1980; Paris, Texas. His self-titled album charted as the #8 Best selling reggae album of 2008 on the Billboard Charts^[1]. His album is available at Best Buy stores nationwide and on iTunes.
In June 2009, it was announced that Haley & former Jah Roots lead singer, Josh Heinrichs, would release "Favorites", a collection of modern and classic reggae favorites redone by Haley and Heinrichs. Announced to be released in late summer 2009 by Big Karma Records, the album was postponed to due to producer Jim Slaton's unexpected death from a heart attack in August 2009. The album has since been released. The album was mastered by Rob Fraboni who also produced and mastered artists such as Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Etta James, etc...^[2]
In December 2009, Cas joined jamaican reggae artist Tanya Stephens to sing on a cover of "Wolfman's Brother" for the Phish reggae tribute album "Dub Like An Antelope - Legends of reggae celebrate Phish" The albums was released December 14 2009.
In June 2010, Haley toured Hawaii with Josh Heinrichs playing shows on Oahu & The Big Island. While on tour they appeared on several local radio programs and the television morning news portion of Hawaii News Now.^[3]
On June 3, 2010, Easy Star Records announced that they would be releasing Cas' much anticipated follow up album, "Connection". The album has a September 14, 2010 release date.^[4]

Personal life

Haley is married to Cassie Black and has a son

named Eben and a daughter named Nolah. He lived in Arlington, Texas previously, but has recently moved back to a small community outside of Paris, Texas.

 

Video

• Cas Haley & Josh Heinrichs on Hawaii News Now

America's Got Talent

After his audition, judge Piers Morgan said that Haley sang "Walking on the Moon" better than Sting.

Performances/Results

Week	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Result
Audition	Chicago	"Walking on the Moon"	The Police	Advanced
Vegas Verdicts	N/A	"Living for the City"	Stevie Wonder	Advanced
Top 20	Group 2	"Higher and Higher"	Jackie Wilson	Advanced
Top 10	N/A	"Bring it on Home to Me"	Sam Cooke	Advanced
Top 8	Heroes	"Easy"	Lionel Richie	Advanced
Top 4	Judges' Choice Contestant's Choice	"Can't Help Falling in Love" "Sir Duke"	UB-40 Stevie Wonder	N/A
Finale	Duets	"Red Red Wine"	UB-40 (duet)	Runner Up

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak			Certifications (sales threshold)
		US 200	US Reggae	Year End Reggae
2008	Cas Haley Released: February 14, 2008 Label: Big Karma Records Format: CD, digital download	8[5]	1	8[6]	US sales: 40,000[7][8]
2010	Connection Released: September 14, 2010 Label: Easy Star Records Format: CD, digital download	—	—	—
"—" denotes the single didn't chart.

Singles

Year	Single	Peak	Album
		US
2010	"Better"	—	Connection
"—" denotes the single didn't chart.

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