‘THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY FARM' CAST BIOS ALISON SWEENEY (Ellen) – For Alison Sweeney, anything is possible. She’s a successful actress, TV host, producer, director and author who constantly inspire others with her balance of career with her focus on family, health and wellness. Sweeney is currently busy filming and producing TV movies for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. On October 2, 2016, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will premiere “ The Irresistible Blueberry Farm,” for which she is both star and executive producer. Her additional projects for the channels have included four movies for the “Murder She Baked” franchise and “Love On The Air.” She’s also hosting several upcoming specials for the Food Network including the “Kids Halloween Baking Championship” on October 5. She is also bringing her Hollywood insider’s knowledge and keen sense of romance and fun to her novels. Her latest novel, Opportunity Knocks, was released in April 2016 and is from the perspective of a fledgling makeup artist. Her previous novels include Scared Scriptless, with a script supervisor as the lead, and The Star Attraction, based on the story of a publicist. New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult described Sweeney’s book as “Great fun for any reader who secretly sneaks peeks at People magazine in the checkout line at the grocery store, and wonders, What if…?” In addition to her fiction writing, Sweeney previously released two non-fiction books, the first of which was All The Days Of My Life (So Far) in 2004. In 2010, she released The Mommy Diet, where she revealed the “diet” of nutrition, fitness and self-care that women can follow to look and feel fantastic – before and during pregnancy, and after giving birth. Sweeney has graced most women’s magazine covers including Good Housekeeping, Self, Shape, Prevention, Health and Redbook, for which she also contributes a monthly column. She regularly appears in weekly magazines and on daytime talk shows to promote her projects and her philanthropic work as an Ambassador for Stand Up To Cancer, the Fitness Ambassador for City of Hope and a member of the Entertainment Council for Feeding America. No stranger to the camera, Sweeney began her acting at age 4 and at age 16, she joined the cast of “Days of Our Lives.” In addition to her 21+ year career as Sami Brady, for which she earned an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actress, Sweeney also hosted 13 seasons of NBC’s inspirational series “The Biggest Loser,” hosted numerous live television specials and made many guest starring appearances on popular television series. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband Dave, a California Highway Patrol officer, and their 11-year-old son Ben and 7-year-old daughter Megan. For more information on Sweeney’s tips for health, wellness, fashion and personal anecdotes, follow her on twitter at @Ali_Sweeney. ### (more) HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES / ‘THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY FARM' – Cast Bios – Page 2 MARC BLUCAS (Roy) – As a leading man who naturally embodies both intellect and physicality, Marc Blucas has worked consistently in film and television. One of Blucas' first acting roles was in Gary Ross' Pleasantville with Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon. After supporting roles in Summer Catch with Jessica Biel, Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson, Blucas went on to star as the male lead opposite Katie Holmes in Fox's First Daughter, directed by Forest Whitaker. Additional film credits include Prey for Rock and Roll (2003 Sundance Film Festival); BBC Films' period drama I Capture the Castle with Bill Nighy and Rose Byrne; John Sayles' Sunshine State opposite Edie Falco; Starship Dave with Eddie Murphy and Elizabeth Banks; and The Killing Floor, executive produced by Doug Liman and Avi Arad. Blucas played Emily Blunt's misunderstood husband in Sony Pictures Classics' The Jane Austen Book Club, directed by Robin Swicord, with an all-star cast that included Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman and Hugh Dancy. Blucas also starred in James Mangold's Knight and Day opposite Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, playing Diaz's ex-boyfriend. He was also featured in Kevin Smith's Red State and played Naomi Watts' love interest in Rodrigo Garcia's Mother and Child. He can be seen currently in the IFC film Sleeping with Other People with Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. In addition, Blucas starred for two seasons on Joss Whedon’s hit television series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Most recently, Blucas starred on the ABC series “Killer Women” and the USA series “Necessary Roughness.” He can be seen next in the independent feature One Heart with Abigail Spencer. A native of Pennsylvania, Blucas played basketball at Wake Forest University. ### SHIRLEY JONES (Ruth) – No performer is more indelibly linked to the great American movie musical than Shirley Jones. In an extraordinary career spanning more than six decades, Shirley has starred in over thirty motion pictures, including three of the most iconic film musicals of all time. In addition, she won an Academy Award for a starkly dramatic role, played the lead in an immensely popular television series, appeared on Broadway, sang for nine Presidents, married two fiercely talented men, raised three accomplished sons, and is currently helping to nurture ten wildly independent grandchildren. Not bad for a beer salesman’s daughter from a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Shirley grew up in the shadow of her family brewing company alongside the Youghiogheny River. An only child with a deep love of animals, she had her sights set on becoming a veterinarian, but her timeless beauty and God given talent as a singer led her family to encourage her to pursue a career in show business. At seventeen, Shirley was awarded the title (more) HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES / ‘THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY FARM' – Cast Bios – Page 3 of “Miss Pittsburgh.” At eighteen, after traveling to New York to audition for the chorus of “South Pacific,” she was personally selected by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein to star in the film version of what was then the most successful and transformative of stage musicals, Oklahoma. Under the direction of the great Fred Zinnemann, and playing opposite her childhood crush, Gordon Macrae, Shirley’s star was born. Shirley appeared (again with Gordon Macrae) in the next Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece, Carousel, and would complete her turn in the triad of Great American Movie Musicals opposite Robert Preston in Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man. Along the way, she caught the attention of actor Burt Lancaster and director Richard Brooks. These men would cast her against type as a prostitute in Sinclair Lewis’ timeless classic Elmer Gantry. For her stunning performance, Shirley received the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress. She was just twenty-five. After playing the female lead in a number of popular films including The Courtship of Eddie’s Father with Glenn Ford, Bedtime Story with Marlon Brando and David Niven, Never Steal Anything Small with James Cagney, and The Cheyenne Social Club with James Stewart and Henry Fonda, Shirley longed to spend more time at home with her children. When the offer came to star in half hour television series about a musical family, Shirley jumped at the chance. “The Partridge Family” is one of the most beloved and fondly remembered television shows of the nineteen seventies. In it, Shirley played Shirley Partridge, widowed mother of five who dispensed wisdom and backing vocals in equal measure. Alongside the character of her eldest son (played by real life stepson David Cassidy), Shirley enjoyed the kind of pop culture success she’d rarely seen in her motion picture career, highlighted by the release of hit songs like “I Think I Love You” and “Come On, Get Happy.” After starring in a number of successful television movies throughout the nineteen eighties and nineties, and making recurring appearances on series such as “Raising Hope” and “The Drew Carey Show” (as Drew Carey’s girlfriend!) Shirley ventured back to films with the broad comedy Grandma’s Boy (produced by Adam Sandler), and made a triumphant return to Broadway opposite her son, Patrick, in “42nd Street.” Shirley is thrilled to be working with Patrick again, and as the woman President Reagan graciously dubbed the “First Lady of American Song,” she is truly grateful to the people of this country for always being there for her. ### (more) HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES / ‘THE IRRESISTIBLE BLUEBERRY FARM' – Cast Bios – Page 4 REBECCA STAAB (Cynthia) – Rebecca Staab has most recently been seen guest starring on award winning shows "Masters of Sex", "Dexter", "Glee", "Fairly Legal", "Criminal Minds", "The Mentalist", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "CSI: NY", "NCIS", and "Nip/ Tuck". Rebecca is also recognized from network classics "Cheers", "Seinfeld", "Ellen", "The Wonder Years", "Columbo", "Beverly Hills, 90210", "The Drew Carey Show", "Dharma & Greg", and "Las Vegas", to name only a few. Rebecca was born in Hays, Kansas and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Excelling in academics, Rebecca had a 4.0 GPA in both high school and college, and placed as the top six finalist in the Miss USA pageant as Miss Nebraska. After college, Rebecca spent three years as a professional model based in Paris, and worked nonstop on location all over the world including Italy, Germany, and Japan, accumulating covers, features in fashion magazines, billboards, and international campaigns. She moved on to New York and continued working with the Ford Modeling agency. Booking her very first acting audition, Rebecca started her acting career as punk-rocker Cecelia Thompson on ABC's "Loving," followed by the series regular 'good girl,' Jessie Matthews, on "Guiding Light." Some of Rebecca's other series regular roles include the sex-crazed anchorwoman Sherry Beck on the newsroom drama "Live Shot"; innocent vampire Daphne Collins on the revised "Dark Shadows"; the first lesbian television character Ellen Sommers on NBC's "Trade Winds"; and the billionaire widow/vampire/fashion designer Elizabeth Barrington on "Port Charles".