‘OPERATION CUPCAKE’
Cast Bios
DEAN CAIN (Colonel Griff Carson) – Dean Cain garnered international attention portraying a national icon on television, and he has since parlayed his craft into an accomplished film and producing career.
Cain starred in the drama “Our Child is Missing,” based on a true story about a small town that bands together to find a missing child. He also completed production on the independent comedy, “Five Dollars a Day” alongside Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet. The film follows the conservative son of a thrifty conman who begrudgingly joins his father on the road after being released from jail for one of his dad's earlier crimes.
Cain also starred in “Final Approach,” a Hallmark Channel Original Movie Event about a group of militant American terrorists aboard a doomed airliner. He was also seen in the controversial “September Dawn,” a love story written and directed by Cain’s father, Christopher Cain; the movie is set during a tense encounter between a wagon train of settlers and a renegade Mormon group.
Cain’s other film credits include “Out of Time,” opposite Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes, the independent film “Lost” and “Bailey’s Millions,” opposite Tim Curry. On the small screen, Cain has played guest roles on “CSI: Miami” and “Smallville.” He also starred in “Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness,” a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation on CBS and in the Hallmark Channel Original Movies, “The Gambler, The Girl and the Gunslinger,” “The Three Gifts” and “The Case for Christmas.” Cain’s other television credits include “The Perfect Husband,” “Clubhouse” opposite Christopher Lloyd, “Hope and Faith,” “Law and Order: SVU,” a recurring role on “Las Vegas,” a starring role in the NBC movie “10.5: Apocalypse” and the Lifetime Original Movies “A Christmas Wedding” and “Making Mr. Right.”
Cain’s shot to stardom came when he starred as Clark Kent/Superman in the highly acclaimed television series “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” He has also starred on the big screen in films such as “Rat Race” opposite Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green and John Cleese and “The Broken Hearts Club,” a romantic comedy that premiered with rave reviews at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.
Cain grew up in Malibu and made his feature film debut in 1984 in the critically acclaimed “The Stone Boy” with Robert Duvall and Glenn Close. An athlete at heart, he attended Princeton University, where he was an All-American football player and set three NCAA records for interceptions, two of which still stand today. After graduating as Princeton’s top athlete, he signed with the Buffalo Bills, but a knee injury ended his professional career before it began. He turned back to acting and starred in the police comedy “Best Men” with Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson, “Flight of Fancy,” the telefilms “Dog Boys,” “Rag and Bone,” “Christmas Rush,”
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“Futuresport” co-starring Wesley Snipes and Vanessa Williams, as well as the Hallmark Hall of Fame film “The Runaway” with Maya Angelou. Cain also spent a season playing Rick on the popular series “Beverly Hills 90210.”
In 1995, Dean added the title of producer to his résumé. His production credits include several smaller films and the hit syndicated series “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” which he also hosted. The show premiered as the highest rated original series on cable. He has also developed a number of series with Sony Pictures, including the reality-based “On Parole” and an instructional dance DVD starring choreographers Cris Judd and Eddie Garcia.
Cain currently resides in Los Angeles with his son Christopher.
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KRISTY SWANSON (Janet Carson) – Kristy Swanson is a talented actress best known for her starring role in the Twentieth Century Fox film “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The film remains a cult classic and was spun off into the popular WB television series, “Buffy.” Swanson is also well known for her performances in a number of iconic feature films including “Mannequin 2: On The Move,” “Dude Where’s My Car” and "Big Daddy.” Most recently, Swanson starred in “A Christmas Wish,” Hallmark Channel’s highest rated original movie for the 2011 holiday season.
Swanson was born in Mission Viejo, California and she began her professional career at the age of nine working in television commercials. By the time she was 13, she had more than 30 commercials to her credit and had landed her first television series, "Dreamfinders," for the Disney Channel. She soon convinced her parents to move to Hollywood so she could pursue her dream of acting and landed small roles in two of John Hughes's films: “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” and “Pretty in Pink.”
Since, Swanson has added a long list of guest-starring television appearances to her credit. She has appeared in episodes of “Just Shoot Me!,” “CSI: Miami,” “Growing Pains,” “Knots Landing,” “Early Edition,” “Psych” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” In 2006, Swanson appeared in the reality television show “Skating with Celebrities,” pairing with former Olympian Lloyd Eisler to take home the crown as they defeated five other teams of celebrities and skating pros. Her television movie credits include “Forbidden Secrets,” “Red Water,” “The Black Hole” and, most recently, “Swamp Shark,” among many others.
Swanson has also starred in a long list of films that include “Flowers in the Attic,” with Academy Award ®-winning actress Louis Fletcher, “Hot Shots” with Charlie Sheen, “The Program” with James Caan, “The Phantom” opposite Billy Zane and “Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag,” starring Joe Pesci and David Spade. Tackling her most controversial role, Swanson portrayed a college student discovering her sexuality in John Singleton's film, “Higher Learning.”
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DONNA PESCOW (Sheila) – An affable, petite actress from Brooklyn, New York who got her big break co-starring with John Travolta in the iconic film “Saturday Night Fever,” Donna Pescow followed up as the star of the hit sitcom “Angie” and has been working steadily on stage, film and TV ever since.
After her mother took her to see the Broadway show Funny Girl for her thirteenth birthday, Pescow realized that the stage held the key to her future; she set her sights on becoming an actress. Awarded a scholarship to study at New York’s prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts, upon graduation she landed a featured role in the touring company of Ah Wilderness , starring Barbara Bel Geddes and Richard Kiley. After the play’s run, she resumed her studies in New York with the legendary Lee Strasburg and later in Los Angeles with renown teacher Milton Katselas.
Following the release of “Saturday Night Fever” and with the subsequent acclaim for her performance as Annette, Pescow was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle, among other accolades. For her title role as “Angie,” on the popular TV series, she garnered a People’s Choice nomination for Favorite Actress in a Television Comedy,” and a Golden Globe ® nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
As a singer, Pescow performed her successful cabaret act in New York City and Los Angeles; she also starred in productions of A…My Name is Alice, Grease, Guys & Dolls and the critically- acclaimed Wendy Wasserstein play Isn’t It Romantic .
Pescow made history with a groundbreaking role on “All My Children,” as Dr. Lynn Carson, the first lesbian character on daytime TV. The limited run won the actress accolades and a Media Award from AGLA for her sensitive, stereotype-smashing portrayal. Another guest appearance on “General Hospital” delighted her daytime fans as the quirky and controlling Aunt Gertrude.
Pescow starred in the long-running series “Out of the World” opposite the legendary voice of Burt Reynolds, and as Eileen Stevens, Shia LaBeouf’s mom in “Even Stevens,” for which she received three Emmy ® nominations. She is a constant presence in TV and film, with guest- starring appearances on such shows as “NYPD Blue,” “Nash Bridges,” “Clueless,” “The Sopranos,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Cold Case,” among many others. Films include “Jake Speed” with John Hurt, “Dead Husbands” with John Ritter, “Glory Years,” an HBO mini-series and the period drama “The Day the Bubble Burst,” to mention just a few.
Most recently, Pescow can be seen in ABC’s “Body of Proof” with Dana Delany.
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GALADRIEL STINEMAN (Kim Carson) – Galadriel Stineman was born and raised in Kentucky. After skipping grades, Stineman graduated from Newport Central Catholic High School and continued her education at Northern Kentucky University.
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She moved to Los Angeles after graduation, diving into the industry headfirst, starring in Cartoon Network's "Ben 10: Alien Swarm" and the indie feature "Junkyard Dog" with Vivica A. Fox. She has also had guest appearances on “True Blood” and “The Middle” and appeared as a dancer in the feature film “Fame” in 2009.
Most recently, Stineman has starred in the TV movies “Betrayed at 17” and “Walking the Halls” for Lifetime.
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ALEC GRAY (Ollie Carson) – Alec Gray Zbornak, born in Pasadena California, has been acting since the age of six. He landed his first lead role as Timmy in the short film “Timmy the Bag Boy.” Since then he has gone on to work on popular television shows such as “True Blood,” “The Office,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “My Name is Earl,” “MADtv” and more.
When Gray isn’t in front of the camera, he attends school and is very active in sports, music and other activities. He is a Gold Honor Roll student, speaker for his class and carried the responsibility of school president in the 2011/2012 school year.
This young man was the quarterback on his football team. In fact, he led them to victory last year and received the coaches’ award for leadership and good sportsmanship. Soccer season is also an exciting time of year for Gray; his team remains undefeated and he also received the honorable mention for leadership and good sportsmanship on and off the field in this sport.
Gray plays the piano and recently put together a band with some of the other classmates. He also loves art and is currently designing his own tennis shoes with original artwork. In his spare time, this happy thirteen-year old hangs out with his three dogs, swims with his friends and enjoys family time with his parents.
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