Canadian born Shannon Tweed was raised on a mink ranch in Newfoundland. Imported by Playboy in 1982, she was named Playmate of the Year, as well as Hugh Hefner’s love interest. Soon Shannon was appearing as a regular on CBS’s Falcon Crest, NBC's Days of Our Lives, HBO's First and Ten and, more recently, WB's Tom Arnold Show and My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star with Oliver Hudson. Shannon has guest starred on a range of shows, including Fantasy Island, Frasier, Married with Children and Wings. She lives with her life partner of 25 years, Gene Simmons, their two children - Nick 19 and Sophie 16. Shannon keeps busy with the kids’ schedules and sports, and is currently Wildwood School PTA President. The release of her autobiography, Kiss and Tell debuted Aug. 2006.




Sixteen-year-old Sophie Tweed-Simmons is the daughter of Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed. She is a 10th grader at Wildwood School in Los Angeles. She's an outstanding student, who teachers describe as a positive force in the world. Sophie loves volleyball and plays for Sports Shack Club Team around the state and also plays on her school team. She likes to act and sing, snowboard and swim. Sophie keeps busy with her friends and her horse Pablo on weekends.








When deciding upon a career, Lorraine Toussaint let her fingers do the walking. The accomplished actress gained her initial interest in the acting profession after somebody asked her, at the age of 11, what she wanted to do with her life. Puzzled, she opened the yellow pages, turned to the “A” section and found a variety of advertisements for acting schools. She decided to give it a try, called the school with the largest ad and quickly found herself hooked.

Nominated for four NAACP Image Awards for “Best Actress in a Drama Series”, a TV Guide Award nomination for “Best Actress in a Drama Series” and the recipient of The Wiley A. Branton Award from The National Bar Association, Toussaint starred for four seasons as ‘Rene Jackson’ on Lifetime’s critically acclaimed series Any Day Now.

With over nine series lead roles under her belt, Lorraine can currently be seen starring in TNT’s hit Saving Grace opposite Holly Hunter. She has also starred on NBC’s Crossing Jordan, ABC’s Leaving L.A., Amazing Grace, Where I Live and Steven Spielberg’s Class of ’61. Toussaint’s memorable recurring roles include the NBC Emmy Award-winning drama Law and Order, the ABC drama Murder One, CBS’ C.S.I., and most recently ABC’s breakout hit Ugly Betty. She has also appeared in several telefilms including ABC’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, ABC’s Lullabyes and Lies, CBS’s Common Ground directed by Mike Newell, and HBO’s Cherokee Kid, America’s Dream, and the multiple award winning If These Walls Could Talk. Toussaint’s feature film credits include the upcoming DreamWorks Pictures feature The Soloist opposite Jamie Foxx, Point of No Return, Psalms From The Underground, Black Dog, Breaking In, and Hudson Hawk.

Toussaint currently resides in Los Angeles with her daughter Samara Grace.




Catherine Dent arrested audiences as "Officer Danielle 'Danny' Sofer" in THE SHIELD. Dent has gained a reputation within the Hollywood community as an actress who is at her best when undertaking challenging, diverse and often edgy characters that range from a sexy drug dealer in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams to a naïve flirt in Paul Schrader's Auto Focus, while her loving diner owner Mabel in Frank Darabount's The Majestic was the antithesis of these roles. In addition to mainstream films, she can also be seen in numerous off-beat, film-festival features.

Her film career began just after graduation from the North Carolina School of Performing Arts playing Paul Newman's daughter-in-law in Nobody's Fool; and she also co-starred as Ashley Judd's sister in Tony Goldwyn's Someone Like You.

She received rave reviews on television for her starring role in the Emmy® winning Steven Spielberg Presents Taken. Among numerous guest star appearances are The Sopranos, Law & Order: SVU and CSI.

Theatre remains a major love in her life; she starred in the American premiere of Martin Crimp's The Country at La Jolla where she again received brilliant reviews. She has worked on and off Broadway and across the regions.

During the most recent hiatus she starred in Law & Order and a Lifetime Original, Made-For-Television Movie, The Bad Son.

A native of Louisiana, Dent lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their son.




Strong, spirited and committed are just a few of the characteristics that exemplify acclaimed actress, CCH POUNDER, which is evident in the diversity of her roles and her worldwide fight against apartheid.

Currently in the critically acclaimed FX series, THE SHIELD, CCH was nominated for a 2005 Emmy Award for “Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series” for her role as “Captain Claudette Wyms.” CCH has also received NAACP Image Award nominations for “Best Actress in a Drama Series,” the MIB Prism Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Television Drama,” two Golden Satellite Awards for “Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama” and the Genii Excellence in TV Award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Women in Radio and TV. Other accolades for CCH include an Emmy nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role as Dr. Angela Hicks on the NBC series ER, and an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series” for her role in FOX’s THE X-FILES. In addition, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME, THE BEST IS YET TO COME and won an AUDI, the Audio Publishers Association’s top honor, for WOMEN IN THE MATERIAL WORLD. Also, CCH released her first solo album, SMOKE, which combined poetry and music.

Appearances in HILL STREET BLUES and CAGNEY & LACEY forged CCH’s entrée into television which followed with recurring roles on L.A. LAW, WOMAN IN PRISON, SWEET JUSTICE and MILLENIUM and guest-starring roles on THE OUTER LIMITS, THE WEST WING THE PRACTICE and Law & Order:SVU among others. Numerous television films and miniseries followed including GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN (with Paul Winfield and Ossie Davis), Hallmark Hall of Fame’s RESTING PLACE, HBO’s THIRD DEGREE BURN, CBS’s THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS and NBC’s MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI, the CBS miniseries, IF TOMORROW COMES, ALL SHE EVER WANTED, FINAL JUSTICE, LITTLE GIRL FLY AWAY, BUMP IN THE NIGHT, Francis Ford Coppola’s WHITE DWARF, FUNNY VALENTINES (for which she received her third Tree of Life Award from the Black Emmys), Tom Clancy’s NET FORCE, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, ZOO MAN, HBO’S landmark special, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, A TOUCH OF HOPE, THE ERNEST GREEN STORY, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD, LIFE POD, CORA UNASHAMED and the critically acclaimed BOYCOTT, DISAPPEARING ACTS and UNCHAINED MEMORIES: READING FROM THE SLAVE NARRATIVES ON HBO. She also narrated RACE - THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION on PBS and portrayed “ Winnie Mandela” in the FX original movie “ REDEMPTION,” for which she received the “Best Supporting Actress TV,” from the 2005 FAAAF/Black Reel Awards.

The film roles have also continued for CCH, including PRIZZI’S HONOR, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, BENNY AND JOON, ROBOCOP 3, SLIVER, TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT, MELTING POT, FACE/OFF with John Travolta & Nicolas Cage and END OF DAYS with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alison Anders’ THINGS BEHIND THE SUN.

A few years ago, CCH became involved with the organization, ARTISTS FOR A NEW SOUTH AFRICA, with its goal to end apartheid. The group, headquartered in Los Angeles, now has 1,200 supporters nationwide. CCH and her husband, anthropologist Boubacar Kone, were married in an African ceremony in Dakar, Senegal West Africa and were again remarried at a traditional Los Angeles event six months later. They have built The Boribana Museum (www.boribanamuseum.org) in Dakar, Senegal for the study of cultures of the African Diaspora and recently opened The Pounder-Kone Art Space in Los Angeles. In October of 1997, CCH was honored by the Institute of Caribbean Studies with their award for Excellence in the Arts.

CCH has returned to Ithaca College on a fellowship and she has also returned to her love of artwork. In addition to painting and gardening, CCH creates one-of-a-kind jewelry, featuring African beads and European crystal and glass, has gained a following among Hollywood celebrities and is sold throughout the country. “It’s like the theater,” says CCH, “When you see someone on the street wearing a necklace you designed – it’s immediate gratification and the applause comes from the inside.” What began as a cottage garage business is now prospering but that doesn’t surprise anyone who knows CCH. Just like on that winter walk in Milwaukee when she decided to board the next plane for Los Angeles, “There is nothing impossible that someone, who believes enough in themselves, cannot conquer” says CCH. “And my journey has just begun!”




bmsentosa@dslextreme.com
http://www.sentosaphotography.com/charity/cureinthecanyon/

erik@erikfischerphotography.com
http://www.flickr.com/




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