Campbell will lead masses to 'Beginning' miniseries

Billy Campbell ("Once and Again") and Geraldine Chaplin have joined Martin Landau and Jacqueline Bisset on the cast of NBC's biblical saga "In the Beginning." Hallmark Entertainment is producing the miniseries, set to air during the November sweep, and David Picker ("The Crucible") is executive producing. Campbell will play Moses in the film, a compilation of biblical tales beginning with the story of Creation and ending with Moses delivering the Ten Commandments. Chaplin will play Yocheved. Campbell -- who is repped by ICM's Tracy Brennan and Andy Cohen and managed by Imparato, Knight, Faye -- won this year's People's Choice Award for his lead role in ABC's "Once and Again." His credits also include feature film "The Rocketeer." "In the Beginning" reunites Chaplin and director Kevin Connor. The two worked together on the NBC miniseries "Mary, Mother of Jesus." Chaplin was also in NBC's highly rated miniseries "The Odyssey" and "Gulliver's Travels."Meanwhile, Omar Sharif, who was cast as Jethro, the father of Moses' wife (HR 4/17), has bowed out of the project because of scheduling difficulties.__Hollywood Reporter (April 19, 2000)