The Six Degrees of Sondheim

[Bookman George]

Very good, Chris. I was thinking of going through Inherit the Wind to Spencer Tracy to Katharine Hepburn to SJS. Yours is more interesting.

Meghan Markle

[Chris L]

Very good, Chris. I was thinking of going through Inherit the Wind to Spencer Tracy to Katharine Hepburn to SJS. Yours is more interesting.

Meghan Markle

Actually, I wish I'd thought of Tracy to Hepburn. I was determined to use Inherit the Wind somehow.

[KathyB]

Meghan Markle starred in Suits, which was created by Aaron Korsh.
Korsh also wrote for Just Shoot Me, which starred George Segal.
Segal was in the movie version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Elizabeth Taylor.
Taylor was Desiree in the movie version of A Little Night Music.

Hal Holbrook

[Bookman George]

Well done, Kathy! You didn't even use the Queen.

The only other person on the board who might know the following bit of trivia is Connie, aka Hester Jean, since it involves theater in St. Louis. But I think it is legit:

Hal Holbrook's first movie was The Group, which also featured
Jessica Walter, who played Louise in Gypsy at the Muny in St. Louis in 1967.

Alicia Vikander

[Chris L]

Alicia Vikander starred in the Man from UNCLE movie...
...which was based on the Man from UNCLE TV show...
...an episode of which ("The Deadly Toys Affair") guest starred Angela Lansbury
[Fill in the blank.]

Rudolf Nureyev

[MartinG]

Stan Laurel directed a movie called Yes, Yes, Nanette...
Which starred, among others, Pete the Pup,
Who was in the Our Gang comedies with Jackie Cooper.
Whose final film role was in Surrender with Michael Caine,
Who starred in Hannah and Her Sisters for/with Woody Allen,
And we're back to Stritch again (Elaine Stritch in September)


Rudolf Nureyev

I'm not sure if you were aware Kathy had got there before you, @Chris L - if you're happy to repeat we can look for another link, or you may want to think of an alternative 

[Chris L]

Stan Laurel directed a movie called Yes, Yes, Nanette...
Which starred, among others, Pete the Pup,
Who was in the Our Gang comedies with Jackie Cooper.
Whose final film role was in Surrender with Michael Caine,
Who starred in Hannah and Her Sisters for/with Woody Allen,
And we're back to Stritch again (Elaine Stritch in September)

Rudolf Nureyev

I'm not sure if you were aware Kathy had got there before you, @Chris L - if you're happy to repeat we can look for another link, or you may want to think of an alternative 

I suppose it was inevitable that I'd eventually pick a name that'd been used before. I'll go with a name that it seems highly unlikely has ever been used before:

Spider-Man

[MartinG]

Among the handful of eager young thesps charged with the Great Responsibility of portraying the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger on screen is...
Andrew Garfield, who appeared in Lions for Lambs with that 6DoS stalwart...
Meryl Streep, whose Witch in ITW earned her 19th Oscar and 29th Golden Globe nominations!



Raymond Blanc

[KathyB]

Raymond Blanc was born in Besancon, France (actually, the "c" has the little cedilla on it, but I don't know how to type that on Windows.)
Which was also the birthplace of Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables (same with accent marks).
The Broadway version of which starred Randy Graff as Fantine.
Graff was also a replacement for Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos.
With book and direction by James Lapine.
(Do I need to explain the connections between Sondheim and Lapine?)


Jack Dempsey (the Manassa Mauler)

[MartinG]

In 1921 Jack Dempsey fought Georges Carpentier in a bout promoted by...
George Bernard Shaw, who appears in The Frogs.


(I was hunting for a Stanley Ketchel connection, but as a middleweight he never encountered Dempsey as far as I can see )



Shari Lewis

[KathyB]

Shari Lewis won first prize in 1952 on the program Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.
Among the other contestants on the show over the years was Ken Berry.
Berry appeared on Carol Burnett's show as a guest star numerous times, and appeared with her in Once Upon a Mattress on CBS.
Carol Burnett was Carlotta Campion in Follies in Concert.



Let's see how far we can go back and have a connection
Moses

[MartinG]

Moses was played by Val Kilmer not only in The Prince of Egypt, but also in The Ten Commandments: The Musical with...
Kevin Earley who appeared in Assassins in 1997 at the Apple Tree Theatre in Chicago.



Alexis Tsipras

[KathyB]

This one's hard.   I'm going to keep trying because I'm bored.

[Leighton]

Alexis Tsipras went to the National Technical University of Athens
As did Paris Kallenakis, who went on to be a professor at Brown University
Daveed Diggs also went to Brown, and starred in Hamilton, which was written by
Lin Manuel Miranda, who was in Merrily

Ottessa Moshfegh

[KathyB]

Thank you, Leighton! 

I somehow ended up on the Mount Palomar Observatory when clicking links from the National Technical University of Athens, but then I got lost when trying to retrace my steps. Not that the Mount Palomar Observatory was getting me any closer to SJS.

Ottessa Moshfegh