JEFF GOLDBLUM AND SAM WATERSTON TO PRESENT DICK WOLF WITH 2008 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® FOUNDERS AWARD
GALA CAST OF INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY PRESENTERS INCLUDING JOHN WATERS (HAIRSPRAY) AND WILLIE GARSON (SEX & THE CITY) JOIN HOST ROGER BART AT 36TH INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARDS GALA
New York, November 10, 2008 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that Oscar Nominee Jeff Goldblum, the newest cast member of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and acclaimed actor Sam Waterston, Law & Order lead for over 15 seasons, will be presenting Dick Wolf with the 2008 International Emmy® Founders Award.
The two stars will join Host Roger Bart, currently starring in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein on Broadway, and a cast of international celebrity presenters at The 36th International Emmy® Awards Gala, in New York City, on November 24th, 2008.
Other film and television celebrities to present Emmys on stage that night include: actor Willie Garson (Sex & The City); director John Waters (Hairspray); actor Paul Blackthorne (Lipstick Jungle); and actresses Andrea Roth (Rescue Me); Heather Tom (The Bold & The Beautiful); Kerry O’Malley (Brotherhood) and Cecilia Suarez (Capadocia).
The International Emmy® Awards recognize excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States. Over 1,000 international entertainment decision-makers attend the International Emmy® Awards Gala in New York every year.
This year’s partners include: Phoenix TV, Globo TV, Microsoft, Ascent Media, Reed Midem, Sofitel Luxury Hotels and Variety. Chip Quigley, Kingdom Entertainment, will produce the show for the 8th year in a row.
ROGER BART – HOST
A gifted actor, Roger Bart’s tremendous presence extends to both the small and big screens, as well as to the stage.
Bart can currently be seen on Broadway in the musical Young Frankenstein as the title character, ‘Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.’ Based on the smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Recently, Bart appeared in American Gangster alongside Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, as well as Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the follow up to the cult comedy hit.
Previous film roles include ‘Carmen Ghia’ for Universal’s film version of The Producers directed by Susan Stroman. Bart also starred in Paramount Pictures’ The Stepford Wives as the gay Stepford wife. The role was created for Bart based on his flamboyant role in the Broadway production of The Producers. Additional films include Hostel 2, the sequel to the hit horror film, Jeff Garlin’s independent comedy I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With The Insider, starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, Disney’s Hercules (singing voice of Young Hercules), and The Lady and the Tramp II (singing voice of Scamp).
On Broadway, Bart originated the role of ‘Carmen Ghia’ in The Producers, the smash hit musical by Mel Brooks and Director Susan Stroman. Bart received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for the role. In 1999, Bart received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as ‘Snoopy’ in the revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, directed by Michael Mayer. Other Broadway credits include The Frogs, starring opposite Nathan Lane, and Triumph of Love.
On television, Bart started in the critically acclaimed Sci-Fi miniseries The Lost Room and portrayed ‘George Williams,’ the menacing pharmacist on ABC’s hit Desperate Housewives. Other television credits include the CBS comedy Bram and Alice, directed by James Burrows, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The George Carlin Show.
A native of New Jersey, Bart currently divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.
DICK WOLF
Wolf started his television career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy for an episode on which he was the only writer. He moved from there to Miami Vice where he was a supervising producer. Wolf’s Law & Order is the second-longest-running dramatic show in television history. The show has been nominated for the most consecutive Emmy Awards of any primetime drama series. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer of the three current Law & Order dramas. Wolf’s company also produced Twin Towers, the 2003 Academy Award-winning Short Documentary. Currently Wolf is involved with the production of a theatrical film that will document the rock group The Doors. In 2007, Wolf received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
JEFF GOLDBLUM
Oscar nominee Jeff Goldblum began his career on the New York stage at the age of seventeen. He appeared in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) and in The Big Chill (1983), then went on to a breakthrough role in the David Cronenberg remake The Fly (1986). Goldblum was the star of some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1990s: Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur adventure Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequel (1997), as well as Independence Day (1996). Recent roles have included critically acclaimed turns in Igby Goes Down (2002) and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic (2004).
SAM WATERSTON
Most recently famous for his role as Detective Jack McCoy in the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, Sam Waterston is an Academy Award nominee who got an early break in the TV industry starring with Katherine Hepburn in The Glass Menagerie. Since then, Waterston has appeared in numerous feature films including The Great Gatsby, The Killing Fields and Le Divorce. Waterston is a six-time Emmy Award nominee and 1993 Golden Globe winner for Best Actor in the television series I’ll Fly Away.
JOHN WATERS
Waters’ 1970s and early ’80s films feature his regular troupe of actors known as Dreamlanders often committing cinematic crimes. Starting with Desperate Living (1977), Waters began casting real-life convicted criminals. He skirted mainstream filmmaking with Hairspray (1988), earning a modest gross of $8 million domestically. In 2002, Hairspray was adapted to a Broadway musical and in 2007 to a movie version. Waters films have become less controversial and more mainstream, while in 2004, the NC-17-rated A Dirty Shame was a return to his earlier, more controversial work of the 1970s. He is currently Professor of cinema at the European Graduate School. In 2007, he also became the host of ‘Til Death Do Us Part, a program featuring dramatizations of real-life marriages that ended in murder. Fruitcake is Waters’ next film and it is due to begin in the fall of 2008.
WILLIE GARSON
Garson has appeared in over 50 movies, usually playing minor roles. He is best known for playing Stanford Blatch on the HBO series Sex and the City. He won his round of Texas Hold ‘Em on Celebrity Poker Showdow (2003) and had a recurring role as Henry Coffield on NYPD Blue. His other TV appearances include Ally McBeal, Party of Five, Friends, The X-Files and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His film credits include The Rock, Being John Malkovich and Freaky Friday. He co-starred in the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati. He also makes a cameo in the end credits of Jackass Number Two, with the full context of the cameo being explained in Jackass 2.5.
PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Currently starring as Brooke Shields’ husband in NBC’s Lipstick Jungle, Blackthorne’s breakthrough commercial in the UK was as the Grim Reaper for Virgin Atlantic. His first silver screen success was the role of Captain Andrew Russell in the Oscar-nominated Bollywood movie, Lagaan, for which he spent six months learning Hindi, and his most famous role on US television was as Stephen Saunders, a biological terrorist, on the third season of 24. He also stars in The Dresden Files, recurred in the drama series Big Shots and has guest-starred on NBC’s ER and Medium. Other television credits include Monk and Presidio Med. Later this year, he will be seen in the Robert Zemeckis production of A Christmas Carol.
ANDREA ROTH
Andrea Roth stars as Janet Gavin, Tommy Gavin’s estranged wife, in Rescue Me, the critically acclaimed, one-hour drama from Sony Pictures Television for FX.
Born to Dutch/Scottish parents, Roth grew up as a first generation Canadian. While attending college and interning at a Toronto-based advertising agency, Roth was approached by a top-modeling scout to pursue a career as a print and runway model. From there she quickly segued into acting, rapidly becoming one of Canada’s most prominent female actresses.
Roth has portrayed characters opposite such outstanding actors as Tobey Maguire, Woody Harrelson, John Corbett and Jim Caviezel. She recently completed two feature films. In Rogue, an action film starring Jet Li, she plays the wife of Jason Statham. In The Skeptic, an independent thriller, she stars opposite Tom Arnold and Tim Daly.
Among Roth’s many television credits, she played a recurring character, Officer Kerry Ray, on the hit show, CSI. She recently appeared in the television movies Crazy for Christmas, Chasing Christmas and The Last Exit.
CECILIA SUAREZ
Originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico, Cecilia Suarez is one of the most outstanding young actresses today in that country’s film industry. She studied theater at Illinois State University in the United States, where she took part in several theatrical productions. After her return to Mexico, where she played in short films and worked on TV productions, in 1999, Cecilia made her major film debut with Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas, garnering rave reviews for her efforts. In 2007, Cecilia accepted the most challenging role of her television career, to interpret the powerful character of Bambi in the new HBO® Latino America fictional series, Capadocia, which will be premiering this year in Latin America and promises to be one of the greatest productions ever carried out in Mexico.
HEATHER TOM
Two-time Emmy award winning actress Heather Tom plays the role of Katie Logan, younger sister of Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Donna (Jennifer Gareis) on The Bold and The Beautiful. Tom played Kelly Cramer on One Life to Live and is probably best knows as Victoria on The Young and The Restless. Heather made her Broadway debut in the Mark Medoff play, Prymate in 2004. Heather played the role of Allison, the attractive interpreter with a secret. The play was staged at the Longacre Theatre and also starred Phyllis Freilich, James Naughton and Andre DeShields. Heather was also seen in the out of town try out The Secret Letter of Jackie and Marilyn, in the role of Marilyn Monroe. Heather’s Lifetime movie, The Rivals, aired in 2006.
KERRY O’MALLEY
Currently starring on Broadway in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas as Betty Haynes, Kerry O’Malley is known to television audiences for her current role as Mary-Kate on Showtime’s critically acclaimed drama Brotherhood, now in its third season. Nominated In 2002 for a Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as The Baker’s Wife in the Tony Award winning revival of Into the Woods, she played in Broadway credits such as Annie Get Your Gun, Translations and Cyrano – The Musical. Kerry O’Malley was also a series regular on Fox’s Costello and NBC’s The Mike O’Malley Show and her many guest star appearances include roles on NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Brooklyn South, and Monk.
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