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  Actress, Patricia Clarkson has been acting in major motion pictures since she performed as Mrs. Eliot Ness in “The Untouchables” alongside Kevin Costner. Since this debut she has gone on to work on other projects including “Shutter Island”, “Simply Irresistible”, “The Green Mile”, and the hit television show “Frasier”.

Clarkson’s current project hits a little closer to home. The Washington Post reports that Patricia has just arrived in New Orleans in preparation for the Krewe of Muses which rolls tomorrow evening. Clarkson, a native of the Crescent City, will appear on one of the floats and is part of the ever-growing list of celebrity appearances for this year’s Mardi Gras. The actress was born here in Louisiana, before moving to Connecticut to pursue a degree in the Dramatic Arts from Yale University. She frequently returns to her hometown here in NOLA, and this is her second time participating in one of the   parades, having ridden in Orpheus in 2007.

Other celebs to be on the look-out as we get closer to Fat Tuesday are Will Ferrell (Bacchus), Hilary Swank, (Orpheus), Maroon 5 (Endymion), Brett Michaels & Cyndi Lauper (Orpheus), and Harry Connick Jr., who is also riding in Orpheus. Clarkson is being honored as the “EveryMuse” and the all-female Krewe is thrilled to have her participate. One member commented that “it’s wonderful that someone who has been so successful and such a public figure is willing to come back to New Orleans and share her city with the rest of the country.”

For more on this story, visit the Washington Post.

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Mykel Hawke
Mykel Hawke
A U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, former Green Beret and current New Orleans-area resident, Mykel Hawke hosts the Discovery Channel’s “One Man Army,” for which tough guys compete in a series of challenges meant to test the skills a covert operative would use on the job. 


So, why here?

“Man, that is easiest question in the world,” he said. “Because it’s fun and it’s warm.”

Here’s an edited Q&A with Hawke:

Before moving here, did you have a prior connection to New Orleans?

Absolutely, man. The long answer is, once when I was in the Army we were training some Turkish special forces guys in Alabama and we had a long weekend and all the Turkish fellows wanted to come to New Orleans. We drove down here and showed them around. This was 15-20 years ago. I found a place that was quite magical.

Then, when my wife and I started dating -- she was the host and I was the security and medical guy for “Man, Woman, Wild” -- we decided we wanted to take it to the next level, so she came to visit with me in the states. We met up in Houston and I told her I was going to take her on a drive around the country, so I drove her in my Lincoln Aviator from Houston all the way up to New York via Florida. The first place we stopped was New Orleans. The wife, being British, fell in love with the place, and I already had a love for the place. We spent a very romantic weekend in downtown New Orleans.

Ever since then we decided that when we came to the United States – I lived in the UK with her for five years, and we had a baby and her parents were over there -- when we got our chance to move back to the U.S. we decided New Orleans is where we wanted to be.

Being that I like to be out in the woods a little bit, I’m right near where the swamp begins and the town ends, so I get to have my swamp and outdoors every day, but just a short drive and I’m right in downtown. The wife loves it. That’s why we’re here. It’s just a great town. It’s just a really nice life.

Continue reading at NOLA.com

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Since the mid 2000’s, Louisiana has been dubbed “Hollywood of the South.”  But filmmakers have long been fascinated with Louisiana.  By 1898, the film industry recognized that Louisiana’s diverse landscape, history, architecture and culture provided a great backdrop for films. 

Over the years, film studios expanded the use of Louisiana into every genre, time period and location imaginable.  From swamps to plantations, metropolitan cities to western plains, and yes, even other planets.

Hollywood on the Bayou has documented over 1,000 films that were made in or about Louisiana. These include feature length films, made-for-tv movies, documentaries and shorts.  It covers six specific time periods of Louisiana film history (1898-2010).  After a brief narration, the films are listed by title, year, director and other information.  An alphabetical listing by title follows.

Continue reading at 225alive.com

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