Wendie Malick was born to a model mother and salesman father on Dec. 15, 1950 in Buffalo, N.Y. and went on to attend Ohio Wesleyan University. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work for Republican Congressman Jack Kemp, but quickly left politics behind to act. In 1982, she auditioned for the role of Diane on Cheers, a role that (as everyone knows) went to Shelley Long. In the '80s, Malick appeared in many TV roles on series such as Three's Company, Kate & Allie and Anything but Love. Her film work includes Scrooged, The American President and Bugsy. Malick received a great deal of attention for her role as ex-wife Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO comedy Dream On, for which she received four Cable Ace Awards. The series showcased Malick's comedic timing as well as her sex appeal, and Just Shoot Me! was an organic next step.
In Just Shoot Me! Malick played the role of narcissistic fashion editor Nina Van Horn from 1997 to 2003. Just like her character, Malick was a former model; a statuesque 5'10", she had signed with Wilhelmina in the 1970s. In 1999, she was nominated for two Emmys and a Golden Globe. In 2003, she moonlighted as a lounge singer on Frasier, which featured her one-day future Hot in Cleveland co-star Jane Leeves. She stayed with the show until its final season in 2004. A vegetarian, Democrat and philanthropist who fights for women's rights and humane treatment of animals, Malick has done more than 80 guest appearances and enjoyed a successful voiceover career. Her TV work continues with Victoria, an L.A. soap star who lands, quite unexpectedly, in Hot in Cleveland.
Victoria Chase loves to be the center of attention, can't get enough compliments and is, as much as one can be, delightfully vain. For 27 years she played Honor St. Raven on the recently canceled daytime drama Edge of Tomorrow. She has five ex-husbands, three adopted children (she didnt want to ruin her figure) and one grandchild. She still suspects her third spouse may have been gay. Now in her early 50s, Victoria may be self-obsessed, but she's always there when her friends need her.
Kenny G has long been the musician many jazz listeners love to hate. A phenomenally successful instrumentalist whose recordings make the pop charts, Kenny G's sound has been a staple on adult contemporary and smoothjazz radio stations since the mid-'80s, making him a household name. Kenny G is a fine player with an attractive sound (influenced a bit by Grover Washington, Jr.) who often caresses melodies, putting a lot of emotion into his solos. Because he does not improvise much (sticking mostly to predictable melody statements), his music largely falls outside of jazz. However, because he is listed at the top of "contemporary jazz" charts and is identified with jazz in the minds of the mass public, he is classified as jazz. Kenny Gorelick started playing professionally with Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1976. He recorded with Cold, Bold & Together (a Seattle-based funk group) and freelanced locally. After graduating from the University of Washington, Kenny G worked with Jeff Lorber Fusion, making two albums with the group. Soon he was signed to Arista, recording his debut as a leader in 1982. His fourth album, Duotones (which included the very popular "Songbird"), made him into a star. Soon he was in demand for guest appearances on recordings of such famous singers as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Natalie Cole. Kenny G's own records have sold remarkably well, particularly Breathless, which has easily topped eight million copies in the U.S.; his total album sales top 30 million copies.
The holiday album Miracles, released in 1994, and 1996's Moment continued the momentum of his massive commercial success. He also recorded his own version of the Celine Dion/Titanic smash "My Heart Will Go On" in 1998, but the following year he released Classics in the Key of G, a collection of jazz standards like "'Round Midnight" and "Body and Soul," possibly to reclaim some jazz credibility.
Faith: A Holiday Album was released that same year, followed by a limited-edition re-release of the 1997 Greatest Hits disc. In 2002 Kenny G dipped into tropical territory with Paradise, which featured guest appearances by Brian McKnight and Chanté Moore. This was followed by a music video collection, another holiday album, entitled Wishes, and, in 2003, a second greatest-hits collection, Ultimate Kenny G. Perhaps in a bid to shake up his discography a bit, in 2004 Kenny G released At Last...The Duets Album, which featured "duets" with LeAnn Rimes and Chaka Khan. Two years later, smooth jazz's king of the soprano sax returned to a purely instrumental approach on the brassy, big-band-inspired albums Holiday Collection and I'm in the Mood for Love; 2006 was also the year the artist was dubbed the best golfer in music by Golf Digest, beating out Vince Gill for the number one spot. In 2008, Kenny G released the Latin-inspired Rhythm and Romance. The sax player next drifted toward R&B for 2010's Heart and Soul, which featured guest vocals from Robin Thicke and Babyface. Scott Yanow, Rovi
The holiday album Miracles, released in 1994, and 1996's Moment continued the momentum of his massive commercial success. He also recorded his own version of the Celine Dion/Titanic smash "My Heart Will Go On" in 1998, but the following year he released Classics in the Key of G, a collection of jazz standards like "'Round Midnight" and "Body and Soul," possibly to reclaim some jazz credibility.
Faith: A Holiday Album was released that same year, followed by a limited-edition re-release of the 1997 Greatest Hits disc. In 2002 Kenny G dipped into tropical territory with Paradise, which featured guest appearances by Brian McKnight and Chanté Moore. This was followed by a music video collection, another holiday album, entitled Wishes, and, in 2003, a second greatest-hits collection, Ultimate Kenny G. Perhaps in a bid to shake up his discography a bit, in 2004 Kenny G released At Last...The Duets Album, which featured "duets" with LeAnn Rimes and Chaka Khan. Two years later, smooth jazz's king of the soprano sax returned to a purely instrumental approach on the brassy, big-band-inspired albums Holiday Collection and I'm in the Mood for Love; 2006 was also the year the artist was dubbed the best golfer in music by Golf Digest, beating out Vince Gill for the number one spot. In 2008, Kenny G released the Latin-inspired Rhythm and Romance. The sax player next drifted toward R&B for 2010's Heart and Soul, which featured guest vocals from Robin Thicke and Babyface. Scott Yanow, Rovi
