Fred Willard

   Fred Willard is an actor, comedian, voice actor, and writer. 

   He is an alumnus of The Second City in Chicago, and a founding member of the improvisational-comedy group Ace Trucking Company. ACT performed sketches on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson over 50 times.

   Fred's acting credits are extensive and include Silver Streak, Fun with Dick and Jane, Austin Powers:The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Wedding Planner, This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.

   He received three Emmy nominations for his recurring role on the television series Everybody Loves Raymond. In 2010, he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on the ABC TV series Modern Family. For his performance in Waiting for Guffman, he received an American Comedy Award nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Funniest Supporting Actor.

   Fred also received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host for What’s Hot, What’s Not and received the Boston Film Critics Award, an American Comedy Award, a Sierra Award, and a tribute from the American Film Institute for his portrayal as Buck Laughlin in Best in Show. 

   Photograph copyright 2003 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

Todd Bolender

Ballet dancer Todd Bolender, moved to New York City to study theatrical dance about the same time soon-to-be-famous choreographer George Balanchine arrived in the United States. 

Balanchine supervised Todd at the emerging School of American Ballet. 

A versatile dancer, Todd danced from 1936 to 1972, an unusually-long period. 

He went on to choreograph dozens of ballets for Kansas City Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 

Todd also choreographed for musical theater, opera and television. He choreographed the opera Samson and Delilah for which the dancing received a better review than the singing.  

In 1981, he was appointed Artistic Director of Kansas City Ballet, and held that position until 1996.  

In 2006, he was notified that he had been granted the Dance Magazine Award for his lifetime achievement in dance. 

To make this photograph, I visited Todd at his residence. As I loaded film into my camera, I asked if his preference was to stand or sit. When I looked up, he had taken a seat on this bench, and he looked so comfortable and relaxed that is where we stayed.

The Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity opened in 2011, and is the new home for Kansas City Ballet and the Ballet School.

Photograph copyright Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

James Lafferty

In 2003, James Lafferty was cast as Nathan Scott in the teenage television drama, "One Tree Hill" on the WB network. When the WB and UPN networks merged to become The CW, "One Tree Hill" was one of the few television series picked up for the 2006-2007 season. James has many movie and television credits, however he is best known for his role as Nathan.

James directed four episodes of, "One Tree Hill", and has received four Teen Choice Award nominations for his work on the series.

He starred in the ESPN made-for-television movie, "A Season on the Brink", and made guest appearances on television shows, "Once and Again", "Get Real", and "Boston Public". 
 
In magazines, he has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Teen People and Elle Girl.

James and actress Eve Hewson, daughter of U2's Bono, live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Photograph copyright 2013 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.