Bio's..what are they coming to? — Page 3

I don't care what their beliefs are - I don't want to hear about them.

I don't care about their family - I don't want to hear about them.


Haven Burton's bio is really just because she has only one professional credit and wanted to fluff it up with nonsense to fill up the 50 word limit.

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Updated On: 5/8/09 at 10:42 PM

^ Religion and family are different things. I just don't think it's necessary to say that you are thanking God.

How are they different? I don't think it's necessary to thank every member of your family by name, but people still do and I deal.


Thank you, LePetiteFromage, you said what I meant, but better.

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Updated On: 2/9/08 at 10:53 PM

While it's really neither here nor there...

Barbra Streisand's Bio from I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE
Not a member of the Actor's Studio, Miss Streisand is 19 and this is her first Broadway show. Born in Madagascar and reared in Rangoon, she attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. She appeared Off-Broadway in a one-nighter entitled "Another Evening With Harry Stoones". She has appeared at New York's two best-known supper clubs, the Bon Soir and the Blue Angel, and has been on Mike Wallace's PM East and the Jack Paar Show. (Later Streisand would change the second line to "Born in Zanzibar and reared in Aruba)

Barbra Streisand's Bio from FUNNY GIRL
In addition to having appeared off-Broadway, on Broadway and away-from-Broadway, in nightclubs, on television and on the concert stage, Barbra Streisand is the recipient of CUE magazine's Entertainer of the Year Award. A top recording star, a talented interior decorator, dress designer and portrait painter, she also plays field hockey. Her performance in the musical I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE stopped the show, and was much admired by the critics, the public, and the show's leading man, Elliot Gould, who married her. Barbra is a follower of Eastern philosophy and cooking but also favors TV dinners on occasion. She is a reknowned collector of antigue clothes shoes and fans. Her favorite flower is the gardenia since it is the only scent that can never be captured. Her favorite day of the week is Tuesday, since she spends part of each Tuesday thoughout the year to stringing crystal beads which are sold in a Vermont general store. She knows how to make coffee ice cream and to fix her own hair. For more personal information, write to her mother.

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I hate when actors list the name of the director in parentheses after the title of each show. I don't care if Spamalot was directed by Mike Nichols; that doesn't make it okay that you were in it.

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"I never got any swag... Maybe LA-area theatre doesn't count. :-P (And I do leave it off a lot, too.)"

It took me a long time to get it. I think the key is that an Equity rep has to come see your show and when they get the Playbill they put all the people who mention Equity on a list. I can't say for sure if it's only done in the Eastern region.

But here there's an urban legend that on the West Coast the deputies get a little plastic badge with their paperwork kit. We would like to know why we don't get those.

I've never thought overly much about bios. As others have said - it's a chance to share credits and sometimes a bit of their own personality. There usually has to be some degree of editing involved (some people have too many credits to list them in the limited space) - so it shows what they want to share.

Don't often read a bio and do a double-take, but I did recently. Can't remember whose it was, but it seemed to be a "standard" bio - listing credits separated into Broadway, Regional, TV, etc. But next to next to "Regional:" it said "Yes." Heehee. Took me a second to get it, but I think that's cute. Acknowledged that there's been regional theater on their resume, but didn't feel like listing it.

I agree with those who have said that an actor's bio is theirs to do whatever they please. It's an awfully foolish thing to get worked up about.

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I remember the playbill to "Sugar Babies" starring Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney.

Ms Miller wrote a 2 page bio (the Producers had to pay extra to Playbill to handle her extra large bio).

Mickey's on the other hand was one sentence. It read something like "Mr. Rooney has been working on stage and screen for over 50 years". And that was all. I thought that showed such class.

Updated On: 2/11/08 at 02:54 PM

wow. on a side note, I have to say that I can't believe Alexander never won an emmy for George Costanza.

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massofmen, I have to admit that your example made me laugh.

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I like it.

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