Editor’s note: This is the latest installment in a recurring series where a Pucks and Rec writer will select the top contemporary actor from each city in a hockey league. This week, we focus on the current markets in the USHL Western Conference. All filmography and award information was found on the Internet Movie Database.
Des Moines (Urbandale): Cloris Leachman
While the Buccaneers inhabit the suburbs, Urbandale has yet to turn out any mark-making entertainers.
Conversely, the neighboring capital city has produced an Energizer Bunny in Leachman. For more on that, go back to our list of top actors representing AHL Central Division cities.
Fargo: Kristin Rudrüd
The Coen brothers’ cult classic movie secured some bona fide homegrown blood when Rudrüd was cast in Fargo. Portraying antihero Jerry Lundergaard’s (William H. Macy) wife, she garnered a share in an ensemble nomination on the 1996 Awards Circuit Community ballot.
From that breakthrough, Rudrüd had a short stint in the spotlight. She has not logged any new acting credits since 2001. But no other Fargo products have challenged, let alone matched, her legacy.
Lincoln: Hilary Swank
Swank begins this calendar year with the role of Gail Getty on FX’s Trust. As Variety’s Joe Otterson hinted when she was cast, Swank’s role should increase in importance as this retelling of the John Paul Getty III ransom unfolds.
“Only his mother Gail is left to negotiate with increasingly desperate kidnappers,” Otterson wrote.
The task of capturing the intensity of that story is in tried-and-true hands. Swank has already nabbed leading-actress Oscars for Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby. She more recently claimed a 2015 Bambi international film award for other dramatic performances.
Omaha (Ralston): Andrew Rannells
Like the Buccaneers, the Omaha Lancers operate outside their dateline’s city limits. But their actual hometown likewise has not sent anyone of note to the arts-and-entertainment field.
Accordingly, we turn to Nebraska’s metropolis and find a Broadway staple whose talents have been summoned to several hit TV programs.
For his recurring role on Girls, Rannells received Gold Derby nominations in 2013 and 2014 plus a 2014 Critics Choice nomination. This past year, he answered an invitation to appear on the resuscitated Will & Grace.
Sioux City: Fred Grandy
Despite multiple decade-long gaps between formal acting gigs, Grandy has not stopped drawing interest.
From 1986 to 2014, Grandy’s only IMBD credit was a 2003 guest spot on Law & Order. That one-off appearance ended one hiatus, then began another. But he has since mustered nine spots on The Mindy Project, two on General Hospital and one on Great News.
In addition, the former supporting player on The Love Boat will make his first film appearance in 42 years via Play the Flute in 2019.
Sioux Falls: January Jones
For two months in 2015, viewers saw Jones’ versatility overlap between Mad Men and The Last Man on Earth. From mid-March through mid-May that year, you could literally see her on both on Sunday nights.
As Betty on the former, Jones stood out with performances that garnered one Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe considerations. On the latter, she has let her comedic streak shine on network TV as Melissa.
But even before that, Jones verified her lighthearted prowess in real life. In 2014, she elaborately pranked her former high-school boyfriend, who remained in Sioux Falls as a realtor. The good-natured scheme’s story made for an uproarious Tonight Show chat with Jimmy Fallon.
Not to mention, it verified the Hollywood staple’s geography-resistant connection to her roots. More recently, Jones attended her 20-year reunion at Roosevelt High School.
Tri-City (Kearney, Neb.): Leslie Easterbrook
A half-century after graduating from Kearney High School, Easterbrook earned the third award nomination in her arguably underrated career. She was up for a supporting actress prize at the Utah Film Awards for her part in 2013’s Clubhouse.
While the Police Academy films of the ’80s made Easterbrook’s heyday, she is far from finished. At least five upcoming projects sit on her resume as of this writing.
Waterloo: Nancy Youngblut
Nearly 65, Youngblut continues to get consistent work. In this calendar decade, the career-long TV ringer has guest starred on the likes of Law & Order: LA, Weeds, The Bridge and Love.
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