Gueststars from Season 1
Lloyd Battista has been seen on and off Broadway well over a dozen times ranging in vehicles as diverse as Sexual Perversity in Chicago to The Homecoming with The Royal Shakespeare Company.
On television he has guest starred on countless prime time shows ranging from Here's Lucy and Mission Impossible to Perry Mason and Walker, Texas Ranger. He has been seen in over a dozen movies made for television, plus Spelling Entertainment's mini series of James Michner's Texas. Mr. Battista is also recognizable from being a regular for five years on CBS's classic daytime drama, Love of Life. In film appearances he's been killed by John Wayne, hit over the head by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, been the president of Nicaragua, been brothered to Ringo Starr and rode into the sunset in half a dozen Spaghetti Westerns.
Mr. Battista has appeared with most of the major regional repertory theatres across the country. In addition he is a published poet, screenwriter and restaurant critic. Lloyd is a graduate of the renowned Drama Department of Carnegie Tech.
Martinez, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is most recognized by audiences from his performances in Gregory NavaÕs film "Mi Famila" and opposite Dustin Hoffman in the hit film "Outbreak". He also had a lead role in "Romeo & Juliet" (directed by Colin Cox). He also starred in the independent comedy entitled "The New Suit" opposite Marissa Coughlin and Jordan Bridges, helmed by acclaimed French director Francois Valle. Some of his TV credits include "X-Files", "Silk Stalkings", "Chicago Hope", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Once & Again", "Touched By An Angel", and "NYPD Blue".
Benito received his formal training at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts, and has performed throughout the US and Europe. Favorite productions include "The Three Sisters", "Comedy of Errors", and "Burning Patience".
A veteran of the W&C touring shows, Benito also taught workshops in fencing and stage combat as well as directing "The Tempest". Most recent mainstage performances include "A Midsummer Night's Dream", MacDuff in "Macbeth", and as the lead role in "Hamlet".
Martinez is very involved with children's groups and the Latino community. He began helping children in his community through "The Educational Theater Company" and the "Will and Company", two theater groups geared toward youth. Through these organizations, he was able to perform over twenty different original works for more than a million students. His involvement helped change the direction of some of the student's lives, some even becoming peer counselors for their schools. He performed in plays that cast Latinos, African-Americans and others to play traditionally Caucasian roles, giving him the ability to show children that they can do what they put their mind to. He is also involved with the National Latino Children's Institute where he speaks at their annual Promesa event.
Martinez recently helped out Nationwide Insurance and the National Latino Children's Institute as they observed "El Dia de los Niños" on April 27, 2002 . "El Día de los Niños" focuses on child safety and helps uplift the children in the community by declaring their own day of celebration. The event included a Children's parade, traditional Latino foods, entertainment that included children's acts, dancing, craft-tents and much more.
Martinez quoted about these events: "These experiences with the youth keep the blood pumping in my chest. I seem to have gravitated toward people or organizations that look into the eyes of the children and say, ‘I see you.' As a Latino I have my cultural perspective that I see through, but as a father and participator in my communities, I endeavor to remember and learn over and over again the simplest lesson: We must take care of all our children. That's our job. Period."
Pelka is an alumnus of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where, in addition to his stage training, he received stage combat training under the direction of John Walller. While at the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, the Dewsbury, West Yorkshite native played leading roles in Romeo and Juliet and A Woman Killed with Kindness, as well as performed a one-man show entitled Maud. A familiar figure on British stage and screen, he has appeared in Nanou, If tomorrow Comes, Hold the Dream and Good King Wenceslas.
Pelka’s film credits have seen him appearing with Albert Finney in John- Paul II, with Jason Robards and Glenda Jackson in Sakharov, with the late Sir Alec Guiness in Graham Greene’s Monsignor Quixote, opposite Hugh Grant in the award-winning Rowing with the Wind and with Richard Gere in King David. He had a memorable turn as Sir Patrise in First Knight with Sean Connery, and appeared with Parker Posey in the indie What Rats Won’t Do. Pelka recently finished principal photography on The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, starring alongside Sir Ian Holm and Dame Judi Drench.
His noble British television appearances include Peak Practice, Mortimer’s Law, Brother Cadfael, Campion and Robin of Sherwood. He played Maurice de Bracy in A&E’s Ivanhoe, as well as had recurring roles as the wildly popular Kronos on Highlander: The Series, as Korda on Highlander: the Raven and on Life Force.
A creative force, Pelka also draws and paints, hoping to show his work publicly in the near future. A lover of 19th century literature, the actor has a degree in Humanities and speaks French, Italian and some Spanish. Husband and father to a son, Pelka is a student of Aikido since 1993, a proficient horseman and an enthusiastic and life-long supporter of the Leeds United Soccer Team.
