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Brief Biographies
of Latter-day Saint and/or Utah
Film Personalities
U
Biographical sketches are arranged alphabetically on separate pages, by last name.
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Les Udy
Lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sound mixer for many Utah-based film productions. Sound mixer for the Latter-day Saint-themed feature film "Out of Step" (2002). Sound mixer for the Latter-day Saint-themed direct-to-video film "Christmas Mission" (1998). Audio engineer for the 1989 video adaptation of the hit Latter-day Saint musical "Saturday's Warrior." Sound mixer for the Feature Films For Families (FFFF) videos "On Our Own" (1988) and "The ButterCream Gang" (1991). Boom operator for the FFFF videos "Secret of Treasure Mountain" (1993) and "Split Infinity" (1992). Boom operator for "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" (1980), a classic film produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sound mixer for the feature films "The Climb" (2002) and "Hungry" (2000), and the TV movies "Stolen from the Heart" (2000), "The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All" (1999), "Before He Wakes" (1998), "Divided by Hate" (1997), "Night Sins" (1997), "Unforgivable" (1996), "Face of Evil" (1996) and "In the Blink of an Eye" (1996). Sound mixer (production sound) for the short film "Fedora" (1994).
Matthew Uhl
Lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wardrobe/costumer.
John Uibel
Latter-day Saint. Lives in Provo, Utah with his wife Jill. Sometimes credited as: John R. Uibel. Associate Director, Center for Instructional Design, Brigham Young University (BYU). Production designer, set designer and storyboard artist. Production designer for the relatively big-budget LDS cinema movie "The Work and the Glory" (2005). Co-production designer (with Richard L. Jamison) for the big-budget large-format film "The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd" (2000), directed by Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Production designer or art director for the IMAX film "Hearst Castle: Building the Dream" (1996). Worked as both production designer and art director for episodes of the CBS TV series "Promised Land," filmed in Utah. Art director for the IMAX film "The Great American West" (1997), the Church video "Mountain of the Lord" (1993), and the TV movies "The Darkling" (2000), "Anya's Bell" (1999), and "Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!" (1998). Assistant art director for the Church video "The Lamb of God" (1993). Set designer for the large-format film "Legacy" (1990), also directed by Kieth Merrill for the Church. Set designer for the feature film "Drive Me Crazy" (1999), the award-winning PBS special "A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation" (1989), and the Disney Channel movie "The Witching of Ben Wagner" (1987). Draftsman for the Church-produced film "Nora's Christmas Gift" (1989). Storyboard artist for "Trust", "Address Unknown" (1997), Bill Shira's short film "Gold Fever" (1990), Blair Treu's direct-to-video movie "The Paper Brigade" (1996), Reed Smoot's IMAX film "The Great American West" (1997), and "Legacy" (1990). Has also done concept and design work for theme parks and attractions worldwide including: Warner Brothers "MovieWorld" (Germany); The Harley-Davidson Experience (Milwaukee, WI); Swire Corporation (Hong Kong); Nirwana Garden Resort (Indonesia); Atlantis Casino and Resort (Paradise Island, Bahamas); Old Tuscon Studios (Tuscon, AZ); MagicWorld at Dubaii (U.A.E.); and Pearl River Resort (Mi).
Eric Ulbrich
Lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Born circa 1987. Along with Morgan Matthews, he made the short (6 min., 15 sec.) film "Let Them Eat Cake," which competed in the Young Media Artist division in the 2002 Utah Short Film & Video Festival. The film is described thus: A boy's relationship with his birthday cake takes some unexpected twists. Along with 9 other filmmakers, he made the short film (19 min., 45 sec.) "The Farm," which was shown at the 2003 Utah Short Film & Video Festival. The film is the story of a group of children sent to a camp to learn to conform to society.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Latter-day Saint. Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Midwife's Tale, which was made into a 1996 PBS documentary. Website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/mwt/. Bio from University of New Hampshire News Bureau (http://www.unh.edu/news/Nov01/kb_20011101ulrich.html):
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, former professor of history at the University of New Hampshire and winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1991... [Author of] The Age of Homespun... received her Ph.D. at UNH [University of New Hampshire] in 1980, and taught in the history department for a decade. While at UNH, she published Good Wives, a study of women in colonial New England based on her dissertation, and A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991 for A Midwife'sTale.... She is currently Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University. She lives in Durham with her husband, Gael Ulrich, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at UNH.
Ben Unguren
Latter-day Saint. Film student at Brigham Young University (BYU). Also credited as: "Ben G. Unguren." Director of the short documentary "Leroy Pratt: Crossings" (2002), which won an award at BYU's Final Cut film festival (2002). Gaffer on Aaron Ruell's "Happy Go Lucky" (2000). Participated in two panel discussions ("Fantasy and Reality in LDS Media" and "The LDS Cinematic Audience") at the 2nd LDS Film Festival, held in Provo, Utah in November 2002. Assistant editor for the KBYU documentary "Letting God Have His Way: A Conversation about C.S. Lewis" (1999).
Francis Urry
Latter-day Saint. Also credited as Francis L. Urry. Prominent radio stage and film actor. Well known for his 3rd billed role as an elderly trading store owner (the only non-Polynesian character) in the classic short film "Johnny Lingo" (1969), produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Brigham Young University and shown to generations of young Latter-day Saints. Urry starred in the lead role as President Lorenzo Snow in the classic film "Windows of Heaven" (1963), produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Starred in the Church video "Come Unto Me." Starred in the classic short film "The Gift" (1977), directed by Douglas G. Johnson at BYU. Played the judge in the classic BYU film "Uncle Ben" (1978). Did voice work for the independent film "Teen Alien" (1978). Had a small supporting role in the feature-length film "The Hideout" (1974), directed by Douglas G. Johnson. Along with famed actor Ken Sansom, Urry performed for the audio book "Smiles on Smoking," (Human Growth Services, 1991) which is described thus: Songs, narration, and skits poking fun at some ridiculous aspects of smoking, deglamorizing the use of tobacco; using the power of laughter as a social influence without any preaching or warning about effects of tobacco." Notes from Francis Urry Collection at the University of Utah (http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/p543/p543.html):
Francis Urry was a Utah actor with CBS radio and later with BYU films. Collection consists of Urry in costume and character in various roles. Collection briefly scans the film and theater acting career of Francis Urry. Films made typically related to Mormon themes. Included are personal images and the CBS studio where he made his debut. Also included are family portraits; group and individual. Also included is a group of photographs featuring some obscure Hollywood cowboys which were famous in the 1950s. Audiovisual materials consisting of record discs, audio tapes, and films are available in A0392.
Collection Contains: 41 photos, (1930 - 1950).
Brooks Utley
Latter-day Saint. Actor. In 2003 he moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles area in California to further his acting career. Had the 2nd-billed role, as the Prosecuting Attorney "James Radner," in the Latter-day Saint-themed feature film "Day of Defense" (2003). Cast in a small role as one of Ishmael's sons in Gary Rogers' Book of Mormon movie (2003). Bit parts in a number of movies, including: Rush Hour 2; Ocean's 11; Scorpion King; Dead Air; Brigham City; Luck of the Irish; Pool Hall Junkies. TV appearances include "Touched By An Angel" and "Cover Me." Bio from official "Day of Defense" website:
Brooks Utley has spent most of his acting career in television and film, having worked most recently on Rush Hour 2, Ocean's 11, and The Scorpion King. Like most actors in television and film, Brooks has also done a fair amount of commercials ranging from Sprint to Armed Forces recruiting. Brooks travels between L.A. and New York furthering his acting career.
Bio from Book of Mormon movie website (http://www.bookofmormonmovie.com/cast/brooksutley.html):
Brooks just completed a starring role in the feature film Day of Defense (Nuworld Productions). Brooks other film credits include: Stranded (Little Mischeif Productions), Heavens in Hullabaloo (Four Leaf Films), Abby Singer and Man in the Box.
Brook's stage credits include: Stealing Stones (Temple Little Theatre) and Diablo.
Brook's television credits include: City Beat (WB Network), Make My Day (NBC) and Cover Me (Paramount).
Justin Utley
Latter-day Saint. Singer/songwriter. Lead singer for the Utah-based pop music band "Found," whose music is featured on the soundtrack to the Latter-day Saint-themed feature film "Day of Defense" (2003). Utley wrote songs for "Day of Defense" as well as the Latter-day Saint-themed direct-to-video feature-length film "The Shadow of Light" (2002). Prior to July 2002, the band was called "Shades of Gray." The name was changed because there was a change in the members of the band, and because other U.S. bands were using the name "Shades of Gray." Websites: http://www.justinutley.com; http://www.FoundBand.com/
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Web page created 7 June 2002. Last modified 9 July 2004.