Occupation: Actor Date of Birth: 10.03.73 Years Active: 1993-2008 Genre: Drama, Comedy, Horror, Musical, Thriller
Born October 3, 1973, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Neve Campbell knew she was meant to be on the stage, but not, as many would assume, as an actor. From the age of six, Campbell trained as a dancer, earning a place with the National Ballet School of Canada when she was just nine years old. However, her ambitions to be a professional dancer were cut short by a series of injuries, leading her to pursue an acting career. Campbell got her first break on the 1992 Canadian television series Catwalk, from which she garnered stateside attention. After a string of minor films, Campbell eventually landed the role of Julia Salinger on the TV series Party of Five (1994). While the program was being saved from cancellation by a massive base of fan support, Campbell was finding work in film, first in the teenage coven classic The Craft (1996). Next came a lead role in Wes Craven's horror flick Scream (1996), a huge success that would define American teen films for years to come. It was duly followed up the next year by Scream 2, which, like its predecessor, proved to be enormously popular. In 1998, Campbell appeared in three wildly divergent films, ranging from the small Canadian independent Hair Shirt to 54 to Wild Things, in which Campbell and Denise Richards starred as two high schoolers with morally questionable extracurricular activities. With the concurrent successes of these films and her television work, Campbell has proven herself to be a rare kind of performer, moving effortlessly from television to film and back, without the negative connotations experienced by previous generations of actors. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Occupation: Actor Date of Birth: 05.21.74 Years Active: 1985-2009 Genre: Drama, Comedy
Former child actress Fairuza Balk started her screen career at the age of 11 when she starred as Dorothy in Return to Oz (1985). A sweet-faced child with dark hair and striking blue eyes, Balk -- whose first name means "turquoise" in Persian -- was summarily typecast in sugary roles in television movies. She spent some time in England making films and got a chance at more adult fare in 1989 when she played easily deflowered convent girl Cecile DeVolanges in Milos Forman's Valmont. Balk subsequently returned to the U.S. and, at the age of 18, she earned some of the greatest acclaim of her young career for her portrayal of Shade, a sensitive girl growing up in a dead-end New Mexico town, in Gas, Food, Lodging (1992), the esteemed directorial debut of Alison Anders. Following further TV and film work, Balk earned a certain degree of cult status with her starring role as a psychotic teenage witch in The Craft (1996). In keeping with the goth image fostered by her role in the film, Balk subsequently bought Panpipes, a famed Hollywood occult shop. In 1998, the actress ventured into more mainstream territory as the girlfriend of Adam Sandler in the smash comedy The Waterboy. That same year, she earned plaudits playing another girlfriend, this time in American History X, which cast her as the love interest of a neo-Nazi (Edward Norton). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Occupation: Actor Date of Birth: 06.19.72 Years Active: 1992-2008 Genre: Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy Drama, Mystery
Looking as though she hails from an Irish Spring commercial, green-eyed, dewy-skinned actress Robin Tunney became known in the 1990s for her work in a number of teen and independent films. A native of Chicago's South Side, where she attended Catholic high school, Tunney studied acting at the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. She spent her summers performing in such stage productions as Bus Stop and Agnes of God. At the age of 18, Tunney moved to Los Angeles, where she began finding work on various television shows. The actress made her screen debut in the 1992 Brendan Fraser/Pauly Shore comedy Encino Man. She had her first lead role in the teen ensemble film Empire Records (1995), playing a suicidal record store employee who announces her presence in the film by walking into the store and shaving her head. A year later, Tunney starred as a member of a group of high school misfits who use witchcraft to take revenge on their tormenters in The Craft. Sort of a Sixteen Candles meets Carrie, the film proved to be a cult hit, particularly with teenage girls. Tunney subsequently made her name in independent dramas and mainstream films alike, doing particularly strong work in Niagara Niagara, earning the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actress, for her portrayal of a young woman with Tourette's Syndrome. In 1999, she entered into the realm of bloated budgets and equally bloated plot premises, starring as Satan's intended bride alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in End of Days. That same year, she played a 22nd century paramedic in Supernova, a sci-fi thriller that had her racing against time to escape from an exploding star. After braving icy mountains in the adventure nail-biter Vertical Limit (2000) Tunney would turn-up as a fantasy prone animator placed under house arrest after the mysterious hit and run death of a police officer in the comedy thriller Cherish (2002). In the wake of The In-Laws, Tunney would carry an impressive collection of independent thrillers including Paparazzi, Runaway, and The Zodiac, with a continuing role on the popular television drama Prison Break serving well to offer steady employment while letting her chose her film roles as she saw fit. A supporting role in frequent television director Allen Coulter's feature debut Hollywoodland found Tunney joining an impressive cast that included Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins, and Adrien Brody to explore the mysterious last days of television Superman George Reevs. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
The Japanese account of the dragon is very similar to that of the Chinese. The Japanese also believe that the dragon had its origins in their country. Again they know that the dragon has a tendency to travel and the farther it travels, the more toes it grows. By the time it reached Korea it had four and by the time it got to China it had five. Again this is the reason it never made it much farther than China. It kept growing toes and could not walk any further.
The Koreans tell a similar story of the dragon. They of course know that the dragon began with them. Probably just like they know that karate began in Korea. The Korean dragon has always had four toes. When the dragon travels East or North, it loses toes. When it travels South or West it gains toes. This explains why the Japanese dragon has three toes and the Chinese dragon has five toes. It also explains why the dragon never made it to Europe or the Americas. As it traveled West to Europe, it grew so many toes that it could no longer walk. As it traveled East to the Americas, it lost all of its toes and could no longer walk.
The Western type of dragon has been variously described, and individual dragons had their own unique forms. They appeared to be created from parts of various creatures, with the result that in general, they were described as having eagle's feet and wings, lion's forelimbs and head, fish's scales, antelope's horns and a serpentine form of trunk and tail, which occasionally extended to the head.
In parts of Africa where the dragon is also considered as an evil power, the monster was believed to be the result of the unnatural union of an eagle and a she-wolf.
The destructive powers of the dragon derived from it's fiery breath, which can devastate whole countries. Dragon's eyes also have this fiery red quality, sometimes believed to reflect the treasures they guarded.
Later traditions believed that misers would assume the form of dragons by constantly gloating over their treasure.
The dragon fears nothing except the elephant with whom he will engage in battle, entwining himself around the elephant and inflicting fatal blows. However, as the elephant finally collapses, his fall crushes the dragon to death.
The dragon is supposedly the enemy of the sun and the moon, both in Eastern and Western mythology, and is believed to be responsible for eclipses. These occur when the dragon is attempting to swallow either of the heavenly bodies; which accounts for the dragon's appearance in primitive astronomy.
In Armenian traditions, the fire and lightning god had powers to stay the dragon's control of the heavens, as could thunderbolts in Macedonian myth. A dead man was thought to become a dragon, while dragons were believed to be the guardians of treasures in burial chambers.
Because the dragon was the natural enemy of man, his death became the ultimate goal, consequently there are innumerable battles between gods and dragons, saints and dragons, and in the medieval world, knights and dragons.
In Greek legends, the dragon fought on the side of the Titans and attacked Athena, who flung him into the heavens, where he became a constellation around the Pole Star.
Hercules encountered, and killed the dragon Ladon while fulfilling his eleventh labor.
In Scandinavian literature, Beowulf was slain by a dragon.
Dragons, Snakes, and Pearls are symbols for human DNA, Fire representing soul sparks of light emanating from the flame of creation.
Dragons are winged beings portrayed in the ancient mythologies of most cultures. They link with winged gods from the heavens who came to Earth to create the human race and are very important symbology in the creational blueprint of our reality.
Much of dragon lore tells us that dragons were loathsome beasts and evil enemies to humankind. But dragons were born of a time other than men; a time of chaos; a time of creation out of destruction. The dragon is a fabulous and universal symbolic figure found in most cultures thought the world.
Some examples of the symbology of the dragon are:
- Gnostics: "The way through all things."
- Alchemy: "A winged dragon - the volatile elements; without wings - the fixed elements."
- Chinese: "The spirit of the way"' bringing eternal change.
- Guardian of the 'Flaming Pearl" symbol of spiritual perfection and powerful amulet of luck.
The early Chinese believed in four magical, spiritual and benevolent animals; the Dragon, the Phoenix, the Tortoise and the Unicorn. The Dragon was the most revered of all. In it's claws it holds an enormous magical pearl, which has the power to multiply whatever it touches. The ancients believed the "pearl" symbolized the most precious treasure; Wisdom.
Many legends say they were fabulous animals usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws. - also - a monster, represented usually as a gigantic reptile breathing fire and having a lion's claws, the tail of a serpent, wings and scaly skin.
The various figures now called dragons most likely have no single origin, but spontaneously came to be in several different cultures around the world, based loosely on the appearance of a snake and possibly fossilized dinosaur remains. Mythology about dragons appear in the traditions of virtually all peoples back to the beginning of time - though dragons appeared in various forms.
Among their earliest forms, dragons were associated with the Great Mother, the water god and the warrior sun god. In these capacities they had the power to be both beneficent and destructive and were all-powerful creatures in the universe. Because of these qualities, dragons assumed the roles taken by Osiris and Set in Egyptian mythology.
By the time of the early Egyptian period a considerable dragon- and serpent-worshipping cult had developed. This cult gradually spread to Babylon, India, the Orient, the Pacific Islands, and finally the North American continent, as more and more cultures began to recognize and appreciate the special powers and intelligence of dragons. The cult reached its peak during the days of the Roman Empire and disappeared with the advent of Christianity.
The dragon's form arose from his particular power of control over the waters of the earth and gave rise to many of the attributes singled out by different peoples as the whole myth developed.
They were believed to live at the bottom of the sea, where they guarded vast treasure hoards, very frequently of pearls.
Rain clouds and thunder and lightning were believed to be the dragon's breath, hence the fire-breathing monster.
The significance of the dragon was its control over the destiny of mankind.
As the myth developed in the western world, dragons came to represent the chaos of original matter with the result that with man's awakening conscience a struggle arose, and the created order constantly challenged the dragon's power. This type of dragon was considered by many to be the intermediate stage between a demon and the Devil and as such came into Christian belief.
However, in the Eastern world the dragon adopted a rather different significance. He was essentially benevolent, son of heaven, and controlled the watery elements of the universe.
Dragons have been an integral part of the culture of the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese peoples since the beginning of recorded history. In China they are used to mark the stairways over which only the Emperor could be carried. In Japan they are used in Buddhist temples both as decoration and as fountain heads for purification before worship. In many cases the dragon is combined with the phoenix to symbolize long life and prosperity. It is also combined with the tiger to represent heaven and earth or inyo (Yin and Yang).
The male dragon holds a war club in its tail while the female dragon holds a sensu or fan in its tail. One of the problems lies in that you cannot always see the tail or tell the difference between the fan or the war club.
The Chinese dragon is a central figure of both good and evil in their fables and legends. According to the Chinese the dragon originated in their middle kingdom and has always had five toes. The dragon by nature is a gregarious creature who wanders the earth.
However, the farther it goes from China, the more toes it loses. Hence, when it reached Korea it only had four toes and by the time it got to Japan it only had three. This also explains why it never made it to Europe or the Americas in that by the time it got that far it had lost all of its toes and could not walk.
