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Jay Laga'aia
January 10, 2006
Jay Laga'aia has worked widely in New Zealand and Australia and known by fans of Xena:Warrior Princess as the warlord Draco.
Draco, as portrayed by a very charismatic Jay, debuted as the very first bad guy in Xena in the opening episode Sins of the Past. Draco has returned twice more, in A Comedy of Eros, and in S5's Lyre, Lyre Hearts on Fire.
Having taken on Xena as Draco, and watching the Sydney Harbour as Senior Constable Tommy Tavita in the Australian television series Water Rats, Jay was well prepared to play Captain Typho, loyal security officer in Star Wars Episodes II and III. At 6' 1", Laga'aia has a powerful physical presence.
The versatile actor's experience also spans film, musical theatre, musical composition and performance of the guitar and saxophone. Mr. Laga'aia is coming to All-Con fresh after a long term engagement as Mufasa in Disney's musical The Lion King in Sydney.
Jay was also the Celebrity Host for Star Wars celebration III, and a second biography can be read here.
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Bill Blair
November 24, 2005
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In 1993 Bill began his life as an alien. It all started when he met make-up designer Richard Snell and his girlfriend on the feature film "Demolition Man." This led Bill to his first work on the TV movies of "Alien Nation." It was from there that he found himself working on the hit cult series "Babylon 5" in their first season, and shortly thereafter "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Bill worked all five seasons of "Babylon 5" plus two TV movies for TNT, and Seasons 4 through 7 on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Bill did his first episode of Sliders on the 1998 season premiere episode "Genesis" as a Kromag Guard and in 1999, he appeared in various human forms throughout the season. Bill also worked with his friend Peter Jurasik from "Babylon 5", on three "Sliders" episodes in 1999. During the 1999/2000 TV season, Bill appeared in several episodes of Ally McBeal. Since then, Bill has bounced around from show to show, including such hits as Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise, The X-Files, The Invisible Man, Drew Carey, Family Law, The District, Crossing Jordan, Providence, and more recently, King of Queens, Will and Grace, "Yes, Dear!", Friends, as a regular on "The Division" and the HBO Series "Carnivale" which premiered in the fall of 2003. You can also 'spot' Bill in the theater in the films "Alex and Emma", and the TV movie "Secret Santa".
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Ken Feinberg
January 10, 2006
Ken Feinberg can call upon a productive three-dimensional career that embodies performing, writing and directing, and he has a long list of credits that demonstrates the fortitude of his craft. His broad knowledge of the industry and his devotion to the arts whether on film, television or stage has been expressed in his many accomplishments.
For 15 years Feinberg has been directing, writing, producing and acting in award-winning films, hit television series and major theater projects in Los Angles, New York and Atlanta. The athletic Feinberg has won numerous awards in more than 50 stage productions, and he has achieved a great deal in the years he’s been in Hollywood after nurturing his career in New York and Atlanta.
As an actor, Feinberg is known to millions of television viewers around the world for his role as the Chaos Demon in the richly acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also played impressive characters on other hit series including Alias, Charmed, Star Trek’s Enterprise and the popular network series The District. Recently, Feinberg was dubbed 1 of the 50 Most Beautiful People from Atlanta with Julia Roberts in Jezebel Magazine.
Feinberg is also an award-winning filmmaker. His film Coming Clean won a Best of the Festival Award at the Rad Digital Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film has also been screened at No Dance Film Festival in Park City, UT, and OUTFEST LA, and it continues to be requested at film festivals around the world. (See www.comingcleanfilm.com for more details.)
Additionally, Feinberg directed theater for over 15 years in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Recently, he directed the hit A Tribute to Saturday Night Live at the Hollywood Fight Club in Los Angeles. As artistic director of the Atlanta theater company New Leaf Productions, Feinberg directed actors of all ages. He is noted for having adapted and directed the original musical stage version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, now being considered for a Broadway run. He also directed the Atlanta premieres of major award-winning Broadway shows such as: Talk Radio and Death and The Maiden, as well as many original works, including Schampagne and Shtick, a gala toast to Vaudeville.
As a member of the prestigious Hollywood Repertory Company in Los Angeles, Feinberg co-wrote and produced Real Life Photographs, a drama about a family dealing with mental illness. The production was nominated for a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Feinberg’s stage adaptation of Peter and Wendy in Neverland was published by Yale University Press.
After graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in filmmaking and a double minor in drama and art, Feinberg co-owned Creative Video Consultants, a video production company specializing in corporate and music videos, in Atlanta. He also has traveled extensively, studying art history and photography in Italy. Feinberg has a CBEST teaching certificate from the state of California, and he teaches acting, marketing, screenwriting, directing and The Artist’s Way courses in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
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James O'Barr
November 18, 2005
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CROW fans, come and meet James O'Barr at All-Con. James is the creator and artist behind CROW, and worked to bring you CROW on film. Show off your own CROW fandom by bringing your tattoos, fan art, and independent films to share with James. All-Con is anticipating a huge turnout for original art requests. Buy your tickets online and get to the convention early to avoid waiting in a long line.
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Nalini Krishan
September 18, 2005
Nalini Krishan was born August 30th in Suva Fiji, an island in the South Pacific. She is of Indian and Nepalese descent, a truly unique and exotic combination. Nalini moved to Sydney, Australia at the age of two but currently resides in London, England.
Nalini completed her 12th year of schooling in 1995. After that, she took a year off to travel to Canada. In 1997 she went to college to study and explore the world of commerce. She received a Bachelor's Degree in 1999 in Commerce majoring in tourism. While in college, she started to take acting classes and joined an acting agency a short time later.
Nalini appears in Star Wars: Episode II as Barris Offee, Padawan Learner to Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, played by Mary Oyaya. She has also appeared in Holy Smoke, the Game Show and has had a few small roles in some Indian feature films. She has been featured in many short films and corporate videos for STA Travel and others. One of her most exciting jobs was doing a Laser Show (first ever) for Sentosa Island in Singapore where she played the Orchid Goddess. She has also done editorial work for major magazines such as Cosmopolitan. She's appeared as the leading 'Medibank' lady in their brochures. Nalini is continually working her way up to stardom!
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James Horan
October 24, 2005
(Abbreviated photo gallery and Professional Resume ... here...)
To listen to him speak, one may never guess Horan hails from Louisville, Kentucky. But then again, there are those who hear a hint of the south in his mellifluous voice. Bitten by the acting bug while in high school, he started his theatrical career as a volunteer building sets at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, now a thriving repertory company. James has consistently returned to his roots in the theatre over the years; an exceptional memory was his portrayal of the Phantom in an original American musical version of Phantom of the Opera, which toured England before a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. In the words of one Oxford reviewer: “James Horan in the title role could give Michael Crawford a run for his money. He is excellent as the disfigured masked musical genius....” (Evening Advertiser).
Having attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, James graduated with a degree in English Literature, a high school teaching credential, and three whole theatre roles under his belt. After much soul-searching, he decided to pursue a graduate degree in acting, just to see if getting drenched in the waters of thespianism felt as good as wading. He soon found himself at the University of Iowa in the MFA acting program. Two years later he made the fateful decision to follow his bliss and try and make money in show business.
After a summer repertory season in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the Loeb Drama Center, the actor decided to head west, and spent two years in Hollywood doing roles in small theatre productions, before landing the role of unscrupulous lawyer Denver Hobson on NBC's daytime drama, “Another World.” When his character went to jail on that show, James went on to create memorable contract characters on other soap operas: Creed Kelly, suave and cunning bad guy on ABC's “All My Children,” Brett Madison, straight-laced lawyer on ABC's “General Hospital,” and “Clay Alden,” wealthy playboy and cad on ABC's “Loving.”
In film, James had a featured role as Confederate Colonel Arthur Cummings in the Warner Brothers Civil War epic “Gods and Generals,” the prequel to “Gettysburg,” both of which were written and directed by Ron Maxwell. He has also starred or co-starred in “The Haunting of Sea Cliff Inn” with Ally Sheedy, “Scannercop,” “Countermeasures” with Michael Dudikoff, and “Vampire Resurrection,” recently released by Shadow Entertainment.
A partial list of his appearances on prime-time TV includes “Charmed,” “Skin,” “Homeland Security,” “The Commish,” “Highlander,” “Baywatch,” “The New Zorro,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and “V.I.P.” In the “Star Trek universe, he has guest-starred on “The Next Generation,” “Voyager,” “Deep Space Nine,” and is currently recurring as a mysterious alien from the future on the new Trek series, “Enterprise,” starring Scott Bakula. James is a sought-after guest in the Trek convention circuit, having created five different characters on the four series.
James appeared twice on the vastly popular “Star Trek, The Next Generation,” both times creating memorable guest-starring roles. In the first episode, titled “Suspicions,” he was “Jo'Bril,” a type of alien never before seen on the series, a rather lizard-like fellow from a race called Takarans. The transformation from Horan to Takaran took a mere three hours in the make-up chair, followed by one hour of make-up removal at day's end. A peaceful scientist at first he turns out to be the villain of the piece and is blasted away by Dr. Crusher in the climax.
His second “ST:TNG” episode was the opener of the series' final season: “Descent, Part II”. James plays a human this time, a veteran officer named “Lt. Barnaby,” who takes over Worf's position on the bridge when most of the starship brass are held prisoner by the Borg. He and a young ensign help Crusher, who is left to command the Enterprise, to defeat the Borg, ironically using technology (“metaphasic shielding”) Horan's character “Jo'Bril” was trying to steal in the former episode.
In the “Voyager” episode titled “Fair Trade,” James played an intergalactic drug-runner named “Tosin,” one of the most feared and powerful of the Kolaati, an alien race never before seen in any of the Trek series. He has a climactic scene with Neelix, who attempts to trap him and his cohorts during a warp plasma deal aboard a seedy supply station. The make-up this time took four hours, and there were no nose holes, so all breathing was done through the mouth -- not pleasant for a fourteen hour day!
On a two-part “Deep Space Nine,” he played “Ikat'Ika,” a Jem'Hadar officer in charge of a Dominion penal colony, where he staged gladiatorial training battles between his people and other races. When the Jem'Hadar capture Worf and bring him to the prison, Ikat'Ika is greatly impressed by the Klingon's prowess in battle, and at the end of the second episode, forfeits his own life by refusing to kill Worf when he has the upper hand in combat. The episodes were “In Purgatory's Shadow” and “By Inferno's Light.”
Another particularly memorable character was created by James in the first season of the “Highlander” television series, which starred Adrian Paul as the Scottish Immortal, “Duncan MacLeod.” In the “Band of Brothers” episode, Horan played “Grayson,” a nearly 2,000-year-old Immortal about who Duncan actually appears to be a bit worried. They have a terrific sword fight on a spectacular mountain of bright yellow sulfur (actually filmed in a sulfur mining operation in Vancouver, Canada). The outcome is anybody's guess until MacLeod eventually gets the upper hand, and is able to defeat Grayson, who gives a hint of a smile just before he is beheaded, perhaps on some level pleased that he has finally been bested and is at last being given the gift of death.
James portrayed a “Matrix Reloaded” Agent in Coca-Cola's recent POWERade commercial campaign. A series of spots depict Horan as “Agent Johnson,” a computer-generated man urging viewers to “drink more POWERade,” to provide more energy for the Matrix. “It truly gave me an opportunity for humor, and a chance to work with director James McTeague, who assistant-directed all the Matrix movies, as well as to meet producer Joel Silver, who was around for the shoot,” comments Horan. The commercial is included in the DVD of “Reloaded.”
James works frequently in the voice-over world, lending his pipes to radio and television commercials, as well as animated series and numerous CD-ROM games. He is currently the voice of Texas tourism on television spots, and has also done voice-over for Mazda, Saturn, Northwest Airlines, Boston Market and Aetna, to name a few. In the CD-ROM scene, he has created multiple character voices for such games as “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” “Onimusha: Blade Warriors,” “Battlestar Gallactica,” and “Baldur's Gate.” He was also the voice of “Doc” in the animated series “Roughnecks: the Starship Trooper Chronicles.”
Among his many theatrical endeavors, he has played “Richmond” in Richard III, also understudying Rene Auberjonois--who played “Odo” in the Star Trek series, “Deep Space Nine” -- in the title role at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, “Orestes” in Elektra at San Diego's Old Globe, and “David,” the haunted Vietnam veteran in Strange Snow at the Hollywood Playhouse, which also starred Adrienne Barbeau. Other roles include the Count himself in Dracula at the Actors Theatre in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, “Dr. Jekyll” in a world-premiere comedy called Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and “Wyatt Earp” in the world-premiere of Dark Paradise at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, which also starred another Trek alum, Tony Todd, who played Worf's Klingon brother.
Another interesting “Star Trek” connection is that James played Duke Orsino in a New York production of Twelfth Night in 1982, with Armin Shimmerman -- who was “Quark” on “Deep Space Nine” -- playing Malvolio. Additionally, James starred for a year on the ABC soap “All My Children,” in which he played villain “Creed Kelly” opposite Robert Duncan McNeill as “Charlie,” who later portrayed “Paris” on “Voyager.” It's definitely “old home week” when Horan books a part on a Trek series.
Having proven his singing talents in several musicals, James has performed his eclectic brand of cabaret in both New York and L.A. at various clubs, as well as venues in Italy, South Africa, and Australia.
In leisure hours, which are few these days, the actor enjoys walking, working out, and reading, mostly books on metaphysics. He's a firm believer that “your thoughts create your life” and succeeds for the most part in keeping his upbeat. His charitable support includes such groups as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, World Wildlife Fund and Doctors Without Borders.
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Guess the Guest! (Contest Ended 9/18/05)
August 27, 2005
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On Sunday September 18th All-Con will announcing our first (of many!) Media Guest! With the help of our image editor, we've converted their publicity photo into this very nice 'sketch'. If you believe you know who this is, email your guess to: Contest@All-Con.org. On Monday September 19th we'll have a drawing from all of the correct answers, and the winner will receive a free personal autograph from this person at the convention! (Must be present to claim your prize.) One entry per household per week. Email must contain entrant's name, mailing address, and contact phone number. Entries with inaccurate or incomplete information will be discarded.
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...And Now You Have All-Con's 2006 Guest Line-Up!
Check back soon for 2007 guests!
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All artwork Copyright ©2003-2006 Chris Albright
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