Perhaps the western world's most famous living filmmaker, Steven Spielberg succeeded in combining the intimacy of a personal vision with the epic requirements of the modern commercial blockbuster. Though his astonishing success delayed his acceptance as a serious artist for many years, few could deny that Spielberg’s work decisively influenced twentieth century filmmaking through his potent visual imagery and universally recognizable emotion. If nothing else, Spielberg’s films were landmarks in special effects, both in their visual and aural aspects, and they additionally possessed an uncanny knack for eliciting audience response.
Full Biography
Perhaps the western world's most famous living filmmaker, Steven Spielberg succeeded in combining the intimacy of a personal vision with the epic requirements of the modern commercial blockbuster. Though his astonishing success delayed his acceptance as a serious artist for many years, few could deny that Spielberg’s work decisively influenced twentieth century filmmaking through his potent visual imagery and universally recognizable emotion. If nothing else, Spielberg’s films were landmarks in special effects, both in their visual and aural aspects, and they additionally possessed an uncanny knack for eliciting audience response. Spielberg's success also allowed him to pursue numerous philanthropic and cultural projects like no other filmmaker of his generation. An active supporter of projects that affected modern Jewish life, Spielberg served as chairman for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, an ambitious project devoted to filming interviews with Holocaust survivors. In addition, he was a vocal champion of artists’ rights and creative freedoms, whilst continuing to deliver beloved films that resonated with moviegoers the world over.
Born in Cincinnati, OH on Dec. 18, 1946, Steven Allan Spielberg was the eldest child of Arnold and Leahanni Spielberg. Because of his father’s job, the future film director spent much of his childhood in several places, as his family often moved. An awkward and lonely child growing up, Spielberg took solace in movies. The first film Spielberg ever saw – Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) – would have a lasting impact on the youngster’s life and opened his mind to the magic of moviemaking. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Spielberg did not attend a major university film program and was thus, largely self-taught. At age 16, Spielberg fashioned his first film, "Firelight” – a two-hour science fiction movie that a local movie house in Phoenix, AZ consented to run for one evening. The $400 production was Spielberg’s first real commercial success, earning him a profit of $100.
When Spielberg’s parents divorced in 1965 – an incident which deeply affected the sensitive youngster – he moved to Saratoga, CA and attended Saratoga High School. After graduation, Spielberg applied to U.S.C. film school, but was rejected three separate times. Spielberg opted to attend Long Beach State instead, but ended up dropping out before he got his degree. In 1968, the 22-year-old got a job at Universal Studios as an intern, thus marking the beginnings of one of Hollywood’s greatest careers. It was at Universal, that he made his first short film entitled “Amblin’” (1969). The 24-minute film sufficiently impressed executives at the television unit of Universal enough that Spielberg was offered a job as a TV director. In 1969, Spielberg made his directorial debut, helming the TV movie pilot for Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" (NBC, 1970-74). This led to more directing work on such weekly series as "Columbo" (NBC, 1971-78) and "Marcus Welby, M.D.” (ABC, 1969-1973). One of his early made-for-TV movies – "Duel" (ABC, 1972), starring Dennis Weaver – was released theatrically in Europe, where it enjoyed both critical and commercial success.
Spielberg's first theatrical film, "The Sugarland Express" (1974), was an entertaining and poignant tale about a Texas woman and her escaped convict husband fighting to regain custody of their baby. Loosely based on a true story, “Sugarland” delved into the concept of the broken family – a theme deeply personal to Spielberg – and one that he would later revisit in subsequent films. Well made, but poorly marketed, the film was a failure at the box office.
Spielberg's second film, however, the now-classic “Jaws” (1975), was a phenomenal success both critically and financially. Made for about $15 million, “Jaws” grossed an awe inspiring $260 million domestically, ushering in the modern age of the summer “blockbuster.” Ironically, the very film, which propelled Spielberg to the A-list of Hollywood directors, came dangerously close to ending his career before it had even begun. A legendarily troubled production from the start, “Jaws” had a score of obstacles to overcome – among them: a neophyte director, a disgruntled crew, a hostile writer and worst of all... a malfunctioning lead “actor.” When the automated shark created for the movie – nicknamed “Bruce” by the Spielberg and the crew – failed to work properly, the young director was forced to rely heavily on mood and suspense to suggest, rather than show, the great white. Spielberg’s desperate plan proved to be an inspired stroke of genius which not only kept audience members on the edge of their seat, but so frightened them with its air of underwater mystery, that beach-going dropped off sharply that summer. People were simply too afraid to go into the water.
His transcendent follow-up, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), revealed the first flowering of his cinematic obsession with the magical world of childhood innocence, as well as the outside forces that inevitably threaten it. Though initially terrifying, as they were sight unseen, by the film’s end, the alien creatures in this revisionist work resembled strange and wondrous children as they exited the mother ship, presenting a more benign representation than the monstrous conquerors of 1950s sci-fi films. These beings offered the promise of life beyond the restrictions of middle-class conventions – something the bachelor director felt strongly about at that time in his then childless existence. When Richard Dreyfuss – cast again in a Spielberg film after his performance as Matt Hooper in “Jaws” – boards the mother ship for unknown adventures, it is the film's final grandiloquent embrace of the possible. The film – which came out the same year as the more effects-laden space movie, “Star Wars” – was the more cerebral hit, and the iconic shot of the child, Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey), standing in the red-lit doorway before being snatched away, remained a classic money shot.
Riding high after two back-to-back blockbusters, Spielberg attempted a colossal big-budget comedy with "1941" (1979) – a loud, sprawling and wildly uneven film about paranoia along California’s West Coast in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Though it ultimately turned a profit, the film, which starred then red-hot comics John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, was perceived as a bloated, self-indulgent flop. Spielberg took the blunt of the criticism – with many reviewers wondering if the Hollywood wunderkind had been anointed too soon.
A humbled Spielberg chose his next project carefully by planning to work under the watchful eye of a tough producer and one of his closest friends, George Lucas, on what would turn out to be one of his signature films – "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). The movie introduced the world to Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), the iconic fedora-sporting archaeologist and intrepid adventurer that became the most popular screen hero since James Bond. Paying an obvious homage to the classic cliffhanger serials of their youth, Lucas recalled that Spielberg was highly stressed throughout the filming of “Raiders,” convinced that it would be his last chance to redeem himself after the failure of “1941.” Spielberg’s fears proved unfounded. “Raiders” became the biggest moneymaker of 1981 and earned a score of Oscar nominations, including one for Spielberg for Best Director. As if that were not enough, “Raiders,” in a way, inspired the penultimate Spielberg film, which would follow soon after.
During his “Raiders” shoot, Spielberg was so wearied by the rigors of location shooting in Tunisia and Peru, that he would relax by concocting a story – a little personal tale featuring a couple of kids and a lost alien. In doing so, Spielberg set the stage for his next project, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982). “E.T.” captured the hearts and minds of moviegoers of all ages and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time until it was beaten by one of Spielberg’s own films, “Jurassic Park” in 1993. The film so wove its way into the fabric of pop culture, the phrase “E.T. phone home” became a classic line and the sale Reeses Pieces peanut butter candies went through the roof.
In 1984, Spielberg directed his first sequel, the much anticipated “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Exceedingly violent and somewhat racist – specifically, in its depiction of Indian culture – the film inspired the MPAA to create the new PG-13 rating the following year. Bad blood abounded, as Spielberg and Lucas recoiled from the uproar of angry parents who thought they were taking their children to see a b-movie adventure; and instead watched along with their children as a live man’s heart was ripped from his chest. Despite the bad aftertaste, the film was nevertheless highly successful, both financially – and for Spielberg – personally, as well. It was while shooting the film that Spielberg met and fell in love with his future wife, Kate Capshaw, who was cast as Indiana Jones’ love interest, nightclub singer Willie Scott. Unfortunately, at the time, Spielberg was already married to actress Amy Irving with whom he had a son, Max. The two eventually divorced in 1989, but not before Spielberg had to pay Irving a whopping $100 million settlement – one of the largest in U.S. history.
The eighties also marked a shift in Spielberg's artistic and commercial concerns, as he began devoting more time to producing films and television programs. After scoring critical acclaim for directing the big-screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s "The Color Purple" (1985) and his World War II drama “Empire of the Sun” (1987), Spielberg oversaw the production of a series of popular escapist fantasies. Through his production company, Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg also produced several animated features and conventional genre films. He even diversified into TV with the fantasy anthology series, "Amazing Stories" (NBC, 1985-87), which he executive produced.
In the early 1990s, Spielberg reshifted his duties, once again making directing his main priority. Lending his name to various Amblin productions (while leaving the actual producing chores to others), Spielberg returned to the big screen with the crowd-pleasing fantasy “Hook” (1991), an expensive, quirky update of the classic J.M Barrie Peter Pan story. Budgeted at over $60 million, the film earned impressive box office, but due to an unprecedented deal brokered by Creative Artists Agency – wherein Spielberg and stars Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams and Julia Roberts split a huge cut of worldwide revenues – it failed to make much money for its studio. Despite the film’s mixed reviews, “Hook” was nevertheless notable for showing a newly emerging “grown-up” side to Spielberg, which revealed itself in his handling of such themes as parenthood, responsibility and old age. Spielberg’s next project – the $70 million CGI extravaganza “Jurassic Park” – represented a return to the kind of muscle-bound adventures that served Spielberg so well in the past. Though the cast of characters was relatively shallow, the film was a landmark in visual effects – bringing dinosaurs back to life! – and forever changed how action films were made. The film, which spawned two sequels, grossed an unprecedented $914 million worldwide and reestablished Spielberg as Hollywood’s golden boy.
Nonetheless, as Spielberg grew closer to middle age, so too did his need to be taken seriously. Long since dismissed as a maker of commercial entertainment for the masses, Spielberg now yearned for artistic legitimacy more than ever. In response, the filmmaker tackled a subject matter of deadly importance for his next project – specifically, the Holocaust – in his unforgettable World War II drama, "Schindler's List" (1993). Filmed in black-and-white with few stars and even fewer stylistic indulgences, this bleak version of Thomas Keneally's Booker Prize-winning novel marked a dramatic change-of-pace for this purveyor of warm WASPy visions. For once, he went against his instincts and made an impressively restrained, documentarian drama of Jewish suffering that built to a shattering, yet life-affirming conclusion. The resulting film earned Spielberg the most respectful notices of his career. That the film, which earned seven Oscars including Best Picture and, finally, Best Director, also grossed over $100 million domestically did not hurt either.
As an encore, Spielberg returned to familiar ground with the inevitable sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997), which merely rehashed the story of the far superior original. Although it made money, it was a forgettable film and largely derided by fans and critics alike. Spielberg then tackled the tricky historical drama "Amistad" (1997), based on a true story of a mutiny on a slave ship that spawned a legal battle in the U.S. Meticulously staged, the film was noted for its depiction of the Middle Passage, a harrowing portrayal of the conditions of slavery. Overly long and heavy on sentimentality, however, critical response to “Amistad” was only lukewarm.
Undaunted, Spielberg returned to the battlefields of WWII the following year for his next – and arguably, most acclaimed – film, "Saving Private Ryan” (1998), a three-hour fictionalized look at a heroic military rescue mission and the effect it had on those involved. Praised for its no-holds-barred depiction of war, the film was quickly anointed as one of the year's best by critics. In total, “Saving Private Ryan” earned over $200 million at the box office and 11 Academy Award nominations. Although it was heavily favored to take home the Best Picture award that year, the film ended up shockingly losing out to “Shakespeare in Love” (1998). For his effort, however, the Academy nevertheless reaffirmed their respect for Spielberg by awarding him his second Oscar for Best Director.
In the fall of 1994, Spielberg, recording mogul David Geffen, and former Disney production head Jeffrey Katzenberg, formed a new multimedia entertainment company. Christened DreamWorks SKG, the company produced live-action and animated features, TV programs, recordings and interactive computer software in a relatively cost efficient manner. According to Spielberg, DreamWorks would grant its filmmakers "moral rights" to protect the original versions of their films after release. The studio also decided to give its animators and screenwriters contracts that guaranteed them a share of a given film's success in defiance of the standard creative bookkeeping for the industry. Spielberg was slated to oversee the design of the studio's planned physical plant, laid out like a college campus on the old Howard Hughes aircraft site near the wetlands of Playa Vista, CA. However, after much back-and-forth debating, the Playa Vista site was scrapped and DreamWorks ended up being housed on the Universal lot, coexisting with Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment facilities. After a slow start, the mini-studio eventually came into its own with such box-office hits as "American Beauty" (1999), "Gladiator" (2000), "Shrek" (2001), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) and "Minority Report" (2002) – all of which were either produced or co-produced by DreamWorks.
Still, directing – not producing – continued to remain Spielberg’s primary passion and he continued to explore the boundaries of his talents within a commercial context. Hoping to integrate his trademark crowd-pleasing sensibilities with bleaker, more philosophical views, Spielberg elected to make "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001), a $90 million sci-fi fable about a Pinocchio-like android boy. The film, which had long been attached to one of Spielberg’s idols, Stanley Kubrick, boasted eye-popping visuals and fine performances from stars Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law. Even so, when all was said and done, “A.I.” was considered a noble failure, earning only $78 million in its domestic release. Fortunately, Spielberg returned to top blockbuster form the following year when he adapted Phillip K. Dick's sci-fi novella, "Minority Report," a fast-paced, intense sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise. The leanest, meanest Spielberg film in years, “Minority Report” proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the aging director still had what it took to stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood’s new generation of video-game inspired action directors.
Spielberg cannily chose to follow-up that artistic and commercial triumph by helming a refreshingly more down-to-earth affair in the form of the light-hearted drama, "Catch Me If You Can" (2003). Based on the true-life story of con man Frank Abagnale, Jr., the film starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, respectively, as Abagnale and the F.B.I. agent assigned to capture him. Not only did Spielberg succeed in flawlessly recreating the nostalgic innocence of the early 1960’s setting, he also managed to coax out DiCaprio's most charming and mature performance to date. The director reteamed with Tom Hanks a third time for a seemingly unlikely project, "The Terminal" (2004) – the tale of an Eastern European immigrant (Hanks) who, due to a political regime change and passport snafu, is forced to reside in a New York City airport terminal. Although the film had its share of wonderful moments, overall, it was regarded one of Spielberg’s more artificial-feeling efforts.
Much more effective was Spielberg's riveting remake of the H.G. Wells sci-fi classic, "War of the Worlds" (2005). Adding a contemporary spin on the familiar tale, Spielberg cast Tom Cruise as a working class father who must step up and protect his two children during a horrific alien invasion. By year's end, Spielberg – who had begun favoring a fast-paced production schedule for his projects – launched into another of his long-gestating passion projects. The result was "Munich" (2005), a tense chronicle of revenge and retribution following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. Working closely with two of the film's primary screenwriters, Eric Roth and, later, Tony Kushner, Spielberg took pains to craft a story that would offer a balanced look at the politically charged incident. Despite external criticisms over its politics and psychology, “Munich” succeeded as one of Spielberg’s masterworks, utilizing all of his talents as a cinematic storyteller to dizzying effect. As the year came to a close, Spielberg seemed poised to open a new chapter in his career. Having reached the end of his run as a movie executive/businessman, Spielberg oversaw the sale of DreamWorks SKG to Paramount Pictures. The former, having failed to fully flower as a full-fledged movie studio, nevertheless made Spielberg – along with his partners, Katzenberg and Geffen – a tidy profit and freed him to once again focus on directing full-time.
In 2007, industry trades announced Spielberg’s next project would be a fourth installment of the much-loved Indiana Jones series. Eighteen years after “Indian Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989), the new film re-teamed Spielberg with producer George Lucas and star Harrison Ford. Along for the ride, this time out, were Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett as a new Indy love interest and Shia LeBeouf as Indie’s son. Filming was set to begin in June 2007 for a tentative 2008 release – much to the pent-up anticipation of fanboys and girls around the world, who had been waiting for the great Indiana Jones revisit for almost two decades.
Profession(s):
producer, director, executive, screenwriter, restaurateur Sometimes Credited As:
Steven Allan Spielberg
Family
daughter:Destry Allyn Spielberg (Born on Dec. 1, 1996; mother, Kate Capshaw)
daughter:Mikaela George Spielberg (Born on Feb. 28, 1996; adopted with Capshaw)
daughter:Sasha Spielberg (Born in June 1990; mother, Kate Capshaw)
father:Arnold Spielberg (born c. 1918; lost relatives in the Holocaust; involved in the early development of computers; divorced from Spielberg's mother; remarried on April 6, 1997)
mother:Leah Adler (Had four children with Arnold (Steven the youngest); married to second husband, Bernie Adler; they own a kosher dairy restaurant called The Milky Way on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles)
sister:Anne Spielberg (Born on Dec. 25, 1949; co-wrote and co-produced "Big" (1988))
sister:Nancy Spielberg (Born in 1956)
sister:Sue Spielberg (Born in 1953)
son:Theo Spielberg (Born c. 1988; African-American; adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg; adopted by Spielberg)
son:Sawyer Spielberg (Born on March 10, 1992; mother, Kate Capshaw)
son:Max Spielberg (Born June 1985; mother, Amy Irving; Spielberg and Irving share custody)
step-daughter:Jessica Capshaw (Born in 1976; Kate Capshaw's daughter by a previous marriage)
step-father:Bernie Adler (Married to Spielberg's mother)
step-mother:Bernice Colner (Married Arnold Spielberg on April 6, 1997)
wife:Amy Irving (Had on-again, off-again relationship from the late 1970s; married on Nov. 27, 1985 in Santa Fe, New Mexico; divorced in 1989)
wife:Kate Capshaw (Married on Oct. 12, 1991 at Spielberg's East Hampton, Long Island, New York estate; converted from Episcopalianism to Judaism c. 1993 after more than a year of study with an Orthodox rabbi)
Companion(s)
Holly Hunter , Companion , ```..Had breif relationship c. 1989
Margot Kidder , Companion , ```..Had realtionship in the early 1970s
Sarah Miles , Companion , ```..Had relationship in the early 1970s; Miles reportedly became pregnant and chose to have an abortion
Education
Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA
California State College Long Beach, CA BA English 1970
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Salma Hayek
Full Biography
Touted by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez as the first Mexican star to play the female lead in an American movie since Dolores Del Rio, the stunningly beautiful and charismatic Salma Hayek scorched stateside cineplexes as the fiery border town bookseller who romances Antonio Banderas' vengeful "mariachi" in "Desperado" (1995). She had previously won the hearts of her countrymen with two TV roles in the late 1980s, first as an innocent schoolgirl in "Nuevo Amancer" and subsequently as the comely bad girl protagonist of "Teresa" in the extremely popular primetime soap. Fearing that Mexican audiences valued her looks more than her thespian skills – despite several acting awards – Hayek left Mexico at the height of her vogue and headed for L.A. She then took a year-and-a-half off from acting to learn English.
By 1992, Hayek was landing TV guest shots and appeared as a recurring character on a family sitcom, "The Sinbad Show" (Fox, 1993-94), before winning a supporting role in Alison Anders' well-regarded indie feature "Mi Vida Loca/My Crazy Life" (1993). Hayek's English skills had blossomed but roles remained elusive. Writer-director Rodriguez heard her lament on comic Paul Rodriguez's talk show and cast her as the female lead in his first 35mm project, "Roadracers" (Showtime, 1994), the hyper-stylized premiere installment of the "Rebel Highway" TV-movie series. His ultimate goal was to cast her as the female lead in his studio-produced sequel to 1992's low-budget marvel "El Mariachi;" the ploy worked, allowing Hayek to beat out all the standard Anglos that the studio attempted to impose upon the production.
Additional Hollywood assignments followed including further collaborations with Rodriguez on two other projects – a cameo with Banderas in the ill-conceived feature "Four Rooms" (also 1995) and as a blood-sucking snake-dancer in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted vampire outing, "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996). Hayek has stated her intention to alternate between working in Hollywood genre fare and Mexican art films (e.g., 1995's "Midaq Alley/El Callejon de los Milagros"). She idled for a while in Hollywood, though; with unremarkable supporting roles in Cindy Crawford's debut outing, "Fair Game" (1995), and the convicts on the run actioner "Fled" (1996).
Hayek then essayed her first romantic comedy lead opposite Matthew Perry in the underperforming "Fools Rush In" (1997). Cast as a Mexican woman who hastily marries an American and then proceeds to fall in love with him, she made a valiant effort, but critics and audiences were not impressed. "Breaking Up" (1997), which paired her with Russell Crowe as a couple who constantly separate and reconcile, also failed to excite audiences. She fared somewhat better as the fiery gypsy dance Esmeralda to Mandy Patinkin's "The Hunchback" in the 1997 TNT TV-movie but her role in the highly anticipated "54" (1998) was abbreviated when executives demanded re-shoots and a change in the storyline.
In 1999, Hayek was cast as the female lead in the western action flick, "Wild, Wild West" and appeared in director Kevin Smith's controversial comedy "Dogma.” She followed up with more serious fare, taking a small role in Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed anti-drug ensemble drama "Traffic" and appearing as a sexually controlling actress in Mike Figgis' experimental multi-screen drama "Timecode" (she would later reunited with Figgis for his next split-screen effort "Hotel"). She also produced and starred as the Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo in the drama biopic "Frida" (2002). For years Hayek fought to get the film made, eventually becoming the movie's producer, and the actress powered the project into production by the sheer force of her desire to bring the life story of her fellow countrywoman to the screen. While reaction to the film – directed by avant garde auteur Julie Taymor – was mixed, Hayek's intense performance was roundly praised. She was able to transcend both her sex symbol status and the limits of her ethnicity when she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for her efforts.
In 2003 Hayek reunited twice with director Robert Rodriguez, first for a humorous cameo in "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and then to reprise her role as Carolina – if only in flashback – in the successful and entertaining third outing in the El Mariachi series "Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” She then demonstrated her highly combustible sexual chemistry with co-star Pierce Brosnan in the amiable caper comedy "After the Sunset" (2004), playing the lover/partner of Brosnan's retired master jewel thief who finds himself tempted by the prospect of one last score, putting their relationship in jeopardy.
Then in 2006, Hayek donned a new hat – executive producer – for television’s “Ugly Betty" (ABC, 2006- ), an American adaptation of the popular Colombian telenovela “Betty, La Fea” (RCN, 1999-2001.) Using her big-screen fame, Hayek guest-starred in several episodes of “Ugly Betty” during its first season to boost the fledgling show’s ratings. On July 19, 2007, Hayek’s portrayal as glamorous fashionista Sofia Reyes earned the actress her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, director Sometimes Credited As:
hayek
Family
brother:Sami Hayek (Younger)
daughter:Valentia Paloma Pinault (Born Sept. 21, 2007; father, François-Henri Pinault)
father:Sami Hayek Dominguez (Lebanese; ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in 1997)
mother:Diana Hayek (Mexican)
Companion(s)
Edward Atterton , Companion , ```..Dated from 1997 to 1999; met during filming of "The Hunchback"
Edward Norton , Companion , ```..Began dating in 1999; Hayek and Norton were rumored to be married as of January 2003, but they never confirmed this; split in June 2003
François-Henri Pinault , Companion , ```..Began dating in 2007; became engaged in March 2007, after it was announced that she was expecting a child
Josh Lucas , Companion , ```..Began dating August 2003; split September 2004
Richard Crenna Jr , Companion , ```..Met in an acting class in 1991; briefly engaged; no longer together
Education
National University of Mexico Mexico City, Mexico
Stella Adler Conservatory Los Angeles, CA
Awards
Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special "The Maldonado Miracle" 2004
Imagen Award Best Actress "Frida" 2003
Imagen Award Creative Achievement 2003
Touted by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez as the first Mexican star to play the female lead in an American movie since Dolores Del Rio, the stunningly beautiful and charismatic Salma Hayek scorched stateside cineplexes as the fiery border town bookseller who romances Antonio Banderas' vengeful "mariachi" in "Desperado" (1995). She had previously won the hearts of her countrymen with two TV roles in the late 1980s, first as an innocent schoolgirl in "Nuevo Amancer" and subsequently as the comely bad girl protagonist of "Teresa" in the extremely popular primetime soap. Fearing that Mexican audiences valued her looks more than her thespian skills – despite several acting awards – Hayek left Mexico at the height of her vogue and headed for L.A. She then took a year-and-a-half off from acting to learn English.
By 1992, Hayek was landing TV guest shots and appeared as a recurring character on a family sitcom, "The Sinbad Show" (Fox, 1993-94), before winning a supporting role in Alison Anders' well-regarded indie feature "Mi Vida Loca/My Crazy Life" (1993). Hayek's English skills had blossomed but roles remained elusive. Writer-director Rodriguez heard her lament on comic Paul Rodriguez's talk show and cast her as the female lead in his first 35mm project, "Roadracers" (Showtime, 1994), the hyper-stylized premiere installment of the "Rebel Highway" TV-movie series. His ultimate goal was to cast her as the female lead in his studio-produced sequel to 1992's low-budget marvel "El Mariachi;" the ploy worked, allowing Hayek to beat out all the standard Anglos that the studio attempted to impose upon the production.
Additional Hollywood assignments followed including further collaborations with Rodriguez on two other projects – a cameo with Banderas in the ill-conceived feature "Four Rooms" (also 1995) and as a blood-sucking snake-dancer in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted vampire outing, "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996). Hayek has stated her intention to alternate between working in Hollywood genre fare and Mexican art films (e.g., 1995's "Midaq Alley/El Callejon de los Milagros"). She idled for a while in Hollywood, though; with unremarkable supporting roles in Cindy Crawford's debut outing, "Fair Game" (1995), and the convicts on the run actioner "Fled" (1996).
Hayek then essayed her first romantic comedy lead opposite Matthew Perry in the underperforming "Fools Rush In" (1997). Cast as a Mexican woman who hastily marries an American and then proceeds to fall in love with him, she made a valiant effort, but critics and audiences were not impressed. "Breaking Up" (1997), which paired her with Russell Crowe as a couple who constantly separate and reconcile, also failed to excite audiences. She fared somewhat better as the fiery gypsy dance Esmeralda to Mandy Patinkin's "The Hunchback" in the 1997 TNT TV-movie but her role in the highly anticipated "54" (1998) was abbreviated when executives demanded re-shoots and a change in the storyline.
In 1999, Hayek was cast as the female lead in the western action flick, "Wild, Wild West" and appeared in director Kevin Smith's controversial comedy "Dogma.” She followed up with more serious fare, taking a small role in Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed anti-drug ensemble drama "Traffic" and appearing as a sexually controlling actress in Mike Figgis' experimental multi-screen drama "Timecode" (she would later reunited with Figgis for his next split-screen effort "Hotel"). She also produced and starred as the Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo in the drama biopic "Frida" (2002). For years Hayek fought to get the film made, eventually becoming the movie's producer, and the actress powered the project into production by the sheer force of her desire to bring the life story of her fellow countrywoman to the screen. While reaction to the film – directed by avant garde auteur Julie Taymor – was mixed, Hayek's intense performance was roundly praised. She was able to transcend both her sex symbol status and the limits of her ethnicity when she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for her efforts.
In 2003 Hayek reunited twice with director Robert Rodriguez, first for a humorous cameo in "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and then to reprise her role as Carolina – if only in flashback – in the successful and entertaining third outing in the El Mariachi series "Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” She then demonstrated her highly combustible sexual chemistry with co-star Pierce Brosnan in the amiable caper comedy "After the Sunset" (2004), playing the lover/partner of Brosnan's retired master jewel thief who finds himself tempted by the prospect of one last score, putting their relationship in jeopardy.
Then in 2006, Hayek donned a new hat – executive producer – for television’s “Ugly Betty" (ABC, 2006- ), an American adaptation of the popular Colombian telenovela “Betty, La Fea” (RCN, 1999-2001.) Using her big-screen fame, Hayek guest-starred in several episodes of “Ugly Betty” during its first season to boost the fledgling show’s ratings. On July 19, 2007, Hayek’s portrayal as glamorous fashionista Sofia Reyes earned the actress her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, director Sometimes Credited As:
hayek
Family
brother:Sami Hayek (Younger)
daughter:Valentia Paloma Pinault (Born Sept. 21, 2007; father, François-Henri Pinault)
father:Sami Hayek Dominguez (Lebanese; ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in 1997)
mother:Diana Hayek (Mexican)
Companion(s)
Edward Atterton , Companion , ```..Dated from 1997 to 1999; met during filming of "The Hunchback"
Edward Norton , Companion , ```..Began dating in 1999; Hayek and Norton were rumored to be married as of January 2003, but they never confirmed this; split in June 2003
François-Henri Pinault , Companion , ```..Began dating in 2007; became engaged in March 2007, after it was announced that she was expecting a child
Josh Lucas , Companion , ```..Began dating August 2003; split September 2004
Richard Crenna Jr , Companion , ```..Met in an acting class in 1991; briefly engaged; no longer together
Education
National University of Mexico Mexico City, Mexico
Stella Adler Conservatory Los Angeles, CA
Awards
Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special "The Maldonado Miracle" 2004
Imagen Award Best Actress "Frida" 2003
Imagen Award Creative Achievement 2003
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sharon Stone
A self-described "übergeek" who couldn't get a date to her high school prom, Sharon Stone proved that brains (an IQ of 154) were certainly no impediment to forging a career in the entertainment industry, especially when capitalizing on naturally blonde good looks as a fetching piece of "eye candy" in movies both good and bad. The former beauty pageant contestant and Ford model made her film debut with a non-speaking part as a beautiful woman fleetingly glimpsed from a moving train in Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" (1980) and then survived more than a decade of mostly mediocre parts to claw her way to stardom.
Full Biography
A self-described "übergeek" who couldn't get a date to her high school prom, Sharon Stone proved that brains (an IQ of 154) were certainly no impediment to forging a career in the entertainment industry, especially when capitalizing on naturally blonde good looks as a fetching piece of "eye candy" in movies both good and bad. The former beauty pageant contestant and Ford model made her film debut with a non-speaking part as a beautiful woman fleetingly glimpsed from a moving train in Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" (1980) and then survived more than a decade of mostly mediocre parts to claw her way to stardom. A journalist's dream, she is one of the best interviews in Hollywood, talking smart, tough and funny (she once described former beau Dwight Yoakam as less appealing than a "dirt sandwich"), and bringing back an old-fashioned, high-octane glamour to her role as a "movie star.” Despite demonstrating considerable range as an actor, Stone has shown her true genius to be self-invention, creating a persona to rival that of stars like Joan Crawford and Betty Davis from a more style-conscious, bygone era.
The high points for Stone through the 1980s were few, though she did attract notice as Ryan O'Neal's conniving actress girlfriend in "Irreconcilable Differences" (1984) and as Robert Mitchum's daughter-in-law in the much-watched ABC miniseries "War and Remembrance" (1988). Mostly, she persevered as a stereotypical blonde in lackluster films like Wes Craven's "Deadly Blessing" (1981, whose saving grace was meeting best friend Mimi Craven, the director's ex-wife), "King Solomon's Mines" (1985) and its sequel "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold" (1987), "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol" (1987) and a remake of "Blood and Sand" (1989, in a role that had done considerably more for Rita Hayworth). She didn't fare any better on the small screen either, including a regular role as the wife of a bed-wetting baseball pitcher in the short-lived "Bay City Blues" (NBC, 1983).
Stone's first real break came playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's kick-boxing secret agent "wife" in Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi actioner "Total Recall" (1990). After five more forgettable thrillers and comedies, she finally achieved the proverbial "overnight" success as a voracious bisexual crime writer in Verhoeven's controversial and popular erotic thriller "Basic Instinct" (1992), written by Joe Ezsterhas. Her panties-less, leg-crossing scene brought Stone much notoriety but has haunted her ever since. Though she really didn't want to do "Sliver" (1993), another sizzling sex melodrama written by Ezsterhas which did middling business stateside and smashing box office overseas, she couldn't find any other part she liked better, so she made the mistake of retreating into the much more familiar and conventionally sympathetic role as the victim of a psychotic voyeur. Trying to escape the sex-bomb trap, she begged for the frigid wife role (they offered her much more to play the girlfriend) in "Intersection" (1994) and scored great reviews despite its limited success.
Stone again flexed her international box-office clout paired with Sylvester Stallone in the explosive actioner "The Specialist" (1994), and though she couldn't make Sly sexy, her good work helped make the picture (which James Woods walked off with) worth watching. She liked the script for "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) and became its co-producer, paying half of Leonardo DiCaprio's wages out of her own salary when the project ran into difficulties. Stone looked terrific in Western duds playing something of a distaff version of a Clint Eastwood-like gunfighter, and director Sam Raimi helmed the smartly derivative tale with style to spare. Unfortunately, the critical reception was uneven, and the public stayed away. She rebounded as Ginger, the Vegas hustler who wins the heart of Robert De Niro, in Martin Scorsese's "Casino" (also 1995). No part before had ever made such heavy demands on the actress, and she was a revelation, letting loose with a corker of a performance as the beautiful and unstable, ultimately pathetic moll with no inner life that yielded a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
The now highly-paid, much-in-demand diva, boasting her own production company (Chaos) and a first-look deal with Miramax, filmed a remake of the noir classic "Diabolique" with Isabelle Adjani and Chazz Palminteri and played a death-row inmate whose lawyer (Rob Morrow) works to save her from execution in "Last Dance" (both 1996). The former (a pale imitation of the 1955 classic) was notable more for her battle with its producer over refusing to bare her flesh, while the latter, despite presenting a uniquely drab, unglamorous Stone, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, following so close on the heels of the previous year's "Dead Man Walking.” Protecting her hard-won stardom, Stone had became a clever manipulator of her public image, on heavy press days reportedly changing outfits between each interview and photo session, a practice unheard of since the days of Carole Lombard and Norma Shearer. Onscreen and off, she understood that her power resided in her unwillingness to relinquish her femaleness.
Stone's acting teacher Roy London had told her that audiences could love to hate her, and the advice made her a star. In her personal life, however, the wreckage of femme fatalities left in her wake solidified her image as an "ice princess,” a tag she sought to lose in order to be taken seriously as an actress. Stone went to work on changing the public's perception of her, crediting Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein with having the foresight to see she could convincingly play a relatively normal, single mother "when everyone else said it was impossible" (of course the fact that her production company ultimately provided financing for 1998's "The Mighty" made his decision infinitely easier.) That said, her strong, emotional performance in a secondary role confirmed her range, and her marriage to San Francisco Examiner editor Phil Bronstein helped with her transition from sex bomb to domestic goddess.
Having reached the age of 40, she intended to keep her clothes on, and her superstar clout led to the diversity she had craved in movies like "Antz,” the 1998 animated film which vocally reunited her with Woody Allen, "Sphere" (1998, cast as a biochemist in the lackluster Barry Levinson venture), "Gloria" (1999, a remake to unsettle John Cassavetes' final repose) and, terrifically, in "The Muse" (1999, playing the titular role to writer-director-star Albert Brooks, a Greek muse who lends her inspiration to Hollywood types, but not without turning their lives upside down with her demands). She appeared, in fine form, in a brief but pivotal appearance as the alcoholic wife of a horse breeder in the otherwise dismal "Simpatico" (also 1999). Although Stone would sometimes resurface in low-profile projects—including "Picking Up the Pieces" (2000), "Beautiful Joe" (2000) and in a charming turn opposite Ellen Degeneres in HBO's lesbian-themed "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (2000)—but her 1998-2003 marriage to San Francisco Chronicle publisher Phil Bronstein kept her away from Hollywood—geographically and on film—for many years (and produced at least bizarre anecdote: the publisher was bitten on the foot by a komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo during a birthday visit there arranged by Stone in 2001). Also in 2001, the actress suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly proved fatal.
After filing for divorce from Bronstein, Stone returned looking as fit and fabulous as ever and lit up the big screen again in director Mike Figgis' sly reinvention of a haunted house thriller "Cold Creek Manor" (2003). Stone gave one of her most campy—and unsatisfying—turns as the villainous model-cum-mogul Laurel Hadare opposite Halle Berry in the lackluster "Catwoman" (2004) on screen, while off-screen she was the subject of a courtroom battle after producers backed out of an alleged verbal $19.36 million agreement for her to star in a sequel to "Basic Instinct"—she later settled, with part of deal including a planned sequel. After a brief appearance in the unsurprisingly rotten “Jiminy Glick in La La Wood” (2005), Stone played one of four ex-girlfriends tracked down by a man (Bill Murray) who received an anonymous letter from the mother of his unknown son in Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers” (2005).
At 48, an age when most actresses have had trouble even landing a role, Stone returned to the territory that made her famous when she starred in the long-talked-about sequel, “Basic Instincts 2: Risk Addiction” (2006). As promised, the nearly-50-year-old actress bared all in her return as the ice pick-wielding crime novelist Catherine Trammell, creating what she hoped would be a big enough stir to lure curiosity seekers into the multiplexes. But “Basic Instinct 2” took a critical and theatrical drubbing, while the actress received unbridled scorn for a performance that was deemed embarrassing and comical, though nothing compared to the media savagery she got for saying that she would “kiss just about anybody for peace in the Middle East” at a press conference in Israel. In a surprising turn later in the year, Stone was the recipient of warm praise for her mature and grounded performance in “Bobby” (2006), first time director Emilio Estevez’s engaging look at the 16 hours prior to Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles as seen through the eyes of several guests and employees. Oscar talk was high in the weeks following the film’s debut at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, where it received a nine-minute long standing ovation, particularly for Stone and costar Demi Moore.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, model, counter girl, waitress
Family
aunt:Vonne Stone (father's sister; earned Master's in English literature and fine arts and encouraged Stone in her creative pursuits)
brother:Michael Stone (born in 1951; did two years at Attica prison for cocaine possession; self-described marijuana smuggler; made acting debut in "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) which sister co-produced; engaged briefly to British model and socialite Tamara Beckwith)
brother:Patrick Stone (younger)
father:Joseph Stone
husband:Michael Greenburg (married c. 1984; divorced in 1987; married for 22 months; met working on the TV film "The Vegas Strip Wars" (1984); was associate producer on "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold" (1987); described Stone as a combination of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
husband:Phil Bronstein (editor at San Francisco Examiner when pair wed on February 14, 1998; born c. 1951; underwent angioplasty in August 1999; seperated as of July 2003; divorced January 29, 2004)
mother:Dorothy Stone (studied bookkeeping at night and returned to high school, graduating in Stone's class)
sister:Kelly Stone (executive director, Planet Hope; born c. 1961)
son:Roan Joseph Bronstein (adopted; born on May 22, 2000 in Texas)
Companion(s)
Barry Josephson , Companion , ```..dated in 1995
Bernie Cahill , Companion , ```..linked in 2003 and 2004; no longer together
Bill McDonald , Companion , ```..engaged to be married, met on the set of "Sliver" 1993; dumped his wife Naomi Baca (now Mrs. Joe Eszterhas) for Stone; no longer together as of 1994
Bob Wagner , Companion , ```..worked on two 1995 movies starring Stone ("The Quick and the Dead" and "Casino"); Stone described him as "gorgeous, in a 70's playboy kind of way"; no longer together; she returned his engagement ring via Federal Express
Chris Peters , Companion , ```..son of Jon Peters; was reportedly devestated when Stone took up with Bill McDonald
Craig Ferguson , Companion , ```..briefly dated in 2005; rumored to be dating again as of Summer 2007
Dwight Yoakam , Companion , ```..Stone referred to him as a "dirt sandwich" after their breakup
Garry Shandling , Companion , ```..dated briefly; worked predicament into a segment of "The Larry Sanders Show" entitled "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show"
Hart Bochner , Companion , ```..dated briefly
Jim Connelly , Companion , ```..dated; no longer together
Michael Benasra , Companion , ```..dated in the summer of 1996
Education
Saegertown High School Saegertown, Pennsylvania
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Edinboro, Pennsylvania creative writing, fine arts 1977
Full Biography
A self-described "übergeek" who couldn't get a date to her high school prom, Sharon Stone proved that brains (an IQ of 154) were certainly no impediment to forging a career in the entertainment industry, especially when capitalizing on naturally blonde good looks as a fetching piece of "eye candy" in movies both good and bad. The former beauty pageant contestant and Ford model made her film debut with a non-speaking part as a beautiful woman fleetingly glimpsed from a moving train in Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" (1980) and then survived more than a decade of mostly mediocre parts to claw her way to stardom. A journalist's dream, she is one of the best interviews in Hollywood, talking smart, tough and funny (she once described former beau Dwight Yoakam as less appealing than a "dirt sandwich"), and bringing back an old-fashioned, high-octane glamour to her role as a "movie star.” Despite demonstrating considerable range as an actor, Stone has shown her true genius to be self-invention, creating a persona to rival that of stars like Joan Crawford and Betty Davis from a more style-conscious, bygone era.
The high points for Stone through the 1980s were few, though she did attract notice as Ryan O'Neal's conniving actress girlfriend in "Irreconcilable Differences" (1984) and as Robert Mitchum's daughter-in-law in the much-watched ABC miniseries "War and Remembrance" (1988). Mostly, she persevered as a stereotypical blonde in lackluster films like Wes Craven's "Deadly Blessing" (1981, whose saving grace was meeting best friend Mimi Craven, the director's ex-wife), "King Solomon's Mines" (1985) and its sequel "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold" (1987), "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol" (1987) and a remake of "Blood and Sand" (1989, in a role that had done considerably more for Rita Hayworth). She didn't fare any better on the small screen either, including a regular role as the wife of a bed-wetting baseball pitcher in the short-lived "Bay City Blues" (NBC, 1983).
Stone's first real break came playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's kick-boxing secret agent "wife" in Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi actioner "Total Recall" (1990). After five more forgettable thrillers and comedies, she finally achieved the proverbial "overnight" success as a voracious bisexual crime writer in Verhoeven's controversial and popular erotic thriller "Basic Instinct" (1992), written by Joe Ezsterhas. Her panties-less, leg-crossing scene brought Stone much notoriety but has haunted her ever since. Though she really didn't want to do "Sliver" (1993), another sizzling sex melodrama written by Ezsterhas which did middling business stateside and smashing box office overseas, she couldn't find any other part she liked better, so she made the mistake of retreating into the much more familiar and conventionally sympathetic role as the victim of a psychotic voyeur. Trying to escape the sex-bomb trap, she begged for the frigid wife role (they offered her much more to play the girlfriend) in "Intersection" (1994) and scored great reviews despite its limited success.
Stone again flexed her international box-office clout paired with Sylvester Stallone in the explosive actioner "The Specialist" (1994), and though she couldn't make Sly sexy, her good work helped make the picture (which James Woods walked off with) worth watching. She liked the script for "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) and became its co-producer, paying half of Leonardo DiCaprio's wages out of her own salary when the project ran into difficulties. Stone looked terrific in Western duds playing something of a distaff version of a Clint Eastwood-like gunfighter, and director Sam Raimi helmed the smartly derivative tale with style to spare. Unfortunately, the critical reception was uneven, and the public stayed away. She rebounded as Ginger, the Vegas hustler who wins the heart of Robert De Niro, in Martin Scorsese's "Casino" (also 1995). No part before had ever made such heavy demands on the actress, and she was a revelation, letting loose with a corker of a performance as the beautiful and unstable, ultimately pathetic moll with no inner life that yielded a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
The now highly-paid, much-in-demand diva, boasting her own production company (Chaos) and a first-look deal with Miramax, filmed a remake of the noir classic "Diabolique" with Isabelle Adjani and Chazz Palminteri and played a death-row inmate whose lawyer (Rob Morrow) works to save her from execution in "Last Dance" (both 1996). The former (a pale imitation of the 1955 classic) was notable more for her battle with its producer over refusing to bare her flesh, while the latter, despite presenting a uniquely drab, unglamorous Stone, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, following so close on the heels of the previous year's "Dead Man Walking.” Protecting her hard-won stardom, Stone had became a clever manipulator of her public image, on heavy press days reportedly changing outfits between each interview and photo session, a practice unheard of since the days of Carole Lombard and Norma Shearer. Onscreen and off, she understood that her power resided in her unwillingness to relinquish her femaleness.
Stone's acting teacher Roy London had told her that audiences could love to hate her, and the advice made her a star. In her personal life, however, the wreckage of femme fatalities left in her wake solidified her image as an "ice princess,” a tag she sought to lose in order to be taken seriously as an actress. Stone went to work on changing the public's perception of her, crediting Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein with having the foresight to see she could convincingly play a relatively normal, single mother "when everyone else said it was impossible" (of course the fact that her production company ultimately provided financing for 1998's "The Mighty" made his decision infinitely easier.) That said, her strong, emotional performance in a secondary role confirmed her range, and her marriage to San Francisco Examiner editor Phil Bronstein helped with her transition from sex bomb to domestic goddess.
Having reached the age of 40, she intended to keep her clothes on, and her superstar clout led to the diversity she had craved in movies like "Antz,” the 1998 animated film which vocally reunited her with Woody Allen, "Sphere" (1998, cast as a biochemist in the lackluster Barry Levinson venture), "Gloria" (1999, a remake to unsettle John Cassavetes' final repose) and, terrifically, in "The Muse" (1999, playing the titular role to writer-director-star Albert Brooks, a Greek muse who lends her inspiration to Hollywood types, but not without turning their lives upside down with her demands). She appeared, in fine form, in a brief but pivotal appearance as the alcoholic wife of a horse breeder in the otherwise dismal "Simpatico" (also 1999). Although Stone would sometimes resurface in low-profile projects—including "Picking Up the Pieces" (2000), "Beautiful Joe" (2000) and in a charming turn opposite Ellen Degeneres in HBO's lesbian-themed "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (2000)—but her 1998-2003 marriage to San Francisco Chronicle publisher Phil Bronstein kept her away from Hollywood—geographically and on film—for many years (and produced at least bizarre anecdote: the publisher was bitten on the foot by a komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo during a birthday visit there arranged by Stone in 2001). Also in 2001, the actress suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly proved fatal.
After filing for divorce from Bronstein, Stone returned looking as fit and fabulous as ever and lit up the big screen again in director Mike Figgis' sly reinvention of a haunted house thriller "Cold Creek Manor" (2003). Stone gave one of her most campy—and unsatisfying—turns as the villainous model-cum-mogul Laurel Hadare opposite Halle Berry in the lackluster "Catwoman" (2004) on screen, while off-screen she was the subject of a courtroom battle after producers backed out of an alleged verbal $19.36 million agreement for her to star in a sequel to "Basic Instinct"—she later settled, with part of deal including a planned sequel. After a brief appearance in the unsurprisingly rotten “Jiminy Glick in La La Wood” (2005), Stone played one of four ex-girlfriends tracked down by a man (Bill Murray) who received an anonymous letter from the mother of his unknown son in Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers” (2005).
At 48, an age when most actresses have had trouble even landing a role, Stone returned to the territory that made her famous when she starred in the long-talked-about sequel, “Basic Instincts 2: Risk Addiction” (2006). As promised, the nearly-50-year-old actress bared all in her return as the ice pick-wielding crime novelist Catherine Trammell, creating what she hoped would be a big enough stir to lure curiosity seekers into the multiplexes. But “Basic Instinct 2” took a critical and theatrical drubbing, while the actress received unbridled scorn for a performance that was deemed embarrassing and comical, though nothing compared to the media savagery she got for saying that she would “kiss just about anybody for peace in the Middle East” at a press conference in Israel. In a surprising turn later in the year, Stone was the recipient of warm praise for her mature and grounded performance in “Bobby” (2006), first time director Emilio Estevez’s engaging look at the 16 hours prior to Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles as seen through the eyes of several guests and employees. Oscar talk was high in the weeks following the film’s debut at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, where it received a nine-minute long standing ovation, particularly for Stone and costar Demi Moore.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, model, counter girl, waitress
Family
aunt:Vonne Stone (father's sister; earned Master's in English literature and fine arts and encouraged Stone in her creative pursuits)
brother:Michael Stone (born in 1951; did two years at Attica prison for cocaine possession; self-described marijuana smuggler; made acting debut in "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) which sister co-produced; engaged briefly to British model and socialite Tamara Beckwith)
brother:Patrick Stone (younger)
father:Joseph Stone
husband:Michael Greenburg (married c. 1984; divorced in 1987; married for 22 months; met working on the TV film "The Vegas Strip Wars" (1984); was associate producer on "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold" (1987); described Stone as a combination of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
husband:Phil Bronstein (editor at San Francisco Examiner when pair wed on February 14, 1998; born c. 1951; underwent angioplasty in August 1999; seperated as of July 2003; divorced January 29, 2004)
mother:Dorothy Stone (studied bookkeeping at night and returned to high school, graduating in Stone's class)
sister:Kelly Stone (executive director, Planet Hope; born c. 1961)
son:Roan Joseph Bronstein (adopted; born on May 22, 2000 in Texas)
Companion(s)
Barry Josephson , Companion , ```..dated in 1995
Bernie Cahill , Companion , ```..linked in 2003 and 2004; no longer together
Bill McDonald , Companion , ```..engaged to be married, met on the set of "Sliver" 1993; dumped his wife Naomi Baca (now Mrs. Joe Eszterhas) for Stone; no longer together as of 1994
Bob Wagner , Companion , ```..worked on two 1995 movies starring Stone ("The Quick and the Dead" and "Casino"); Stone described him as "gorgeous, in a 70's playboy kind of way"; no longer together; she returned his engagement ring via Federal Express
Chris Peters , Companion , ```..son of Jon Peters; was reportedly devestated when Stone took up with Bill McDonald
Craig Ferguson , Companion , ```..briefly dated in 2005; rumored to be dating again as of Summer 2007
Dwight Yoakam , Companion , ```..Stone referred to him as a "dirt sandwich" after their breakup
Garry Shandling , Companion , ```..dated briefly; worked predicament into a segment of "The Larry Sanders Show" entitled "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show"
Hart Bochner , Companion , ```..dated briefly
Jim Connelly , Companion , ```..dated; no longer together
Michael Benasra , Companion , ```..dated in the summer of 1996
Education
Saegertown High School Saegertown, Pennsylvania
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Edinboro, Pennsylvania creative writing, fine arts 1977
Monday, April 14, 2008
Keanu Reeves
Full Biography
A tall, handsome laconic actor, Keanu Reeves rose to prominence in the 1980s and solidified his standing as a major star in the 1990s with roles in films like "Speed" (1994) and "The Matrix" (2000). Born in Beirut and raised in Australia, New York and Canada, the actor honed his craft on stage (in the homoerotic play "Wolfboy") and television (e.g., "Hanging In") in Toronto before making his debut in the ice hockey drama "Youngblood" in 1986. Reeves first garnered attention as the baby-faced stoner whose friend murdered his girlfriend in the based-on-fact "River's Edge" (1987). While his resume included such teen-themed efforts of "Permanent Record" and "The Prince of Pennsylvania" (both 1988), Reeves attempted to stretch as a love struck music teacher in the period drama "Dangerous Liaisons" (also 1988), he was outclassed by veteran co-stars John Malkovich and Glenn Close. The following year, however, director Stephen Herek tapped him for his breakthrough role as Theodore Logan, the Southern California surfer dude who time travels with his pal, in the innocuous and amusing "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". Playing off co-star Alex Winter's Bill, Reeves delivered a letter-perfect turn which unfortunately typecast the actor. He was so convincing as the dim-wit with the halting delivery that some came to believe he wasn't acting. It perhaps didn't help that he followed up with similar type parts in "Parenthood" (1989) and "I Love You to Death" (1990). When he tried to assume more serious roles, like the earnest undercover agent in "Point Blank" (1991), audiences and reviewers were loathe to accept him.
Director Gus Van Sant made perfect use of Reeves' unique screen appeal when he cast the actor as the mayor's son who trades in his posh lifestyle for a life as a street hustler in "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). Teamed onscreen with River Phoenix, Reeves delivered a beautifully modulated and sensual performance. Casting agents and directors now viewed the young man as leading man material and Reeves was tapped to play Jonathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's operatic adaptation of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), a performance he has dismissed. Indeed amid the high concept production values and up against scenery chewers like Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman (as Dracula), Reeves comes off as a bit wooden. More successful was a surprising foray into Shakespeare as the dark Don Juan in Kenneth Branagh's sun dappled "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993). While some may have felt Reeves and the Bard would make an unlikely pairing, the actor acquitted himself well.
After dieting and buffing up, Reeves undertook the part of Siddhartha in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" (1994), a role that hardly taxed his acting chops. He cut a fine action hero in the bomb-on-a-bus thriller "Speed" (also 1994), which raised his box-office standing. Rather than capitalize on this newfound status as an action hero, though, Reeves confounded all (and reportedly turned down a role in "Heat") by retreating to Winnipeg and undertaking one of the stage's most demanding roles -- "Hamlet". Reaction was divided, although most notices were respectful. But film critics were less kind to his next few performances, feeling the actor was miscast as a WWII-era soldier in the romantic comedy "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995) and an engineer in the actioner "Chain Reaction" (1996). Reeves offered a strong and satisfying performance as an ambitious Southern lawyer seduced by wealth, fame and Satan (in the person of Al Pacino's John Milton) in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997), which could be summed up as "The Exorcist" meets John Grisham. Despite the hokum, the actor cut a believable figure as a successful trail lawyer. Following a two-year absence, Reeves returned to action mode as Neo, a gifted computer hacker who is recruited by mysterious figures and introduced to "The Matrix" (1999).
In 2000, he was cast as a former football quarterback recruited to play in the major leagues during the 1987 NFL strike in "The Replacements" and a serial killer tracked by a retired federal agent (James Spader) in "The Watcher". Reeves continued to walk on the villainous side by playing the small but pivotal role of a wife abuser (opposite Hilary Swank) in "The Gift." The following year he reunited with Charlize Theron (who played his wife in "Devil's Advocate") for the limp remake of the romance "Sweet November" and barely registered as a reluctant Little League coach in "Hard Ball," a lame attempt to mix "Mighty Ducks" style filmmaking with over-earnest messages. Following the phenomenal box-office success of the stylish 1999 sci-fi thriller, "The Matrix" Reeves was back in demand with the highly-anticipated but far inferior sequels "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) as well as "The Matrix Revolutions," (2003) directed by the Wachowski Brothers. Reeves next ably took on a less central role in the much lighter romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give" (2003), playing Jack Nicholson's charming cardiologist and eventual romantic rival when he becomes besotted with Nicholson's inadvertent love interest Diane Keaton.
Although the comic book character John Constantine of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer fame was originally a spiked-hair blonde Englishman physically based on the 80s-era pop star Sting, the seemingly miscast Reeves was somehow able to bypass those trappings and make the character his own when he was cast as the occult investigator anti-hero for "Constantine" (2005), an effective, f/x-heavy horror-action hybrid that provided the actor with one of his best roles since the original "Matrix" film. Reeves’ next project was in line with his habit for keeping fans and critics perpetually scratching their heads. He starred opposite Sandra Bullock—their first on-screen pairing since “Speed”—for “The Lake House” (2006), a sappy romantic drama remade from the South Korean film “Il Mare” (2000) about two lovers who trade letters while living in the same idyllic lake house—only one exists two years into the future. Though the supernatural element added a new twist to an otherwise standard love story, “The Lake House” suffered from a slow pace and a lack of charm between the leads. Meanwhile, Reeves was set to appear in Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s classic sci-fi novel, “A Scanner Darkly” (2006), playing a reluctant undercover narcotics cop who investigates his alter ego—a drug-addled dealer of a dangerous new drug.
Profession(s):
Actor, musician, pasta chef, tree cutter, skate sharpener Sometimes Credited As:
Keanu Charles Reeves Family
daughter:Ava Archer Reeves (Born stillborn in 2000; mother, Jennifer Syme)
father:Samuel Nowlin Reeves (Of Hawaiian and Chinese descent; abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was two; sentenced to 10 years in prison for cocaine and heroin possession in 1994; served time in a Hawaiian jail; was paroled in 1996)
half-sister:Emma Reeves (Born in 1980 in Hawaii; father is Samuel Nowlin Reeves)
half-sister:Karina Miller (Born in 1976 in Toronto; daughter of Patricia Taylor and Robert Miller)
mother:Patricia Taylor (English)
sister:Kim Reeves (Born in 1966 in Australia; diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s)
step-father:Paul Aaron (Divorced Reeves' mother after six months of marriage)
step-father:Robert Miller (Married to Reeves' mother from 1976-1980; had a daughter together)
step-father:Jack Bond (Divorced Reeves' mother in 1994)
Companion(s)
Amanda DeCadenet , Companion , ```..Briefly engaged in 1996; no longer together
Autumn MacIntosh , Companion , ```..Rumored to have dated in 2004; no longer together
Carrie-Anne Moss , Companion , ```..Reportedly became involved during the filming of "The Matrix" (1999); no longer together
Diane Keaton , Companion , ```..Met on the set of "Something's Gotta Give" (2003); although rumored to have dated in 2005, both their reps denied the romance
Jennifer Syme , Companion , ```..Former assistant to David Lynch; appeared in Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997); gave birth to Reeves' stillborn daughter in 2000, who was named Ava Archer Reeves; killed in a car accident April 2, 2001
Lynn Collins , Companion , ```..Dated for three months after meeting on the set of "The Lake House" (2006); no longer together
Education
Jessie Ketchum Public School Toronto, Ontario, Canada
High School for the Performing Arts Toronto, Ontario, Canada
De La Salle College Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Etobicoke School of the Arts Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Hedgerow Theatre Moylan, PA
A tall, handsome laconic actor, Keanu Reeves rose to prominence in the 1980s and solidified his standing as a major star in the 1990s with roles in films like "Speed" (1994) and "The Matrix" (2000). Born in Beirut and raised in Australia, New York and Canada, the actor honed his craft on stage (in the homoerotic play "Wolfboy") and television (e.g., "Hanging In") in Toronto before making his debut in the ice hockey drama "Youngblood" in 1986. Reeves first garnered attention as the baby-faced stoner whose friend murdered his girlfriend in the based-on-fact "River's Edge" (1987). While his resume included such teen-themed efforts of "Permanent Record" and "The Prince of Pennsylvania" (both 1988), Reeves attempted to stretch as a love struck music teacher in the period drama "Dangerous Liaisons" (also 1988), he was outclassed by veteran co-stars John Malkovich and Glenn Close. The following year, however, director Stephen Herek tapped him for his breakthrough role as Theodore Logan, the Southern California surfer dude who time travels with his pal, in the innocuous and amusing "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". Playing off co-star Alex Winter's Bill, Reeves delivered a letter-perfect turn which unfortunately typecast the actor. He was so convincing as the dim-wit with the halting delivery that some came to believe he wasn't acting. It perhaps didn't help that he followed up with similar type parts in "Parenthood" (1989) and "I Love You to Death" (1990). When he tried to assume more serious roles, like the earnest undercover agent in "Point Blank" (1991), audiences and reviewers were loathe to accept him.
Director Gus Van Sant made perfect use of Reeves' unique screen appeal when he cast the actor as the mayor's son who trades in his posh lifestyle for a life as a street hustler in "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). Teamed onscreen with River Phoenix, Reeves delivered a beautifully modulated and sensual performance. Casting agents and directors now viewed the young man as leading man material and Reeves was tapped to play Jonathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's operatic adaptation of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), a performance he has dismissed. Indeed amid the high concept production values and up against scenery chewers like Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman (as Dracula), Reeves comes off as a bit wooden. More successful was a surprising foray into Shakespeare as the dark Don Juan in Kenneth Branagh's sun dappled "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993). While some may have felt Reeves and the Bard would make an unlikely pairing, the actor acquitted himself well.
After dieting and buffing up, Reeves undertook the part of Siddhartha in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" (1994), a role that hardly taxed his acting chops. He cut a fine action hero in the bomb-on-a-bus thriller "Speed" (also 1994), which raised his box-office standing. Rather than capitalize on this newfound status as an action hero, though, Reeves confounded all (and reportedly turned down a role in "Heat") by retreating to Winnipeg and undertaking one of the stage's most demanding roles -- "Hamlet". Reaction was divided, although most notices were respectful. But film critics were less kind to his next few performances, feeling the actor was miscast as a WWII-era soldier in the romantic comedy "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995) and an engineer in the actioner "Chain Reaction" (1996). Reeves offered a strong and satisfying performance as an ambitious Southern lawyer seduced by wealth, fame and Satan (in the person of Al Pacino's John Milton) in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997), which could be summed up as "The Exorcist" meets John Grisham. Despite the hokum, the actor cut a believable figure as a successful trail lawyer. Following a two-year absence, Reeves returned to action mode as Neo, a gifted computer hacker who is recruited by mysterious figures and introduced to "The Matrix" (1999).
In 2000, he was cast as a former football quarterback recruited to play in the major leagues during the 1987 NFL strike in "The Replacements" and a serial killer tracked by a retired federal agent (James Spader) in "The Watcher". Reeves continued to walk on the villainous side by playing the small but pivotal role of a wife abuser (opposite Hilary Swank) in "The Gift." The following year he reunited with Charlize Theron (who played his wife in "Devil's Advocate") for the limp remake of the romance "Sweet November" and barely registered as a reluctant Little League coach in "Hard Ball," a lame attempt to mix "Mighty Ducks" style filmmaking with over-earnest messages. Following the phenomenal box-office success of the stylish 1999 sci-fi thriller, "The Matrix" Reeves was back in demand with the highly-anticipated but far inferior sequels "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) as well as "The Matrix Revolutions," (2003) directed by the Wachowski Brothers. Reeves next ably took on a less central role in the much lighter romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give" (2003), playing Jack Nicholson's charming cardiologist and eventual romantic rival when he becomes besotted with Nicholson's inadvertent love interest Diane Keaton.
Although the comic book character John Constantine of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer fame was originally a spiked-hair blonde Englishman physically based on the 80s-era pop star Sting, the seemingly miscast Reeves was somehow able to bypass those trappings and make the character his own when he was cast as the occult investigator anti-hero for "Constantine" (2005), an effective, f/x-heavy horror-action hybrid that provided the actor with one of his best roles since the original "Matrix" film. Reeves’ next project was in line with his habit for keeping fans and critics perpetually scratching their heads. He starred opposite Sandra Bullock—their first on-screen pairing since “Speed”—for “The Lake House” (2006), a sappy romantic drama remade from the South Korean film “Il Mare” (2000) about two lovers who trade letters while living in the same idyllic lake house—only one exists two years into the future. Though the supernatural element added a new twist to an otherwise standard love story, “The Lake House” suffered from a slow pace and a lack of charm between the leads. Meanwhile, Reeves was set to appear in Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s classic sci-fi novel, “A Scanner Darkly” (2006), playing a reluctant undercover narcotics cop who investigates his alter ego—a drug-addled dealer of a dangerous new drug.
Profession(s):
Actor, musician, pasta chef, tree cutter, skate sharpener Sometimes Credited As:
Keanu Charles Reeves Family
daughter:Ava Archer Reeves (Born stillborn in 2000; mother, Jennifer Syme)
father:Samuel Nowlin Reeves (Of Hawaiian and Chinese descent; abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was two; sentenced to 10 years in prison for cocaine and heroin possession in 1994; served time in a Hawaiian jail; was paroled in 1996)
half-sister:Emma Reeves (Born in 1980 in Hawaii; father is Samuel Nowlin Reeves)
half-sister:Karina Miller (Born in 1976 in Toronto; daughter of Patricia Taylor and Robert Miller)
mother:Patricia Taylor (English)
sister:Kim Reeves (Born in 1966 in Australia; diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s)
step-father:Paul Aaron (Divorced Reeves' mother after six months of marriage)
step-father:Robert Miller (Married to Reeves' mother from 1976-1980; had a daughter together)
step-father:Jack Bond (Divorced Reeves' mother in 1994)
Companion(s)
Amanda DeCadenet , Companion , ```..Briefly engaged in 1996; no longer together
Autumn MacIntosh , Companion , ```..Rumored to have dated in 2004; no longer together
Carrie-Anne Moss , Companion , ```..Reportedly became involved during the filming of "The Matrix" (1999); no longer together
Diane Keaton , Companion , ```..Met on the set of "Something's Gotta Give" (2003); although rumored to have dated in 2005, both their reps denied the romance
Jennifer Syme , Companion , ```..Former assistant to David Lynch; appeared in Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997); gave birth to Reeves' stillborn daughter in 2000, who was named Ava Archer Reeves; killed in a car accident April 2, 2001
Lynn Collins , Companion , ```..Dated for three months after meeting on the set of "The Lake House" (2006); no longer together
Education
Jessie Ketchum Public School Toronto, Ontario, Canada
High School for the Performing Arts Toronto, Ontario, Canada
De La Salle College Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Etobicoke School of the Arts Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Hedgerow Theatre Moylan, PA
Add Your Blog.com
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Bruce Willis
Full Biography
A raffish performer whose relaxed style and working-class persona made him an indelible favorite during his star-making turn on the quirky detective series, “Moonlighting” (ABC, 1985-89), actor Bruce Willis used his cocky charm and insatiable will to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world. A surprisingly versatile performer, Willis hit his peak as an action hero during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially as the star of the behemoth hit “Die Hard” (1988). Proving he was more than a one-note song, Willis put his acting chops on display as Butch, the washed-up pugilist in director Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994). His career hit a bumpy road, however, as he approached middle age – around the same time his fabled marriage to fellow A-lister Demi Moore came to an end. But Willis later reinvented himself as a lead of serious dramas, especially with an impressive turn as haunted psychiatrist Dr. Malcolm Crowe in director M. Night Shyamalan’s landmark thriller, “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Willis would continue his association with Shyamalan well into the next decade, refining his image as a venerable actor with true talent – and enough of a sense of humor to return to his “Die Hard,” once again starring as a middle-aged John McClain in “Live Free or Die Hard” (2007).
The eldest of four children, Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, where his father was a welder serving in the U.S. military. The family later moved to Penns Grove, NJ, where Willis spent the remainder of his childhood. Nicknaming himself ‘Bruno’ to gain confidence, Willis quickly became a popular student; even going on to become student body president. Unfortunately, Willis’ political career went up in smoke his senior year when he was suspended for three months – allegedly for smoking pot. After toiling around New Jersey and working menial jobs following graduation – namely at a nearby DuPont chemical factory and as a security guard at a nuclear power plant – Willis decided to give acting a try. While taking classes at Montclair State College, the future star also began to play harmonica in a local blues band called the Loose Goose – a regular ritual which helped the fledgling musician overcome his natural stutter.
Willis broke through both professionally and personally with the school’s production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” With the determination of someone who knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, Willis promptly dropped out of MSC at 19 and moved to New York City, NY to find acting work. In 1977, Willis landed his first stage gig with a role in an off-Broadway production of “Heaven and Earth.” But for the most part, he struggled to find acting work while paying the rent with bartending gigs at Chelsea Central and Kamikaze. Willis continued to perform in other off-Broadway roles and appeared briefly in films like “The First Deadly Sin” (1980) and “The Verdict” (1982), as well as occasionally landing guest spots on episodes of “Hart to Hart” (ABC, 1979-1984) and “Miami Vice” (NBC, 1984-89). During the wild 1980s – an era awash in booze and drugs – his devil-may-care bartender attitude fit in perfectly with the night owls of the Big Apple’s surreal after-hours swirl. And like many bartenders-by-night/thespians-by-day, Willis was also developing serious acting chops.
In 1984, his first big break came when he replaced Ed Harris in Sam Shepard's off-Broadway hit, "Fool for Love.” This led to an audition for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985) – the Susan Seidelman-helmed mistaken identity comedy starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. Though he failed to land the part, Willis stuck around Hollywood an extra day to read for what became a career-launching role – playing wisecracking private investigator David Addison on ABC’s wildly successful “Moonlighting.” Arriving to the audition in combat fatigues and sporting a punk haircut, he eventually beat out 3,000 other hopefuls because of his unconventional look and cocky attitude. Starring opposite a smug, but demure Cybill Shepherd, Willis possessed the charm of a young Jimmy Cagney. Before long, the hip dialogue-driven romantic comedy became one of the most inventive shows of the decade. Unfortunately, the show’s success also bred its share of personality conflicts. Widely publicized battles involving the two stars and show creator Glenn Gordon Caron resulted in production delays and numerous repeat episodes. But the behind-the-scenes tensions helped fuel the palpable onscreen sexual energy between Willis and Shepherd. The carnal edge to their rocky relationship was finally consummated at the end of the 1986-87 season – an event considered by many fans to be the moment when the series “jumped-the-shark.” Willis did, however, win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama that same season.
After appearing in guest spots on several TV shows, in addition to starring in the series pilot for an updated incarnation of "The Twilight Zone" (CBS, 1985-87), Willis headlined his own music special, "The Return of Bruno" (HBO, 1987), a mockumentary highlighting fictional blues singer Bruno Radolini (Willis) and his band, The Heaters. From there, Willis landed starring roles in two uneven Blake Edwards’s comedies, "Blind Date" (1987) and "Sunset" (1988). The actor’s charming "Moonlighting" smirk notwithstanding, little of Willis’ small screen appeal translated to the big screen and he was pegged as just another fading television personality unable to make the transition into features. But when Hollywood super-agent Arnold Rifkin landed Willis the lead role in the action-film "Die Hard,” Willis was thrust into the big time. News broke that he would earn an unprecedented $5 million payday, raising a hue and cry throughout Hollywood that no actor with such trifling films credits should command such a substantial amount of money.
In hindsight, Willis’ salary was a bargain. The action thriller – about a New York cop (Willis) trapped in a corporate high-rise when a gang of terrorists hold employees hostage – spawned a franchise and launched Willis as an action-hero on par with the likes of Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Willis' wise-guy machismo worked perfectly for the film’s hero, John McClane, leading him to reprise the role in the sequel "Die Hard II: Die Harder" (1990). Meanwhile, he supplied the voice of Mikey in the hit comedy "Look Who's Talking" (1989) and its limp follow-up "Look Who's Talking Too" (1990), then stretched his talents with a surprisingly good performance as the cynical, shell-shocked Vietnam veteran of "In Country" (1989). Willis went on to flex his acting muscles as the low-life murder victim in "Mortal Thoughts" (1991, opposite then-wife Demi Moore) and the hapless plastic surgeon in the horror comedy "Death Becomes Her" (1992) – occasional high points in the midst of some extraordinary disasters. Less successful were the abysmal "Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990) based on Tom Wolfe’s novel, the self-indulgent action flop "Hudson Hawk" (1991) – for which he co-wrote the story and theme song – as well as the box-office disappointments "Billy Bathgate" (1991) and "The Last Boy Scout" (1991), all of which threatened to permanently damage his career.
Once again, critics were wont to write Willis off, just as they did during his post-“Moonlighting” missteps. He defied them all, however, rebounding nicely with several off-beat roles that ran counter to his action hero persona. After spoofing himself in Robert Altman's Hollywood satire "The Player" (1992), he emerged as a prizefighter who refuses to take a dive in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994). Though overshadowed by costar John Travolta’s sudden return to the limelight after his career had been pronounced dead, Willis nonetheless resuscitated himself in the film’s most memorable performance. He next starred in director Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi masterpiece "12 Monkeys" (1995), playing a time-traveling scientist whose self-sacrifice alters the course of the future for the betterment of mankind. Later that year, however, Willis suited up for a third go-round as John McClane opposite co-star Samuel L. Jackson in the underrated, “Die Hard with a Vengeance” (1995).
Willis’ collaboration with writer-director Walter Hill on "Last Man Standing" (1996), a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai masterpiece "Yojimbo," turned out to be a torturous affair. As the 1990s wore on, Willis comfortably wore the mantle of action hero – despite chafing at the garment's limitations – in such big-budgeted effects-laden efforts as Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element" (1997), which enjoyed a tremendous worldwide box office against meager US returns, and the blockbuster "Armageddon" (1998), which depicted him as an oil driller who sacrifices his life to save the world from a giant meteor. Around that same period, Willis attempted a change of pace with his first large-scale, villainous role as the titular mercenary killer in the watchable, but ultimately disappointing thriller, "The Jackal" (1997). It was back to the same old, same old for "Mercury Rising" (1998), an action thriller about an FBI agent (Willis) helping an autistic child (Miko Hughes) find safety after accidentally discovering a secret code. Willis’ power hungry general also single-handedly altered the tone of "The Siege" (1998) from a serious-minded thriller to a one-dimensional, cartoon shoot-em-up.
In 1999, Willis finally made a life-long pet project, playing Dwayne Hoover, the suicidal car salesman from author Kurt Vonnegut’s "Breakfast of Champions.” He wisely chose to act in that year's paranormal surprise hit, "The Sixth Sense,” which presented him at his most subdued, endearing and effective opposite 12-year-old Haley Joel Osment, a boy who sees dead people. The star also undertook a role which paralleled his own life in Rob Reiner's comedy-drama "The Story of Us" (also 1999), drawing on his own difficulties with Demi Moore for its sad-sack story of a marriage in trouble. In 2000, Willis continued to resist the call of the action hero, playing a fast-paced, but unhappy Los Angeles executive who gets in touch with his physically manifested inner child (Spencer Breslin) in “Disney's The Kid.” After reuniting with M. Night Shyamalan in the supernatural thriller "Unbreakable" (2000), Willis scored a surprise hit with "The Whole Ten Yards," a broad comedy in which he was ex-mobster and friendly suburban neighbor Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski.
Returning to the small screen for a three-episode arc on NBC's hit sitcom "Friends” (1994-2004), Willis picked up his second Emmy playing the disapproving father of a college co-ed dating the character of Ross (David Schwimmer) who winds up romancing Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). On the big screen, Willis was back to being laconic in "Bandits" (2001), playing a prison escapee who robs a number of banks with his hypochondriac partner (Billy Bob Thornton), even though both fall in love with a runaway housewife (Cate Blanchett). Willis was used to better effect as an American P.O.W. presiding over a murder trial in the WWII drama "Hart's War" (2002), then as the leader of a special operations force on a search and rescue mission in the jungles of Africa in "Tears of the Sun" (2003). That year he also voiced the animated canine Spike in "Rugrats Go Wild" and had an unaccredited, nearly unrecognizable cameo in "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle," the comeback vehicle for friendly ex-wife Moore, before reprising Jimmy the Tulip for the dreadful sequel "The Whole Ten Yards.”
He popped up with another cameo appearance, playing himself in "Ocean's 12" (2004), the rather unworthy sequel to the 2001 caper comedy hit. Willis returned to the thriller genre with the Miramax-produced "Hostage" (2005), with a screenplay written by bestselling novelist Robert Crais. In the film, he was a failed LAPD hostage negotiator who, as a suburban police chief, finds himself forced to rely on his old skills to save his estranged family. Though the film had merits, it failed at the box office. He was better served in the highly stylized "Sin City" (2005), Robert Rodriguez's visually arresting adaptation of Frank Miller's crime noir comic book series. In the film's best segment, "That Yellow Bastard," Willis had the plum role of Hartigan, a noble, but world-weary and heart-troubled cop who goes to jail rather than lead the corrupt family of a pedophile to the victim he saved, only to become embroiled again with all of the players in his past.
Returning to animation, Willis voiced the manipulative and opportunistic raccoon, RJ, in DreamWorks’ “Over the Hedge” (2005), an amusing, though standard comedy about a group of forest critters trying to reclaim a neighboring backyard after waking from their long winter’s nap. In “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006), he was a notorious hit man who helps a man (Josh Hartnett) trapped between two crime bosses (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley) – thanks to a case of mistaken identity – to get them before they get him. After a small part as a bigwig cattle supplier in “Fast Food Nation” (2006), Willis made a cameo as a retired astronaut who tries to convince a determined farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) not to build his own rocket ship in “The Astronaut Farmer” (2006). Willis returned to leading man status in the well-made popcorn thriller “16 Blocks” (2006), playing a hard-drinking, hard-living New York City cop tasked with transporting a petty criminal (Mos Def) to his grand jury testimony against a corrupt cop (David Morse), only to learn the hard way that the cop wants the witness dead.
Willis made another off-kilter cameo, this time as a macho military fanatic in the “Planet Terror” segment of “Grindhouse” (2007), a compilation of two 90-minute horror flicks from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez that was a throwback to the days of bloody, sex-fueled, low-rent double features that played in seedy 42nd Street theaters in New York City. He then reverted to playing the heavy in “Perfect Stranger” (2007), a dull and lifeless thriller about an investigative reporter (Halle Berry) who poses as a temp at an advertising agency in order to unravel the murder of a friend connected to a powerful ad executive (Willis). Meanwhile, action fans had cause to scream a celebratory “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf*****!” in the summer with the long-awaited return of hero-cop John McClane in the fourth installment of the “Die Hard” series, “Live Free or Die Hard” (2007). Returning to the signature role he created nearly twenty years earlier, Willis played an older, less resilient John McClane entering middle-age who – when duty calls – would prove that once an action hero, always an action hero.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, singer, screenwriter, harmonica player, songwriter, waiter, security guard, bartender Sometimes Credited As:
Walter Bruce Willis
Family
brother:David Willis (Serves as vice president of Willis' production company)
brother:Robert Willis (Formerly in partnership with Skyline Entertainment; died of pancreatic cancer at age 42 on June 26, 2001)
daughter:Rumer Glenn Willis (Born Aug. 16, 1988; mother, Demi Moore; named after British novelist Rumer Godden; made feature film debut opposite mother Demi Moore in "Striptease" (1996))
daughter:Scout LaRue Willis (Born July 20, 1991; mother, Demi Moore; first name comes from child narrator of the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird")
daughter:Tallulah Belle Willis (Born Feb. 3, 1994; mother, Demi Moore; appeared with Moore as baby Pearl in "The Scarlet Letter" (1995))
father:David Willis (Acted in "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Mortal Thoughts" (1991); divorced from Willis' mother in 1971)
grandfather:E G Willis (Willis named a building in Hailey, Idaho after him)
mother:Marlene Willis (Worked in a bank; moved to California after her 1971 divorce from Willis' father)
wife:Demi Moore (Married in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 21, 1987; acted together in "Mortal Thoughts" (1991); announced separation in June 1998; divorced in October 2000)
Companion(s)
Brooke Burns , Companion , ```..Began dating in August 2003; rumored to be engaged as of April 2004; reportedly split in June 2004
Emily Sandberg , Companion , ```..Dated in the fall of 2000
Maria Bravo , Companion , ```..Spanish; dated from 1999-2000
Sheri Rivera , Companion , ```..Lived together prior to his marriage to Moore; former wife of Geraldo Rivera
Education
Montclair State College Montclair, New Jersey
Penns Grove High School Penns Grove, New Jersey 1973
A raffish performer whose relaxed style and working-class persona made him an indelible favorite during his star-making turn on the quirky detective series, “Moonlighting” (ABC, 1985-89), actor Bruce Willis used his cocky charm and insatiable will to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world. A surprisingly versatile performer, Willis hit his peak as an action hero during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially as the star of the behemoth hit “Die Hard” (1988). Proving he was more than a one-note song, Willis put his acting chops on display as Butch, the washed-up pugilist in director Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994). His career hit a bumpy road, however, as he approached middle age – around the same time his fabled marriage to fellow A-lister Demi Moore came to an end. But Willis later reinvented himself as a lead of serious dramas, especially with an impressive turn as haunted psychiatrist Dr. Malcolm Crowe in director M. Night Shyamalan’s landmark thriller, “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Willis would continue his association with Shyamalan well into the next decade, refining his image as a venerable actor with true talent – and enough of a sense of humor to return to his “Die Hard,” once again starring as a middle-aged John McClain in “Live Free or Die Hard” (2007).
The eldest of four children, Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, where his father was a welder serving in the U.S. military. The family later moved to Penns Grove, NJ, where Willis spent the remainder of his childhood. Nicknaming himself ‘Bruno’ to gain confidence, Willis quickly became a popular student; even going on to become student body president. Unfortunately, Willis’ political career went up in smoke his senior year when he was suspended for three months – allegedly for smoking pot. After toiling around New Jersey and working menial jobs following graduation – namely at a nearby DuPont chemical factory and as a security guard at a nuclear power plant – Willis decided to give acting a try. While taking classes at Montclair State College, the future star also began to play harmonica in a local blues band called the Loose Goose – a regular ritual which helped the fledgling musician overcome his natural stutter.
Willis broke through both professionally and personally with the school’s production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” With the determination of someone who knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, Willis promptly dropped out of MSC at 19 and moved to New York City, NY to find acting work. In 1977, Willis landed his first stage gig with a role in an off-Broadway production of “Heaven and Earth.” But for the most part, he struggled to find acting work while paying the rent with bartending gigs at Chelsea Central and Kamikaze. Willis continued to perform in other off-Broadway roles and appeared briefly in films like “The First Deadly Sin” (1980) and “The Verdict” (1982), as well as occasionally landing guest spots on episodes of “Hart to Hart” (ABC, 1979-1984) and “Miami Vice” (NBC, 1984-89). During the wild 1980s – an era awash in booze and drugs – his devil-may-care bartender attitude fit in perfectly with the night owls of the Big Apple’s surreal after-hours swirl. And like many bartenders-by-night/thespians-by-day, Willis was also developing serious acting chops.
In 1984, his first big break came when he replaced Ed Harris in Sam Shepard's off-Broadway hit, "Fool for Love.” This led to an audition for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985) – the Susan Seidelman-helmed mistaken identity comedy starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. Though he failed to land the part, Willis stuck around Hollywood an extra day to read for what became a career-launching role – playing wisecracking private investigator David Addison on ABC’s wildly successful “Moonlighting.” Arriving to the audition in combat fatigues and sporting a punk haircut, he eventually beat out 3,000 other hopefuls because of his unconventional look and cocky attitude. Starring opposite a smug, but demure Cybill Shepherd, Willis possessed the charm of a young Jimmy Cagney. Before long, the hip dialogue-driven romantic comedy became one of the most inventive shows of the decade. Unfortunately, the show’s success also bred its share of personality conflicts. Widely publicized battles involving the two stars and show creator Glenn Gordon Caron resulted in production delays and numerous repeat episodes. But the behind-the-scenes tensions helped fuel the palpable onscreen sexual energy between Willis and Shepherd. The carnal edge to their rocky relationship was finally consummated at the end of the 1986-87 season – an event considered by many fans to be the moment when the series “jumped-the-shark.” Willis did, however, win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama that same season.
After appearing in guest spots on several TV shows, in addition to starring in the series pilot for an updated incarnation of "The Twilight Zone" (CBS, 1985-87), Willis headlined his own music special, "The Return of Bruno" (HBO, 1987), a mockumentary highlighting fictional blues singer Bruno Radolini (Willis) and his band, The Heaters. From there, Willis landed starring roles in two uneven Blake Edwards’s comedies, "Blind Date" (1987) and "Sunset" (1988). The actor’s charming "Moonlighting" smirk notwithstanding, little of Willis’ small screen appeal translated to the big screen and he was pegged as just another fading television personality unable to make the transition into features. But when Hollywood super-agent Arnold Rifkin landed Willis the lead role in the action-film "Die Hard,” Willis was thrust into the big time. News broke that he would earn an unprecedented $5 million payday, raising a hue and cry throughout Hollywood that no actor with such trifling films credits should command such a substantial amount of money.
In hindsight, Willis’ salary was a bargain. The action thriller – about a New York cop (Willis) trapped in a corporate high-rise when a gang of terrorists hold employees hostage – spawned a franchise and launched Willis as an action-hero on par with the likes of Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Willis' wise-guy machismo worked perfectly for the film’s hero, John McClane, leading him to reprise the role in the sequel "Die Hard II: Die Harder" (1990). Meanwhile, he supplied the voice of Mikey in the hit comedy "Look Who's Talking" (1989) and its limp follow-up "Look Who's Talking Too" (1990), then stretched his talents with a surprisingly good performance as the cynical, shell-shocked Vietnam veteran of "In Country" (1989). Willis went on to flex his acting muscles as the low-life murder victim in "Mortal Thoughts" (1991, opposite then-wife Demi Moore) and the hapless plastic surgeon in the horror comedy "Death Becomes Her" (1992) – occasional high points in the midst of some extraordinary disasters. Less successful were the abysmal "Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990) based on Tom Wolfe’s novel, the self-indulgent action flop "Hudson Hawk" (1991) – for which he co-wrote the story and theme song – as well as the box-office disappointments "Billy Bathgate" (1991) and "The Last Boy Scout" (1991), all of which threatened to permanently damage his career.
Once again, critics were wont to write Willis off, just as they did during his post-“Moonlighting” missteps. He defied them all, however, rebounding nicely with several off-beat roles that ran counter to his action hero persona. After spoofing himself in Robert Altman's Hollywood satire "The Player" (1992), he emerged as a prizefighter who refuses to take a dive in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994). Though overshadowed by costar John Travolta’s sudden return to the limelight after his career had been pronounced dead, Willis nonetheless resuscitated himself in the film’s most memorable performance. He next starred in director Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi masterpiece "12 Monkeys" (1995), playing a time-traveling scientist whose self-sacrifice alters the course of the future for the betterment of mankind. Later that year, however, Willis suited up for a third go-round as John McClane opposite co-star Samuel L. Jackson in the underrated, “Die Hard with a Vengeance” (1995).
Willis’ collaboration with writer-director Walter Hill on "Last Man Standing" (1996), a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai masterpiece "Yojimbo," turned out to be a torturous affair. As the 1990s wore on, Willis comfortably wore the mantle of action hero – despite chafing at the garment's limitations – in such big-budgeted effects-laden efforts as Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element" (1997), which enjoyed a tremendous worldwide box office against meager US returns, and the blockbuster "Armageddon" (1998), which depicted him as an oil driller who sacrifices his life to save the world from a giant meteor. Around that same period, Willis attempted a change of pace with his first large-scale, villainous role as the titular mercenary killer in the watchable, but ultimately disappointing thriller, "The Jackal" (1997). It was back to the same old, same old for "Mercury Rising" (1998), an action thriller about an FBI agent (Willis) helping an autistic child (Miko Hughes) find safety after accidentally discovering a secret code. Willis’ power hungry general also single-handedly altered the tone of "The Siege" (1998) from a serious-minded thriller to a one-dimensional, cartoon shoot-em-up.
In 1999, Willis finally made a life-long pet project, playing Dwayne Hoover, the suicidal car salesman from author Kurt Vonnegut’s "Breakfast of Champions.” He wisely chose to act in that year's paranormal surprise hit, "The Sixth Sense,” which presented him at his most subdued, endearing and effective opposite 12-year-old Haley Joel Osment, a boy who sees dead people. The star also undertook a role which paralleled his own life in Rob Reiner's comedy-drama "The Story of Us" (also 1999), drawing on his own difficulties with Demi Moore for its sad-sack story of a marriage in trouble. In 2000, Willis continued to resist the call of the action hero, playing a fast-paced, but unhappy Los Angeles executive who gets in touch with his physically manifested inner child (Spencer Breslin) in “Disney's The Kid.” After reuniting with M. Night Shyamalan in the supernatural thriller "Unbreakable" (2000), Willis scored a surprise hit with "The Whole Ten Yards," a broad comedy in which he was ex-mobster and friendly suburban neighbor Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski.
Returning to the small screen for a three-episode arc on NBC's hit sitcom "Friends” (1994-2004), Willis picked up his second Emmy playing the disapproving father of a college co-ed dating the character of Ross (David Schwimmer) who winds up romancing Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). On the big screen, Willis was back to being laconic in "Bandits" (2001), playing a prison escapee who robs a number of banks with his hypochondriac partner (Billy Bob Thornton), even though both fall in love with a runaway housewife (Cate Blanchett). Willis was used to better effect as an American P.O.W. presiding over a murder trial in the WWII drama "Hart's War" (2002), then as the leader of a special operations force on a search and rescue mission in the jungles of Africa in "Tears of the Sun" (2003). That year he also voiced the animated canine Spike in "Rugrats Go Wild" and had an unaccredited, nearly unrecognizable cameo in "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle," the comeback vehicle for friendly ex-wife Moore, before reprising Jimmy the Tulip for the dreadful sequel "The Whole Ten Yards.”
He popped up with another cameo appearance, playing himself in "Ocean's 12" (2004), the rather unworthy sequel to the 2001 caper comedy hit. Willis returned to the thriller genre with the Miramax-produced "Hostage" (2005), with a screenplay written by bestselling novelist Robert Crais. In the film, he was a failed LAPD hostage negotiator who, as a suburban police chief, finds himself forced to rely on his old skills to save his estranged family. Though the film had merits, it failed at the box office. He was better served in the highly stylized "Sin City" (2005), Robert Rodriguez's visually arresting adaptation of Frank Miller's crime noir comic book series. In the film's best segment, "That Yellow Bastard," Willis had the plum role of Hartigan, a noble, but world-weary and heart-troubled cop who goes to jail rather than lead the corrupt family of a pedophile to the victim he saved, only to become embroiled again with all of the players in his past.
Returning to animation, Willis voiced the manipulative and opportunistic raccoon, RJ, in DreamWorks’ “Over the Hedge” (2005), an amusing, though standard comedy about a group of forest critters trying to reclaim a neighboring backyard after waking from their long winter’s nap. In “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006), he was a notorious hit man who helps a man (Josh Hartnett) trapped between two crime bosses (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley) – thanks to a case of mistaken identity – to get them before they get him. After a small part as a bigwig cattle supplier in “Fast Food Nation” (2006), Willis made a cameo as a retired astronaut who tries to convince a determined farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) not to build his own rocket ship in “The Astronaut Farmer” (2006). Willis returned to leading man status in the well-made popcorn thriller “16 Blocks” (2006), playing a hard-drinking, hard-living New York City cop tasked with transporting a petty criminal (Mos Def) to his grand jury testimony against a corrupt cop (David Morse), only to learn the hard way that the cop wants the witness dead.
Willis made another off-kilter cameo, this time as a macho military fanatic in the “Planet Terror” segment of “Grindhouse” (2007), a compilation of two 90-minute horror flicks from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez that was a throwback to the days of bloody, sex-fueled, low-rent double features that played in seedy 42nd Street theaters in New York City. He then reverted to playing the heavy in “Perfect Stranger” (2007), a dull and lifeless thriller about an investigative reporter (Halle Berry) who poses as a temp at an advertising agency in order to unravel the murder of a friend connected to a powerful ad executive (Willis). Meanwhile, action fans had cause to scream a celebratory “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf*****!” in the summer with the long-awaited return of hero-cop John McClane in the fourth installment of the “Die Hard” series, “Live Free or Die Hard” (2007). Returning to the signature role he created nearly twenty years earlier, Willis played an older, less resilient John McClane entering middle-age who – when duty calls – would prove that once an action hero, always an action hero.
Profession(s):
Actor, producer, singer, screenwriter, harmonica player, songwriter, waiter, security guard, bartender Sometimes Credited As:
Walter Bruce Willis
Family
brother:David Willis (Serves as vice president of Willis' production company)
brother:Robert Willis (Formerly in partnership with Skyline Entertainment; died of pancreatic cancer at age 42 on June 26, 2001)
daughter:Rumer Glenn Willis (Born Aug. 16, 1988; mother, Demi Moore; named after British novelist Rumer Godden; made feature film debut opposite mother Demi Moore in "Striptease" (1996))
daughter:Scout LaRue Willis (Born July 20, 1991; mother, Demi Moore; first name comes from child narrator of the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird")
daughter:Tallulah Belle Willis (Born Feb. 3, 1994; mother, Demi Moore; appeared with Moore as baby Pearl in "The Scarlet Letter" (1995))
father:David Willis (Acted in "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Mortal Thoughts" (1991); divorced from Willis' mother in 1971)
grandfather:E G Willis (Willis named a building in Hailey, Idaho after him)
mother:Marlene Willis (Worked in a bank; moved to California after her 1971 divorce from Willis' father)
wife:Demi Moore (Married in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 21, 1987; acted together in "Mortal Thoughts" (1991); announced separation in June 1998; divorced in October 2000)
Companion(s)
Brooke Burns , Companion , ```..Began dating in August 2003; rumored to be engaged as of April 2004; reportedly split in June 2004
Emily Sandberg , Companion , ```..Dated in the fall of 2000
Maria Bravo , Companion , ```..Spanish; dated from 1999-2000
Sheri Rivera , Companion , ```..Lived together prior to his marriage to Moore; former wife of Geraldo Rivera
Education
Montclair State College Montclair, New Jersey
Penns Grove High School Penns Grove, New Jersey 1973
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Will Smith
Restless energy channeled into the relentless pursuit of success transformed teen rap artist the Fresh Prince into Academy Award-nominated leading man and blockbuster movie producer, Will Smith. His witty charisma, infectious spirit and rare versatility transcended racial and generational borders, continually attracting record-breaking crowds to sci-fi adventures, comedies and dramas. He was equally at home shooting a film with Barry Sonnenfeld as he was recording with Snoop Dogg....
Full Biography
Restless energy channeled into the relentless pursuit of success transformed teen rap artist the Fresh Prince into Academy Award-nominated leading man and blockbuster movie producer, Will Smith. His witty charisma, infectious spirit and rare versatility transcended racial and generational borders, continually attracting record-breaking crowds to sci-fi adventures, comedies and dramas. He was equally at home shooting a film with Barry Sonnenfeld as he was recording with Snoop Dogg. Because of this ability to both be comfortable and to make others comfortable, he drew unanimous admiration from his peers for both his extraordinary drive and that easygoing charm which helped him move seamlessly between worlds. One of only three actors to star in seven consecutive $100 million blockbusters, Smith was hailed by Entertainment Weekly as the smartest actor in Hollywood for “achieving a level of global popularity unprecedented for an African-American actor." Smith was under the age of 40 when that comment was made, and still striving to achieve his personal best in an ever-widening field of creative pursuits.
Willard C. Smith Jr. was born on Sept. 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, PA. His father, Willard Sr., was an Air Force veteran who owned a commercial refrigeration company, while his mother, Caroline, worked for the local school board. Smith himself was not a model student, however. Despite his naturally inquisitive mind and the quick-on-his feet negotiating skills that earned him the childhood nickname “the Prince,” Smith’s hyperactive energy hampered his academic efforts. But his outgoing charm and sense of humor already suggested that a different kind of success might be in store for the youngster, who cleverly learned to tailor jokes to predominantly white schoolmates, predominantly black friends and the locals in his Jewish and Muslim neighborhood. At the age of 12, he found a new outlet for his verbal creativity and began experimenting with Grandmaster Flash-inspired rap. When he met turn-table ace Jeff Townes, or DJ Jazzy Jeff, on a playground four years later, the two joined forces and began performing on the local party circuit. They added human beat-box Ready Rock C to the act and released the single “Girls Ain’t Nothin’ but Trouble” on local label Pop Art records in 1985.
Rising rapper Smith immediately made a mark with lyrical content revolving around the trials and tribulations of teenhood, coupled with a rap style that was uniquely funny and refreshingly free of profanity. He had ditched earlier efforts to conform to a more R-rated mold after his grandmother read some of his lyrics and informed him, “…truly intelligent people do not have to use these types of words.” The brass at Arista imprint Jive records agreed, smelling the potential of the group’s youthful, poppy style, and signed them to a record deal. Two weeks before his high school graduation, Smith saw the release of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s first album, Rock the House (1987) and his career was set in motion.
The duo landed a huge profile boost with an opening slot on tour with Run D.M.C. and Public Enemy later that year, with Smith recalling in interviews that a sold out stadium show of diehard rap fans in Japan truly ignited his fire for superstardom. The year 1988 saw the LP He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper and the breakout single and music video for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which transformed them into platinum recording artists and first ever recipients of a Grammy Award in the new Rap category. The follow-up release And in This Corner… (1989) was certified gold, though the group’s mainstream sound was beginning to lose some audiences, in light of the rise of hardcore rap.
By the time Smith was 21 years old, the jug-eared kid from Philly had earned — and lost — a million dollars. Luckily his theatrical charisma had attracted the attention of Hollywood. NBC was interested in building a sitcom around Smith. The result was "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (NBC, 1990-96), in which Smith opened the show by rapping its back story about a streetwise kid from the Philly 'hood who moves in with wealthy relatives in Bel Air, CA. The show, like Smith’s music, was popular with a large cross-section of both black and white audiences, bringing a non-threatening portrayal of hip-hop culture to primetime TV. Taking advantage of his heightened profile, he and Jazzy Jeff released the platinum-selling, Quincy Jones-produced Homebase in 1991. The single “Summertime” earned the duo a second Grammy, hitting the tops of both the R&B and Rap charts and proving to be one of the most memorable hits of their music career. The self-proclaimed “psychotically driven” Smith followed up his second round of success by marrying girlfriend Sheree Zampino, earning his first Golden Globe nomination for “The Fresh Prince,” and setting his sights on feature films. He debuted in theaters in a small role in a gritty profile of runaway teens called “Where the Day Takes You” (1992), before landing a supporting role in the failed Whoopi Goldberg/Ted Danson vehicle, “Made in America” (1993).
Smith, now living in Los Angeles, was determined to become a Hollywood star. Convincing a director that he could play something other than a wise-assed urban kid was going to be a challenge. Director Fred Schepisi took that chance, casting Smith in the lead as a charming con-man who ingratiates himself with an affluent white New York couple (Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland) by posing as the son of Sidney Poitier in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993). The untrained actor spent months working with drama and dialogue coaches for his turn in the adaptation of the Tony-nominated play and the work paid off, with Smith delivering an impressive performance amidst a cast of seasoned acting pros. The same year, he earned a second Golden Globe nomination for “The Fresh Prince” and he and Jazzy Jeff released the album Code Red (1993) which hit gold status and produced the number one single “Boom! Shake the Room.” In 1994, Smith assumed executive producer duties on the “Fresh Prince,” and the following summer, enjoyed his true cinematic breakout opposite Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys" (1995). From the minds of veteran action-comedy producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, the buddy cop feature, in which Smith played the wild bachelor to Lawrence’s family man, was a blockbuster hit and proved Smith had the talent to carry a mainstream film.
“The Fresh Prince” aired its series finale in 1995. Off-screen, Smith also bid farewell to his three-year marriage, which had produced son Willard III, nicknamed Trey. Perfectionist Smith was saddled with feelings of failure and sadness over the break-up and found a shoulder to cry on in actress Jada Pinkett, whom he had been friendly with for years in the relatively small circle of successful black Hollywood actors. Within a year, their friendship blossomed into love, and the spiritually renewed Smith triumphantly returned to theaters as a cigar-chomping military pilot trying to save the U.S. from an alien invasion in the sci-fi thriller, "Independence Day" (1996). One of the most anticipated films of the summer blockbuster season, “Independence Day” went on to earn over $800 million dollars worldwide and bumped Smith up to Hollywood’s A-list.
The following summer he continued his hot streak in yet another space alien success, starring as comically deadpan Agent J opposite Tommy Lee Jones’ humorless Agent K in "Men in Black" (1997). In addition to the critical kudos Smith earned for his role in the year’s highest grossing film, his performance of the theme song earned a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap performance. The song also appeared on Smith’s debut solo album released on Columbia Records that year, Big Willie Style, which spawned chart-topping hits “Getting’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Just the Two of Us,” an homage to father/son relationships and dedicated to his son, Trey.
Smith and Pinkett capped 1997 with a New Year’s Eve wedding outside Pinkett’s hometown of Baltimore, MA. Nearby, Smith had been shooting the dramatic thriller "Enemy of the State” (1998), in which he offered a sturdy dramatic performance as a labor lawyer targeted by the National Security Agency after acquiring evidence pivotal to a politically-motivated killing. His next outing was one of the lesser efforts in the blockbusters Smith cannon – "Wild Wild West" (1999), in which he was cast as a Civil War-era government agent in a loose interpretation of the popular 1960s TV series. His laid-back charm and charisma may have been overshadowed by overblown special effects, but Smith still managed to attract over $100 million in domestic box office (on a $200 million budget) and banked another number one hit with the film’s theme song. The song also appeared on Smith’s multi-platinum selling Willennium alongside singles “Freakin’ It” and “Will 2K.”
But when Smith returned to the big screen in the highly-touted millennium, he was ready to put his action-comedy star status aside in favor of tackling serious drama. His first, decidedly non-summer extravaganza, was the period fable “The Legend of Bagger Vance” (2000), in which he played a mysterious caddy who dispenses inspirational support to a washed-up golf pro (Matt Damon). While Smith seemed a bit at sea in this drastic departure from his usual fare, reviewers agreed that he managed to keep the character from devolving completely into cliché, despite challenges with the script and direction.
Smith’s follow-up erased any doubt that he had the dramatic potential of one of his acting heroes, Denzel Washington – to say nothing of bumping his salary up to the $20 million mark. Preparing to play the lead in director Michael Mann’s biopic “Ali” (2001), Smith followed the same training regimen as the heavyweight champion once did, challenging himself to dig spiritually and emotionally deeper than he had ever done before as an actor. The film concentrated on the tumultuous period in Ali’s life, spanning his surprise win over Sonny Liston through his draft difficulties, to his defeat of George Foreman in the infamous “Rumble in the Jungle.” Smith’s powerhouse performance earned him the highest critical accolades of his career, including nominations from the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Black Reel Awards, and the Image Awards.
Smith conquered entirely new creative territory with “Ali” but it was not his only landmark project of 2001. He also released his first book, the illustrated children’s story Just the Two of Us, inspired by his 1998 hit song and dedicated to fathers everywhere. In 2002, he released the album Born to Reign before attempting to revisit his successful action film track record with a couple of would-be summer blockbuster sequels that generated solid ticket sales, but offered little creative innovation, including reuniting with Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black II" (2002) and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys 2" (2003). In 2003, he returned to the primetime fold as co-creator and executive producer – along with Pinkett-Smith – of the UPN sitcom, “All of Us” (UPN, 2003-07), which was based on their own experiences as a blended family. By now, the Smith-Pinkett household had grown to include not only Trey, but son Jaden Christopher and daughter Willow, all of whom would begin to express an interest in the family business.
Along with business partner James Lassiter, Smith formed Overbrook Entertainment, debuting as a feature film producer with an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's sci-fi classic "I, Robot" (2004), in which he also starred as a futuristic police detective. The familiar turn as blockbuster hero was crowd-pleasing if not horizon-expanding, but Smith followed up with a surprisingly belated visit to straight-ahead comedy. He lent his distinctive persona to DreamWorks' CGI-animated "Shark Tale" (2004) as Oscar, the mouthy young fish who ends up in hot water after the death of a shark mob boss. Overbrook’s next release, "Hitch" (2005), fully capitalized on Smith’s considerable charisma and romantic appeal, with his starring role as a smooth professional date doctor whose technique goes awry when he meets his own potential lady love (Eva Mendes).
Now signed to Interscope records, following the lackluster sales of his final album with Columbia, Smith released Lost and Found and enjoyed another rise in the pop and R&B charts with the single “Switch.” The actor shook things up again, returning to drama by giving a strong performance in the fact-based “The Pursuit of Happyness” (2006), starring as a single dad struggling to raise a son – played by Smith’s own eight-year-old son, Jaden Christopher – while doggedly pursuing a career at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, despite being homeless. Reviews for the film were mixed, but critics were unanimous in their praise of Smith’s touching, inspirational portrayal which earned the actor Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Black Reel, and Image Award nominations.
In 2007, Smith found himself listed as the top actor on the annual Entertainment Weekly list of “50 Smartest People in Hollywood,” where he was touted for “achieving a level of global popularity unprecedented for an African-American actor." Further evidence of that claim came with the holiday release of “I Am Legend” (2007), in which Smith wowed again in a film departure that was darker in tone and more intellectually impacting than anything he had done in his career. The third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name starred Smith as the potential sole survivor of a post-apocalyptic viral plague. The actor challenged himself by occupying nearly two-thirds of the screen time by himself. The film set box-office records and Smith felt it represented a career high mark for him, in that it successfully married audience accessibility and artistic merit within a mainstream feature. Smith celebrated the July 4th holiday of 2008 with “Hancock,” a comedy about a fallen superhero rehabilitated by a publicist.
Profession(s):
Actor, singer, lyricist Sometimes Credited As:
Fresh Prince
Will Smith
Willard Christopher Smith Jr
Willard Smith
Family
brother:Harry Smith (Twin of Ellen; born c. 1971)
daughter:Willow Camille Reign Smith (Born Oct. 31, 2000 in Los Angeles; mother, Jada Pinkett Smith)
father:Willard C Smith Sr
mother:Caroline Smith
sister:Ellen Smith (Twin of Harry; born c. 1971)
sister:Pam Smith (Born c. 1964)
son:Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (Born July 8, 1998 in Los Angeles; mother, Jada Pinkett Smith)
son:Willard C Smith III (Also known as "Trey"; born December 1992; mother, Sheree Zampino)
wife:Sheree Zampino (Born c. 1969; married May 9, 1992; divorced in 1995)
wife:Jada Pinkett (Met in 1990 when she auditioned for a role on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" (NBC); together since 1995; married Dec. 31, 1997 in Baltimore, Maryland)
Companion(s)
Tanya Moore , Companion , ```..Born c. 1970; met in 1988 while he was performing at San Diego State University where she was a business major
Education
Archbishop Carroll High School Radnor, PA
Overbrook High School Wynnefield, PA
Full Biography
Restless energy channeled into the relentless pursuit of success transformed teen rap artist the Fresh Prince into Academy Award-nominated leading man and blockbuster movie producer, Will Smith. His witty charisma, infectious spirit and rare versatility transcended racial and generational borders, continually attracting record-breaking crowds to sci-fi adventures, comedies and dramas. He was equally at home shooting a film with Barry Sonnenfeld as he was recording with Snoop Dogg. Because of this ability to both be comfortable and to make others comfortable, he drew unanimous admiration from his peers for both his extraordinary drive and that easygoing charm which helped him move seamlessly between worlds. One of only three actors to star in seven consecutive $100 million blockbusters, Smith was hailed by Entertainment Weekly as the smartest actor in Hollywood for “achieving a level of global popularity unprecedented for an African-American actor." Smith was under the age of 40 when that comment was made, and still striving to achieve his personal best in an ever-widening field of creative pursuits.
Willard C. Smith Jr. was born on Sept. 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, PA. His father, Willard Sr., was an Air Force veteran who owned a commercial refrigeration company, while his mother, Caroline, worked for the local school board. Smith himself was not a model student, however. Despite his naturally inquisitive mind and the quick-on-his feet negotiating skills that earned him the childhood nickname “the Prince,” Smith’s hyperactive energy hampered his academic efforts. But his outgoing charm and sense of humor already suggested that a different kind of success might be in store for the youngster, who cleverly learned to tailor jokes to predominantly white schoolmates, predominantly black friends and the locals in his Jewish and Muslim neighborhood. At the age of 12, he found a new outlet for his verbal creativity and began experimenting with Grandmaster Flash-inspired rap. When he met turn-table ace Jeff Townes, or DJ Jazzy Jeff, on a playground four years later, the two joined forces and began performing on the local party circuit. They added human beat-box Ready Rock C to the act and released the single “Girls Ain’t Nothin’ but Trouble” on local label Pop Art records in 1985.
Rising rapper Smith immediately made a mark with lyrical content revolving around the trials and tribulations of teenhood, coupled with a rap style that was uniquely funny and refreshingly free of profanity. He had ditched earlier efforts to conform to a more R-rated mold after his grandmother read some of his lyrics and informed him, “…truly intelligent people do not have to use these types of words.” The brass at Arista imprint Jive records agreed, smelling the potential of the group’s youthful, poppy style, and signed them to a record deal. Two weeks before his high school graduation, Smith saw the release of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s first album, Rock the House (1987) and his career was set in motion.
The duo landed a huge profile boost with an opening slot on tour with Run D.M.C. and Public Enemy later that year, with Smith recalling in interviews that a sold out stadium show of diehard rap fans in Japan truly ignited his fire for superstardom. The year 1988 saw the LP He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper and the breakout single and music video for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which transformed them into platinum recording artists and first ever recipients of a Grammy Award in the new Rap category. The follow-up release And in This Corner… (1989) was certified gold, though the group’s mainstream sound was beginning to lose some audiences, in light of the rise of hardcore rap.
By the time Smith was 21 years old, the jug-eared kid from Philly had earned — and lost — a million dollars. Luckily his theatrical charisma had attracted the attention of Hollywood. NBC was interested in building a sitcom around Smith. The result was "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (NBC, 1990-96), in which Smith opened the show by rapping its back story about a streetwise kid from the Philly 'hood who moves in with wealthy relatives in Bel Air, CA. The show, like Smith’s music, was popular with a large cross-section of both black and white audiences, bringing a non-threatening portrayal of hip-hop culture to primetime TV. Taking advantage of his heightened profile, he and Jazzy Jeff released the platinum-selling, Quincy Jones-produced Homebase in 1991. The single “Summertime” earned the duo a second Grammy, hitting the tops of both the R&B and Rap charts and proving to be one of the most memorable hits of their music career. The self-proclaimed “psychotically driven” Smith followed up his second round of success by marrying girlfriend Sheree Zampino, earning his first Golden Globe nomination for “The Fresh Prince,” and setting his sights on feature films. He debuted in theaters in a small role in a gritty profile of runaway teens called “Where the Day Takes You” (1992), before landing a supporting role in the failed Whoopi Goldberg/Ted Danson vehicle, “Made in America” (1993).
Smith, now living in Los Angeles, was determined to become a Hollywood star. Convincing a director that he could play something other than a wise-assed urban kid was going to be a challenge. Director Fred Schepisi took that chance, casting Smith in the lead as a charming con-man who ingratiates himself with an affluent white New York couple (Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland) by posing as the son of Sidney Poitier in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993). The untrained actor spent months working with drama and dialogue coaches for his turn in the adaptation of the Tony-nominated play and the work paid off, with Smith delivering an impressive performance amidst a cast of seasoned acting pros. The same year, he earned a second Golden Globe nomination for “The Fresh Prince” and he and Jazzy Jeff released the album Code Red (1993) which hit gold status and produced the number one single “Boom! Shake the Room.” In 1994, Smith assumed executive producer duties on the “Fresh Prince,” and the following summer, enjoyed his true cinematic breakout opposite Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys" (1995). From the minds of veteran action-comedy producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, the buddy cop feature, in which Smith played the wild bachelor to Lawrence’s family man, was a blockbuster hit and proved Smith had the talent to carry a mainstream film.
“The Fresh Prince” aired its series finale in 1995. Off-screen, Smith also bid farewell to his three-year marriage, which had produced son Willard III, nicknamed Trey. Perfectionist Smith was saddled with feelings of failure and sadness over the break-up and found a shoulder to cry on in actress Jada Pinkett, whom he had been friendly with for years in the relatively small circle of successful black Hollywood actors. Within a year, their friendship blossomed into love, and the spiritually renewed Smith triumphantly returned to theaters as a cigar-chomping military pilot trying to save the U.S. from an alien invasion in the sci-fi thriller, "Independence Day" (1996). One of the most anticipated films of the summer blockbuster season, “Independence Day” went on to earn over $800 million dollars worldwide and bumped Smith up to Hollywood’s A-list.
The following summer he continued his hot streak in yet another space alien success, starring as comically deadpan Agent J opposite Tommy Lee Jones’ humorless Agent K in "Men in Black" (1997). In addition to the critical kudos Smith earned for his role in the year’s highest grossing film, his performance of the theme song earned a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap performance. The song also appeared on Smith’s debut solo album released on Columbia Records that year, Big Willie Style, which spawned chart-topping hits “Getting’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Just the Two of Us,” an homage to father/son relationships and dedicated to his son, Trey.
Smith and Pinkett capped 1997 with a New Year’s Eve wedding outside Pinkett’s hometown of Baltimore, MA. Nearby, Smith had been shooting the dramatic thriller "Enemy of the State” (1998), in which he offered a sturdy dramatic performance as a labor lawyer targeted by the National Security Agency after acquiring evidence pivotal to a politically-motivated killing. His next outing was one of the lesser efforts in the blockbusters Smith cannon – "Wild Wild West" (1999), in which he was cast as a Civil War-era government agent in a loose interpretation of the popular 1960s TV series. His laid-back charm and charisma may have been overshadowed by overblown special effects, but Smith still managed to attract over $100 million in domestic box office (on a $200 million budget) and banked another number one hit with the film’s theme song. The song also appeared on Smith’s multi-platinum selling Willennium alongside singles “Freakin’ It” and “Will 2K.”
But when Smith returned to the big screen in the highly-touted millennium, he was ready to put his action-comedy star status aside in favor of tackling serious drama. His first, decidedly non-summer extravaganza, was the period fable “The Legend of Bagger Vance” (2000), in which he played a mysterious caddy who dispenses inspirational support to a washed-up golf pro (Matt Damon). While Smith seemed a bit at sea in this drastic departure from his usual fare, reviewers agreed that he managed to keep the character from devolving completely into cliché, despite challenges with the script and direction.
Smith’s follow-up erased any doubt that he had the dramatic potential of one of his acting heroes, Denzel Washington – to say nothing of bumping his salary up to the $20 million mark. Preparing to play the lead in director Michael Mann’s biopic “Ali” (2001), Smith followed the same training regimen as the heavyweight champion once did, challenging himself to dig spiritually and emotionally deeper than he had ever done before as an actor. The film concentrated on the tumultuous period in Ali’s life, spanning his surprise win over Sonny Liston through his draft difficulties, to his defeat of George Foreman in the infamous “Rumble in the Jungle.” Smith’s powerhouse performance earned him the highest critical accolades of his career, including nominations from the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Black Reel Awards, and the Image Awards.
Smith conquered entirely new creative territory with “Ali” but it was not his only landmark project of 2001. He also released his first book, the illustrated children’s story Just the Two of Us, inspired by his 1998 hit song and dedicated to fathers everywhere. In 2002, he released the album Born to Reign before attempting to revisit his successful action film track record with a couple of would-be summer blockbuster sequels that generated solid ticket sales, but offered little creative innovation, including reuniting with Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black II" (2002) and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys 2" (2003). In 2003, he returned to the primetime fold as co-creator and executive producer – along with Pinkett-Smith – of the UPN sitcom, “All of Us” (UPN, 2003-07), which was based on their own experiences as a blended family. By now, the Smith-Pinkett household had grown to include not only Trey, but son Jaden Christopher and daughter Willow, all of whom would begin to express an interest in the family business.
Along with business partner James Lassiter, Smith formed Overbrook Entertainment, debuting as a feature film producer with an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's sci-fi classic "I, Robot" (2004), in which he also starred as a futuristic police detective. The familiar turn as blockbuster hero was crowd-pleasing if not horizon-expanding, but Smith followed up with a surprisingly belated visit to straight-ahead comedy. He lent his distinctive persona to DreamWorks' CGI-animated "Shark Tale" (2004) as Oscar, the mouthy young fish who ends up in hot water after the death of a shark mob boss. Overbrook’s next release, "Hitch" (2005), fully capitalized on Smith’s considerable charisma and romantic appeal, with his starring role as a smooth professional date doctor whose technique goes awry when he meets his own potential lady love (Eva Mendes).
Now signed to Interscope records, following the lackluster sales of his final album with Columbia, Smith released Lost and Found and enjoyed another rise in the pop and R&B charts with the single “Switch.” The actor shook things up again, returning to drama by giving a strong performance in the fact-based “The Pursuit of Happyness” (2006), starring as a single dad struggling to raise a son – played by Smith’s own eight-year-old son, Jaden Christopher – while doggedly pursuing a career at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, despite being homeless. Reviews for the film were mixed, but critics were unanimous in their praise of Smith’s touching, inspirational portrayal which earned the actor Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Black Reel, and Image Award nominations.
In 2007, Smith found himself listed as the top actor on the annual Entertainment Weekly list of “50 Smartest People in Hollywood,” where he was touted for “achieving a level of global popularity unprecedented for an African-American actor." Further evidence of that claim came with the holiday release of “I Am Legend” (2007), in which Smith wowed again in a film departure that was darker in tone and more intellectually impacting than anything he had done in his career. The third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name starred Smith as the potential sole survivor of a post-apocalyptic viral plague. The actor challenged himself by occupying nearly two-thirds of the screen time by himself. The film set box-office records and Smith felt it represented a career high mark for him, in that it successfully married audience accessibility and artistic merit within a mainstream feature. Smith celebrated the July 4th holiday of 2008 with “Hancock,” a comedy about a fallen superhero rehabilitated by a publicist.
Profession(s):
Actor, singer, lyricist Sometimes Credited As:
Fresh Prince
Will Smith
Willard Christopher Smith Jr
Willard Smith
Family
brother:Harry Smith (Twin of Ellen; born c. 1971)
daughter:Willow Camille Reign Smith (Born Oct. 31, 2000 in Los Angeles; mother, Jada Pinkett Smith)
father:Willard C Smith Sr
mother:Caroline Smith
sister:Ellen Smith (Twin of Harry; born c. 1971)
sister:Pam Smith (Born c. 1964)
son:Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (Born July 8, 1998 in Los Angeles; mother, Jada Pinkett Smith)
son:Willard C Smith III (Also known as "Trey"; born December 1992; mother, Sheree Zampino)
wife:Sheree Zampino (Born c. 1969; married May 9, 1992; divorced in 1995)
wife:Jada Pinkett (Met in 1990 when she auditioned for a role on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" (NBC); together since 1995; married Dec. 31, 1997 in Baltimore, Maryland)
Companion(s)
Tanya Moore , Companion , ```..Born c. 1970; met in 1988 while he was performing at San Diego State University where she was a business major
Education
Archbishop Carroll High School Radnor, PA
Overbrook High School Wynnefield, PA
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Rhona Mitra
An exotic and striking British beauty with a figure buxom enough to serve as the model for "Tomb Raider's" Lara Croft, Rhona Mitra has risen from video game vixen to steam up the screen on film and TV. Of Irish, English and Indian heritage, Mitra was born in the Paddington section of London and attended Roeden, an all-girls school in East Sussex, but was ultimately expelled. After providing the pneumatic proportions for the original Eidos Interactive live-action Lara Croft model, the auburn haired stunner got her first break in an appearance with Clive Owen in “Croupier” (1998), followed by roles in “A Kid in Aladdin’s Palace,” “Monk Dawson” (both 1998) and “Beowulf” (1999) before a one-season stint in 1999 on the Fox melodrama “Party of Five” as Holly Beggins....
Full Biography
An exotic and striking British beauty with a figure buxom enough to serve as the model for "Tomb Raider's" Lara Croft, Rhona Mitra has risen from video game vixen to steam up the screen on film and TV. Of Irish, English and Indian heritage, Mitra was born in the Paddington section of London and attended Roeden, an all-girls school in East Sussex, but was ultimately expelled. After providing the pneumatic proportions for the original Eidos Interactive live-action Lara Croft model, the auburn haired stunner got her first break in an appearance with Clive Owen in “Croupier” (1998), followed by roles in “A Kid in Aladdin’s Palace,” “Monk Dawson” (both 1998) and “Beowulf” (1999) before a one-season stint in 1999 on the Fox melodrama “Party of Five” as Holly Beggins.
Mitra was then tapped for roles in “Hollow Man” (2000) with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue and then worked with Sylvester Stallone on “Get Carter” (2000). Mitra spent one year playing a doctor on the ill-fated but critically acclaimed “Giddeon’s Crossing” (ABC 2000-2001). After playing a role on the wacky British film “Ali G Indahouse” (2002)--as a scheming vixen who is oddly beguiled by Sasha Baron Cohen’s clueless cult favorite character—Mitra got another break that same year with an appearance in the Reese Witherspoon vehicle “Sweet Home Alabama.” In 2003, she starred in “Highwaymen” with Jim Caviezel and appeared in “The Life of David Gale” (2003), starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey.
Mitra made a cameo in 2003’s “Stuck on You” with Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon as the Bus Stop Bombshell, before beginning the legal epoch of her career, beginning with her turn as the sultry attorney Tara Wilson on the final season of “The Practice” and was able to star in “Spartacus” (2004) with Alan Bates, before her character was carried over to “Boston Legal” opposite James Spader and the inimitable William Shatner (ABC, 2004 - ). The character was axed for a second season retooling, but Mitra immediately found a new home of the edgy FX series "Nip/Tuck" in 2005, playing Tara Wilson, an emotionally scared federal investigator tracking the serial killer The Craver who becomes sexually involved with one of the victims, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and his paramour Kimber (Kelly Carlson)
Profession(s):
actress Sometimes Credited As:
Rhona Mitra
Rona Mitra Family
father:Antony Mitra (Divorced Rhona's mother in 1984)
mother:Nora Mitra (Divorced Rhona's father in 1984)
Full Biography
An exotic and striking British beauty with a figure buxom enough to serve as the model for "Tomb Raider's" Lara Croft, Rhona Mitra has risen from video game vixen to steam up the screen on film and TV. Of Irish, English and Indian heritage, Mitra was born in the Paddington section of London and attended Roeden, an all-girls school in East Sussex, but was ultimately expelled. After providing the pneumatic proportions for the original Eidos Interactive live-action Lara Croft model, the auburn haired stunner got her first break in an appearance with Clive Owen in “Croupier” (1998), followed by roles in “A Kid in Aladdin’s Palace,” “Monk Dawson” (both 1998) and “Beowulf” (1999) before a one-season stint in 1999 on the Fox melodrama “Party of Five” as Holly Beggins.
Mitra was then tapped for roles in “Hollow Man” (2000) with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue and then worked with Sylvester Stallone on “Get Carter” (2000). Mitra spent one year playing a doctor on the ill-fated but critically acclaimed “Giddeon’s Crossing” (ABC 2000-2001). After playing a role on the wacky British film “Ali G Indahouse” (2002)--as a scheming vixen who is oddly beguiled by Sasha Baron Cohen’s clueless cult favorite character—Mitra got another break that same year with an appearance in the Reese Witherspoon vehicle “Sweet Home Alabama.” In 2003, she starred in “Highwaymen” with Jim Caviezel and appeared in “The Life of David Gale” (2003), starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey.
Mitra made a cameo in 2003’s “Stuck on You” with Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon as the Bus Stop Bombshell, before beginning the legal epoch of her career, beginning with her turn as the sultry attorney Tara Wilson on the final season of “The Practice” and was able to star in “Spartacus” (2004) with Alan Bates, before her character was carried over to “Boston Legal” opposite James Spader and the inimitable William Shatner (ABC, 2004 - ). The character was axed for a second season retooling, but Mitra immediately found a new home of the edgy FX series "Nip/Tuck" in 2005, playing Tara Wilson, an emotionally scared federal investigator tracking the serial killer The Craver who becomes sexually involved with one of the victims, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and his paramour Kimber (Kelly Carlson)
Profession(s):
actress Sometimes Credited As:
Rhona Mitra
Rona Mitra Family
father:Antony Mitra (Divorced Rhona's mother in 1984)
mother:Nora Mitra (Divorced Rhona's father in 1984)
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