Jeffrey Jones

Jeffrey Jones

Born: September 28, 1946
in Buffalo, New York, USA
Jeffrey Duncan Jones (born September 28, 1946, 6 feet 4 inches [1.94 m]) is an American character actor, best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus (1984), Edward R. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988), Dr. Skip Tyler in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Eddie Barzoon in The Devil's Advocate (1997), and A. W. Merrick in both Deadwood (2004–2006) and Deadwood: The Movie (2019).

Jones was born in Buffalo, New York, and studied acting at the Putney School, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and Lawrence University. He began his acting career in small parts in film and television in the 1970s. In his best-known roles as Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Edward R. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, his dead-pan expression and distinctive face bring a comic flavor to his characters through their reactions to the situations in which they find themselves, more so than the wit in their scripted lines.

Jones has also had a successful career on stage, appearing in productions of The Crucible, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Glass Menagerie. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards, for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in The Crucible (1988) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Secret Garden (1991).

In 2002, Jones was arrested on charges of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to two years of probation. He has not appeared in any major film or television roles since his arrest.

Despite his personal troubles, Jones is still considered to be one of the most talented character actors of his generation

Movies for Jeffrey Jones...

Deadwood: The Movie
Title: Deadwood: The Movie
Character: A. W. Merrick
Released: June 1, 2019
Type: Movie
Follow the 10-year reunion of the Deadwood camp to celebrate South Dakota's statehood. Former rivalries are reignited, alliances are tested and old wounds are reopened, as all are left to navigate the inevitable changes that modernity and time have wrought.
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10.0 Earthquake
Title: 10.0 Earthquake
Character: Gladstone
Released: October 15, 2014
Type: Movie
Los Angeles is about to be hit by a devastating earthquake, and time is running out to save the city from imminent danger.
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Inside Story: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Title: Inside Story: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Character: Self
Released: November 15, 2011
Type: Movie
An inside look at the making of the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".
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Who's Your Caddy?
Title: Who's Your Caddy?
Character: Richard Cummings
Released: July 27, 2007
Type: Movie
Superstar rap mogul C-Note wants to join the Carolina Pines Golf & Country Club, but faces stiff opposition from the establishment's snooty members. C-Note forces the issue by purchasing the land adjacent to the golf course's 17th hole. As the club leaders search for a way to revoke his membership, C-Note realizes his family's honor and golf history are at stake, and digs in for the fight of his life.
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Who Is Ferris Bueller?
Title: Who Is Ferris Bueller?
Character: Self
Released: January 10, 2006
Type: Movie
A short documentary that looks at the qualities that define the title character in the classic film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," told through interview clips and film footage.
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Title: Deadwood
Character: A. W. Merrick
Released: March 21, 2004
Type: TV
The story of the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota; woven around actual historic events with most of the main characters based on real people. Deadwood starts as a gold mining camp and gradually turns from a lawless wild-west community into an organized wild-west civilized town. The story focuses on the real-life characters Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen.
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Title: Deadwood
Character: A.W. Merrick
Released: March 21, 2004
Type: TV
The story of the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota; woven around actual historic events with most of the main characters based on real people. Deadwood starts as a gold mining camp and gradually turns from a lawless wild-west community into an organized wild-west civilized town. The story focuses on the real-life characters Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen.
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Title: Stuart Little: The Animated Series
Character: Uncle Crenshaw Little (voice)
Released: March 1, 2003
Type: TV
Stuart Little: The Animated Series is an American animated television series, loosely based on the E. B. White children's book Stuart Little and more based on the live action movie adaptations. It was produced by Red Wagon Productions and Sony Pictures Television for the HBO Family digital cable television channel, and aired for just one 13-episode season in 2003.
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The Making of 'Amadeus'
Title: The Making of 'Amadeus'
Character: Self / Emperor Joseph II
Released: September 24, 2002
Type: Movie
This riveting film takes a look behind the scenes at one of the 20th century's cinema classics and at one of contemporary cinema's most maddeningly brilliant directors, Milos Forman.
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Par 6
Title: Par 6
Character: Lloyd Bator Jenkins
Released: April 16, 2002
Type: Movie
A cynical man returns to his family's homestead in Texas and starts up a golf course with his brothers and sisters.
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How High
Title: How High
Character: Vice President
Released: December 21, 2001
Type: Movie
Multi-platinum rap superstars Redman and Method Man star as Jamal and Silas, two regular guys who smoke something magical, ace their college entrance exams and wind up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.
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Title: Justice League
Character: Sir Swami (voice)
Released: November 17, 2001
Type: TV
The long-awaited rebirth of the greatest superhero team of all time: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter.
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Dr. Dolittle 2
Title: Dr. Dolittle 2
Character: Joe Potter
Released: June 22, 2001
Type: Movie
A group of beavers ask Dr. Dolittle to save their habitat from loggers. The only hope is to get the forest preserved because it's the home of a protected bear, but there's a problem: the bear's the only bear in the forest, so she can't reproduce. Undaunted, Dolittle persuades a circus bear to help out, but he has to teach him not just the ways of the wild, but the wiles of lady bears too.
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Till Dad Do Us Part
Title: Till Dad Do Us Part
Character: Brady
Released: June 17, 2001
Type: Movie
Banker Gavin Corbett refuses, unlike his wife Virginia, who would just wait, to stand by as his spoiled daughter Rebecca `Becky` announces she wants to abandon her medical studies and marry idealistic, unruly environmental activist Dennis Qualintip. Gavin hopes the answer is to match Becky with a dream prince, rising bank executive Brent Fenwick III, whom he makes his protégé. Alas the boy fears he`s wanted as gay boy-toy, while everyone else warms to Dennis.
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Title: Trailer Park Boys
Character: Jason Maloney
Released: April 22, 2001
Type: TV
Follow the booze-fueled misadventures of three longtime pals and petty serial criminals who run scams from their Nova Scotia trailer park.
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Title: Invader ZIM
Character: Presidentman / Crowd Man / Guy in Crowd #2 (voice)
Released: March 30, 2001
Type: TV
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. The show premiered on Nickelodeon on March 30, 2001. The series involves an extraterrestrial named Zim who originates from a planet called Irk, and his ongoing mission to conquer and destroy Earth. His various attempts to subjugate and destroy the human race are invariably undermined by some combination of his own ineptitude, his malfunctioning robot servant GIR, and a young paranormal investigator named Dib, one of the very few people attentive enough to be aware of Zim's identity.
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Heartbreakers
Title: Heartbreakers
Character: Mr. Appel
Released: March 23, 2001
Type: Movie
Max and Page are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men and marries them. Page then seduces them, and Max catches her husband in the act. Then it's off to palimony city and the next easy mark.
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Title: The Zeta Project
Released: January 27, 2001
Type: TV
Follow the futuristic adventures of Zeta, a renegade government-designed robot, and Ro, his 15-year-old streetwise companion.
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Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend
Title: Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend
Character: Self
Released: May 23, 2000
Type: Movie
A behind the scenes look at the making of Sleepy Hollow.
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Company Man
Title: Company Man
Character: Senator Biggs
Released: March 9, 2000
Type: Movie
In the 1960's, a school teacher pretends to be a CIA spy to get his nagging wife off his back. He helps a Russian ballet dancer defect and is then sent to Cuba to locate "Agent X" for the CIA.
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Stuart Little
Title: Stuart Little
Character: Uncle Crenshaw
Released: December 17, 1999
Type: Movie
The adventures of a heroic and debonair stalwart mouse named Stuart Little with human qualities, who faces some comic misadventures while living with a human family as their child.
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Sleepy Hollow
Title: Sleepy Hollow
Character: Reverend Steenwyck
Released: November 19, 1999
Type: Movie
Ichabod Crane, an eccentric investigator, is determined to stop the murderous Headless Horseman.
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Ravenous
Title: Ravenous
Character: Hart
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: Movie
Upon receiving reports of missing persons at Fort Spencer, a remote Army outpost on the Western frontier, Capt. John Boyd investigates. After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide -- a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
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There's No Fish Food in Heaven
Title: There's No Fish Food in Heaven
Character: Minister Pete
Released: October 19, 1998
Type: Movie
Black comedy about an obsessive street graffiti artist, who falls obsessively in love with a frustrated artist he meets. Unfortunately, rather than trying to meet with her in a conventional way, he decides to mail himself to her with the help of a pet shop owner. Unfortunately, when he arrives, she is with another man, who immediately makes love to her against the box.
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Flypaper
Title: Flypaper
Character: Roger
Released: February 1, 1998
Type: Movie
Greed, lust and fate bring together a motley collection of oddballs and lowlifes for some rather sticky situations in Hoch's twisted neo-noir debut. Three separate but interconnected stories, all set on a deceptively sunny day in California and centered around one million dollars in cash, inspire Hoch's quirky characters to commit acts both devious and depraved in an attempt to make the big score.
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The Devil's Advocate
Title: The Devil's Advocate
Character: Eddie Barzoon
Released: October 17, 1997
Type: Movie
Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.
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Santa Fe
Title: Santa Fe
Character: Dr. Raskin (uncredited)
Released: June 25, 1997
Type: Movie
A cop finds that his wife and daughter are involved in a New Age cult when he returns home after eight months.
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The Pest
Title: The Pest
Character: Gustav
Released: February 7, 1997
Type: Movie
Fast-talking Latino con artist Pestario "Pest" Vargas is the target of Scottish mobsters to whom he owes a considerable debt. Willing to do anything to raise money and avoid severe injury or death, Vargas agrees to a very unusual job -- he will be transported to a remote island and hunted by Gustav Shank, a racist German executive. If he can survive a full day and night, Vargas gets $50,000 and will be set free. Is he wily enough to elude Shank?
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The Crucible
Title: The Crucible
Character: Thomas Putnam
Released: November 27, 1996
Type: Movie
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
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Title: The Outer Limits
Character: Dr. Scott Perkins
Released: March 26, 1995
Type: TV
Anthology series of composed of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end, with occasional recurring story elements that were often tied together during season-finale clip shows.
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The Avenging Angel
Title: The Avenging Angel
Character: Brother Milton Long
Released: January 22, 1995
Type: Movie
Miles Utley is a professional Mormon commando/bodyguard who is forced to turn renegade and to question his faith as he investigates a scandal involving assassination and land speculation.
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Houseguest
Title: Houseguest
Character: Ron Timmerman
Released: January 6, 1995
Type: Movie
In hot water with the mob over an unpaid debt, a con man poses as a family friend in an affluent Pennsylvania suburb.
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Ed Wood
Title: Ed Wood
Character: Criswell
Released: September 27, 1994
Type: Movie
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
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Heaven & Earth
Title: Heaven & Earth
Character: Minister (uncredited)
Released: December 25, 1993
Type: Movie
Le Ly lives in a small Vietnamese village whose serenity is shattered when war breaks out. Caught between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese army, the village is all but destroyed. After being both brutalized and raped, Le Ly resolves to flee. She leaves for the city, surviving desperate situations, but surviving nonetheless. Eventually she meets a U.S. Marine named Steve Butler who treats her kindly and tells her he would like to be married -- maybe to her.
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Title: Batman: The Animated Series
Character: Nivens (voice)
Released: September 5, 1992
Type: TV
Vowing to avenge the murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne devotes his life to wiping out crime in Gotham City as the masked vigilante "Batman".
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Out on a Limb
Title: Out on a Limb
Character: Matt Skearns / Peter Van Der Haven
Released: September 4, 1992
Type: Movie
While heading to the town where his sister, Marci, lives, big-city banker Bill Campbell is robbed by a woman who takes everything he has, including his clothes and a business document worth millions of dollars. Bill eventually reunites with Marci, who is in a tizzy because she thinks their stepfather has been killed. While trying to determine if his sister is right, Bill must also get back his valuable paperwork.
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Stay Tuned
Title: Stay Tuned
Character: Spike
Released: August 14, 1992
Type: Movie
Salesman Roy Knable spends all his free time watching television, to the exasperation of his wife, Helen. One day, TV salesman Spike convinces Roy to buy a satellite dish offering 666 channels. The new addition to Roy's home entertainment system sucks him and Helen into Hellvision, a realm run by Spike, who is an emissary of Satan. For 24 hours, the couple must survive devilish parodies of TV programs if they want to return to reality alive.
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Mom and Dad Save the World
Title: Mom and Dad Save the World
Character: Dick Nelson
Released: July 24, 1992
Type: Movie
Emperor Spengo sees Marge Nelson and using a giant magnet, kidnaps her and her husband Dick, hoping to make Marge his before blowing up the Earth. The Emperor and other inhabitants of his planet are somewhat less than bright, and Dick begins reliving episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in order to rescue Marge, save the Earth, and restore the rightful emperor to the throne.
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Enid Is Sleeping
Title: Enid Is Sleeping
Character: Floyd
Released: May 25, 1990
Type: Movie
Enid only looks like she's sleeping. In fact, she's dead. Shortly after Enid caught her husband Harry in bed with her sister June, a row ensued, whereupon June accidently killed Enid. June's problem now is to hide the truth from the authorities, including her police-officer husband Floyd. Then she decides to reveal Enid's demise, albeit rearranging the damning evidence to make the whole thing look like the accident it really was.
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The Hunt for Red October
Title: The Hunt for Red October
Character: Skip Tyler
Released: March 2, 1990
Type: Movie
A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!
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Valmont
Title: Valmont
Character: Gercourt
Released: November 17, 1989
Type: Movie
Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an honorable woman. If he wins, he can have his lover to do as he will. However, in the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont falls in love.
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Title: Tales from the Crypt
Character: Professor Finley
Released: June 10, 1989
Type: TV
Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?
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Who's Harry Crumb?
Title: Who's Harry Crumb?
Character: Eliot Draisen
Released: February 3, 1989
Type: Movie
Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
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Without a Clue
Title: Without a Clue
Character: Inspector Lestrade
Released: May 5, 1988
Type: Movie
Sherlock Holmes is as dashing as ever, but with a little secret: Dr. Watson is the brains behind the operation. When Reginald Kincaid, the actor he has hired to play Holmes becomes insufferable, Watson fires him and tries to go out on his own, but finds that he has done too good a job building Holmes up in the public's mind.
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Beetlejuice
Title: Beetlejuice
Character: Charles Deetz
Released: March 30, 1988
Type: Movie
A newly dead New England couple seek help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.
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The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues
Title: The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues
Character: Buffalo Bill
Released: November 22, 1987
Type: Movie
Brady Hawkes and Billy Montana join forces once again in this new adventure. This time around their goal is to help the Sioux fight the government and get the supplies they need. They also uncover corruption within a government outpost and find themselves in a dangerous position.
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DTV Monster Hits
Title: DTV Monster Hits
Character: Man in the Magic Mirror
Released: October 30, 1987
Type: Movie
A Halloween special featuring appropriately-themed rock and roll songs set to scenes from the Disney library of classic animation.
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The Hanoi Hilton
Title: The Hanoi Hilton
Character: Fischer
Released: March 27, 1987
Type: Movie
Lionel Chetwynd's film documents the horrific struggles that faced American POWs held in the North Vietnamese prison Hoa Lo -- more infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton -- between 1964 and 1975. Williamson (Michael Moriarty) leads a group of American servicemen who are prisoners at the detention camp. He assumes command after Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) is dragged off to be tortured.
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Title: Fresno
Character: Mr. Acme
Released: November 16, 1986
Type: TV
In Fresno, California, the once-wealthy Kensington family's raisin-growing empire has fallen on hard times. They are led by widowed matriarch Charlotte, who is locked in a deadly power struggle with rival raisin magnate Tyler Cane.
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George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
Title: George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
Character: Thomas Jefferson
Released: September 21, 1986
Type: Movie
The first U.S. president (Barry Bostwick) and his wife (Patty Duke) endure two terms of turmoil from 1789 to 1797.
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Howard the Duck
Title: Howard the Duck
Character: Dr. Walter Jenning
Released: August 1, 1986
Type: Movie
A scientific experiment unknowingly brings extraterrestrial life forms to the Earth through a laser beam. First is the cigar smoking drake Howard from the duck's planet. A few kids try to keep him from the greedy scientists and help him back to his planet. But then a much less friendly being arrives through the beam...
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Title: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Character: Ed Rooney
Released: June 11, 1986
Type: Movie
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
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Title: If Tomorrow Comes
Character: Budge Hollander
Released: March 16, 1986
Type: TV
Tracy Whitney was in love, pregnant and engaged to marry into one of America's best family. And then, with one phone call, she lost everything. After 5 years of unjust imprisonment, Tracy emerges from prison a new woman. Cunning. Ruthless. Determined to survive. But there is one man as formidable as she is. As their paths crisscross, they eventually become daredevil partners in an adventure that climaxes their criminal careers.
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Transylvania 6-5000
Title: Transylvania 6-5000
Character: Lepescu
Released: November 8, 1985
Type: Movie
Two reporters travel to a strange castle in Transylvania to investigate the apparent reappearance of Frankenstein, and encounter the sensitive Wolfman, the Vampiress Odette and a whole cast of other weirdos.
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Title: Amazing Stories
Character: John Baldwin
Released: September 29, 1985
Type: TV
A truly amazing, fantastical, science fiction, funny and odd, and sometimes scary, sad and endearing anthology series presented by Steven Spielberg with guest appearances by many famous actors, actresses, and directors.
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Title: The Twilight Zone
Character: Carl Wilkerson
Released: September 27, 1985
Type: TV
This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or three) rooted in horror or suspense, often with a surprising twist at the end. Episodes usually feature elements of drama and comedy.
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Amadeus
Title: Amadeus
Character: Emperor Joseph II
Released: September 19, 1984
Type: Movie
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a remarkably talented young Viennese composer who unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined and determined Antonio Salieri. Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by his jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart's downfall, leading to a devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men.
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Atalanta Strategy
Title: Atalanta Strategy
Character: Interviewer
Released: January 1, 1984
Type: Movie
The story of Willard from Ashley's opera Atalanta, recounted in 3 parts.
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Easy Money
Title: Easy Money
Character: Clive Barlow
Released: August 19, 1983
Type: Movie
To inherit his mother-in-law's colossal fortune, a hard living gambling addict must change his unhealthy ways before it gets the best of him.
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The Soldier
Title: The Soldier
Character: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense
Released: June 1, 1982
Type: Movie
Terrorists take over a plutonium bomb and threaten to detonate it in a Saudi Arabian oil field. A special anti-terrorist unit is sent in to stop them.
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Secret Service
Title: Secret Service
Character: Sgt. Wilson
Released: January 12, 1977
Type: Movie
Set in Richmond, Virginia in October 1864, tells the story of a Union spy working to seize control of the telegraph office.
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Title: Kojak
Character: Attendant
Released: October 24, 1973
Type: TV
A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.
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Title: Great Performances
Character: Sgt. Wilson
Released: January 28, 1971
Type: TV
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
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The Revolutionary
Title: The Revolutionary
Character: Red-Haired Radical Committee Member
Released: July 15, 1970
Type: Movie
"A", a member of a student protest organization, becomes disenchanted by his group's inability to effect real change. Emboldened to pursue more radical methods by the older, experienced leftist organizer Despard, "A" unwittingly becomes party to a labor strike that turns violent. Ultimately held responsible by the authorities for the fracas, "A" allies himself with terrorist Leonard, who intends to avenge those jailed in the protest.