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Tuesday 20 January 2009

Milla Jovovich



Birthname:
Milla Natasha Jovovich
Date of birth: 1975-12-17
Birthplace: Kiev, Ukraine
Height: 5' 8.5"
Nationality: Russian
Profession: actress, singer, and model

Milla (Militza) Jovovich (Serbian Милица Јововић/Milica Jovović, Ukrainian Cyrillic: Мілла Йовович/; born December 17, 1975) is a Ukrainian-born American supermodel, actress, musician, singer, and fashion designer.
Jovovich has been described by Paul W.S. Anderson, director of her film Resident Evil, as a "rare combination of a good actress who could kick ass and look beautiful doing it."

Biography

Family and Early life

Jovovich (pronounced "Yo-vo-vitch" ( in IPA)) was born in Kiev, Ukraine to Bogdan Jovović, a Serbian medical doctor, and Galina Loginova, a Russian actress. Her paternal family is from Montenegro, their estate being at Metohija in Zlopek near Peć. Her paternal great-grandfather, Bogić Camić Jovović, was flag-bearer of the Montenegrin Serb Vasojevići clan and officer of the guard of the King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was Milica. Her paternal grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, was a commander in the Pristina military area, and later investigated finances in military areas of Skopje and Sarajevo, where he uncovered massive gold embezzlement. He was punished for refusing to convict his friend for the crime. Later, the communist government imprisoned him on Goli Otok. When he feared that he could be arrested again, he escaped to Albania and later moved to Kiev. Another version of the story claims that he was the one to have taken the gold. Milla's father, Bogić Jovović, later joined her grandfather in Kiev, where he and his sister graduated in medicine. She will appear in the third film in the Resident Evil series titled .
piece, from the upcoming film .]]

Singing

In 1994, Jovovich, billed under her first name, released her critically acclaimed first musical album, The Divine Comedy. Featuring unique-sounding songs that fused pop with traditional Russian folk music influences, the album led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush. Jovovich also lead a band called Plastic Has Memory, that played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York City, in 1999. Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation CD, the group never formally released a record and are no longer together.
1998 saw the release of The Peopletree Sessions, a cd of "electronic folk music", against Milla's consent. Only available from the Peopletree website, the cd featured electronic beats merged with scattered lyrics, a big change from her whistful first release.
Jovovich's vocals appeared on the 2004 album Legion of Boom by The Crystal Method. She also recorded the single Rocket Collecting, which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Underworld. Milla continues to write songs, which she calls "demos". These demos are provided for free in MP3 format on her website. Jovovich provides license to freely download and remix the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue the tracks.

Fashion design

Jovovich and fellow model Carmen Hawk have launched a line of clothing called Jovovich-Hawk in 2003. The two also opened a showroom in New York City's Greenwich Village on September 13, 2005. The line is currently in its third season and pieces can be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. The pieces were sold exclusively at Fred Segal stores, where the line sold out almost instantly. The line's second season was equally, if not more successful, with Fred Segal reordering its stock midway through the season.Jovovich-Hawk, with Jovovich modeling select pieces, was featured on the cover of the May 2006 issue of C (California Style) Magazine.

Personal life

Jovovich married actor Shawn Andrews (actor) in October of 1992, while filming Dazed and Confused together; the marriage was annulled (by her mother) a month later. She married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1997, but the two divorced in 1999. Jovovich also dated Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante for several months in 2000 and was linked to actor Stephen Dorff. She also had a relationship with Jamiroquai ex-bassist Stuart Zender, during which time they both lived in London. Most recently she has appeared in public with Japanese soccer star Hidetoshi Nakata, but is purported to be engaged to writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson.
Jovovich is also planning to publish her private diaries as an autobiography. Jovovich says, "I've been keeping a diary ever since I was a little girl. I've written about all the places I've been to and all the mad things that I've done, so it would be good to get it all into a book - like an autobiography, but with more of a diary feel to it. I'm not sure how interested anyone would be in publishing it, or reading it, for that matter."
Jovovich is a polyglot - she fluently speaks Russian, French, English and Serbian (possibly to a lesser extent). 

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Demi Moore


Birthname: Demetria Gene Guynes
Date of birth: 1962-11-11
Birthplace: Roswell, New Mexico, USA
Height: 5' 5"
Nationality: American
Profession: actress, model, producer
Demi Moore (born Demetria Gene Guynes on November 11, 1962) is an American actress. She became well-known after a string of 1980s teen-oriented movies, and became one of the best-known actresses in 1990s Hollywood.

Biography

Early life

Moore was born in Roswell, New Mexico, but spent much of her childhood and teenage years in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. As a child, she had a difficult and unstable home life. Her biological father, Charles Harmon, left her mother, Virginia, after a two-month marriage, before Moore was born. As a result, Moore had the surname of her stepfather, Danny Guynes, on her birth certificate. Danny Guynes, who committed suicide in 1980, frequently changed jobs and made the family move a total of forty times. Moore's parents were also alcoholics and often fought and beat each other. To make matters worse, operations on Moore's left eye during childhood required her to wear an eyepatch.
Moore's family settled in Los Angeles in 1976. When Moore was sixteen, her then-friend, actress Nastassja Kinski, persuaded her to drop out of Hollywood's Fairfax High School to become an actress.
Demi Moore was a founding "celebrity investor" in the Planet Hollywood chain of international theme restaurants (modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe and launched in New York on October 22, 1991) along with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Career

in Ghost (1990)]]
After quitting school, Moore went to work as a pin-up girl, modelled in Europe, and worked at a collection agency.
In the early 1980s, Moore posed for a series of softcore photographs featuring full frontal nudity. These photos went unnoticed until after she became a star, and were eventually published in a German magazine and later in North America. Moore's film debut was in the 1982 3-D science fiction/horror film, Parasite, which was a hit on the drive-in circuit, ultimately grossing $6 million.
However, Moore was not widely known until she played the part of Jackie Templeton on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital, from 1982 to 1983.
In the mid 1980s, she was mentioned as being a member of the Brat Pack and appeared in several youth-oriented films such as St. Elmo's Fire and About Last Night
For a time during the 1990s, Moore was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. She had a string of box-office successes, including Ghost, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal, Disclosure and was the first actress to reach the $10 million salary mark. Among other films for which Moore was considered were Basic Instinct, Batman & Robin, Flashdance, Runaway Bride, and While You Were Sleeping. Moore's reputation suffered when the starring vehicles The Scarlet Letter, The Juror, Striptease, and G.I. Jane (a movie in which Moore shaved off all her long hair on camera, leaving her head totally bald) failed at the box office and garnered mixed reviews.

In August 1991, Moore appeared nude on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine while seven months pregnant with her daughter Scout LaRue, with enormous attendant publicity. The image was endlessly parodied (including by Spy magazine, which placed her then-husband Bruce Willis's head on her body), but also spawned honest imitators as other pregnant celebrities posed nude. Moore again appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in August 1992, wearing only a body painted "suit".
After a break from her acting career, Moore returned to the screen as a former member of Charlie's Angels in the 2003 film .
In 2006 she appeared in Bobby which featured an all-star cast including her husband Ashton Kutcher although they did not appear in any scenes together.

Personal life

In August 1979, Moore began dating rock musician/songwriter Freddy Moore, whose last name she adopted; the two married in February 1980. The relationship lasted only 6 years (August 1979-August 1985). Moore began dating actor Emilio Estevez and began divorce proceedings in 1985, and the two were engaged until 1987. She also dated actor John Stamos during the time when the two worked together on General Hospital.
On November 21, 1987, Moore married actor Bruce Willis, after a highly publicized whirlwind romance (the two met in August of that year). The couple has three daughters, Rumer Glenn (born August 16, 1988), Scout LaRue (born July 20, 1991), and Tallulah Belle (born February 3, 1994). Willis and Moore announced their separation in June of 1998, and divorced in 2000.
Moore also became a staple of tabloids due to her romantic relationship with actor Ashton Kutcher, who is sixteen years her junior. Both would eventually spoof the public's fascination with their age difference during a sketch on the March 19, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live. Kutcher, who served as guest host, brought Moore on stage while Moore was made up to appear like an old woman who constantly babied Kutcher. Moore and Kutcher were married on September 24, 2005 in a lavish, private ceremony conducted by a Kabbalah Centre rabbi and attended by about 100 close friends and family (Bruce Willis included).
Moore's primary residence is in Hailey, Idaho, near the famous Sun Valley resort, although she spends much time in the Los Angeles area with Kutcher. She is a practicing follower of the Rabbi Philip Berg's Kabbalah Centre religion, and initiated Kutcher into the faith. 

Monday 5 January 2009

Kate Beckinsale




Birthname: Kate Beckinsale
Date of birth: 1973-07-26
Birthplace: London, England, UK
Height: 5' 8''
Nationality: British
Profession: Actress


Kate Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973 in London, England) is an English actress.

Biography

Early life

Beckinsale was born Kathryn Bailey Beckinsale in London to Judy Loe, a stage and television actress, and Richard Beckinsale, a well-known television actor who died in 1979 at the age of 31. She has a paternal half-sister, Samantha, who is also an actress. Beckinsale's paternal great-grandfather was Burmese, and Beckinsale claims that she was "very oriental-looking" as a child.
Beckinsale attended the private Godolphin and Latymer School, and in her teens twice won the W. H. Smith Young Writers' competition — once for three short stories and once for three poems. After a rebellious adolescence, including a period of anorexia and starting a smoking habit, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and began her acting career. Her first role was in One Against the Wind, a television film about World War II that was first aired in 1991. Having gained three language A levels, Beckinsale studied French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford University, though she did not finish her degree. She thought that having an academic background studying foreign language and literature would broaden her range of acting roles.

Career

During her first year at Oxford, Beckinsale was offered a part in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen film, Much Ado About Nothing, adapted from the Shakespeare play. She spent her last year of studies in Paris, after which she decided to quit the university and concentrate on her acting career. She subsequently appeared in a few low-profile films, including Shooting Fish and The Last Days of Disco (both in 1998). During this time, Beckinsale also appeared in television films and in stage roles, including the well-received Cold Comfort Farm, opposite British silver and small screen notables Rufus Sewell, Eileen Atkins, and Joanna Lumley.
Her first major American film, Brokedown Palace (1999), was not a commercial success. Soon after, Beckinsale was cast in the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor, which was one of the highest grossing films of its year. In the years following, she appeared in a series of American films that were high-profile, but were given a somewhat poor critical reception, including Serendipity (2001), Underworld (2003) and Van Helsing (2004). Notably, she appeared as Ava Gardner in The Aviator, a role for which she gained 20 pounds.
In 2006, Beckinsale was placed at #78 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World", after being #71 in 2005. She has also been placed at #16 in Maxim's "HOT 100" (2003), #63 in Stuff's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002), and was chosen by the English magazine Hello! as "England’s #1 Beauty", also in 2002.
In January 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as a vampire in the movie , a sequel to her 2003 film, Underworld, again directed by her husband, Len Wiseman. The film opened at the #1 spot at the box office, grossing over $26 million in its first weekend of release. On January 24, 2006, Beckinsale was featured on the MTV series, Punk'd. The set-up for the segment took place at the Avalon Hotel in Los Angeles.
Beckinsale's most recent role was in the Adam Sandler starring comedy, Click, which opened on June 23, 2006. Her next film will be Snow Angels, which is currently in post-production and will be released in 2006. A September 2006 article in the Hollywood Reporter announced that Beckinsale has signed on to replace Sarah Jessica Parker in the film Vacancy.

Personal life

Beckinsale dated Welsh actor Michael Sheen for a long period of time, and the two have a daughter, Lily Mo Sheen (born 31 January 1999). Sheen co-starred with Beckinsale in Underworld, and had a flashback appearance in its sequel.
In June 2003, a few months after she had separated from Sheen, Beckinsale became engaged to the director of Underworld, Len Wiseman, and the two were married on 9 May 2004 in Bel-Air, California. 

Nicole Kidman


Birthname: Nicole Mary Kidman
Date of birth: 1967-06-20
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Height: 5' 15
Nationality: Australian
Profession: actress, producer 

Nicole Mary Kidman AC (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning actress, and one of Hollywood's leading actresses. She has also ventured into singing. Kidman holds dual citizenship as both an Australian and an American.

Biography

Early life and education

Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Dr. Anthony David Kidman, who was involved with the labor movement and progressive causes, and Janelle Ann MacNeille, who edited her husband's books. Her mother is of Scottish descent and her father a descendant of an immigrant farmer. At the time she was born, her father was a cancer research specialist in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four years old, when her father took on a lectureship at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia, born in 1970. Kidman's parents and sister both reside in Greenwich, a suburb on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman, a Catholic, attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney with her sister.
Kidman started taking ballet lessons when she was four. This led to studies at Sydney's Australian Theatre for Young People, where she is now Patron, then at the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. Living in Longueville, New South Wales, she studied at North Sydney Girls High School, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery.

Early career

Her first appearance on film came in 1983 when, as a fifteen year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song Bop Girl. By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek and four film roles, including BMX Bandits and Bush Christmas. During the 1980s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Emerald City (1988), and Bangkok Hilton (1989).
In 1989, she appeared in the thriller Dead Calm as Rae, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). In 1990 she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder, a stock car racing movie. After this, Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992). In 1995, Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of Batman Forever.

Critical success

in The Hours (2002).]]
Her second film in 1995, To Die For was a satirical comedy that earned her praise from critics. She won a Golden Globe Award, and five other best actress awards for her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto. Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, Stanley Kubrick's final film.
In 2002, Kidman received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, in which she played the courtesan Satine opposite Ewan McGregor. The same year she had a well-received starring role in the horror film The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee, so that Jodie Foster had to replace her in the film Panic Room.
The following year, Kidman won critical praise for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, in which the prosthetics applied to her made her almost unrecognizable. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role, along with a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and numerous critics awards. In the same year she took a hand at film production for the film In the Cut. In 2003, Kidman starred in three very different films. Dogville, by Danish director Lars von Trier, an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. Secondly, she co-starred alongside Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain. Many critics felt that both Kidman and Hopkins were miscast. Cold Mountain, a love story of two Southerners separated by the Civil War, was her final release that year, and garnered her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
In 2004, Kidman appeared in the critically panned remake of The Stepford Wives alongside Glenn Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler. In September of the same year, Birth, in which the 37-year-old actress' character has an encounter with a 10-year-old boy (played by Cameron Bright) who attempts to convince her that he is a reincarnation of her dead husband, was met with a mixed reception primarily due to a scene where the boy strips and joins Kidman in the bathtub. Despite this, the film was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Kidman was nominated for another Golden Globe Award. Kidman's two movies in 2005 were The Interpreter, directed by Sydney Pollack, and Bewitched, co-starring Will Ferrell, based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name; the latter fared abysmally with critics and at the box office.
In conjunction with her success in the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann to promote the fragrance during the holiday season in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 perfume made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned $US3.71 million. During this time, Kidman was also listed as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004-2005. On People magazine's list of 2005's highest paid actresses, Kidman was second behind Julia Roberts with a US$16 million to US$17 million per-film price tag.
Kidman has at least five movies in production over the next two years. She has completed filming the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur, director Oliver Hirschbiegel's science fiction movie The Visiting and Noah Baumbach's as-yet-untitled comedy-drama. She has also provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet. She is currently working on the film adaptation of the first part of the His Dark Materials trilogy in which she plays the villainous Mrs. Coulter. She is also set to star in director Wong Kar-wai's next film, The Lady from Shanghai and Baz Luhrmann's yet-to-be titled Australian period film, which has been delayed due to schedule conflicts.

Singing

in the "Somethin' Stupid" music video]] Not known as a singer prior to Moulin Rouge!, Kidman had several well received vocal performances in the film. Her collaboration with Ewan McGregor on the song "Come What May" from the film's soundtrack debuted and peaked at 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Later she collaborated with Robbie Williams on the song "Somethin' Stupid", a cover of the old swing song on Williams' swing covers album Swing When You're Winning. It debuted and peaked at 8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at number 1 for three weeks in the UK. It was the UK Christmas number 1 Single for 2001.
In 2006, she provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet, along with her vocals for her character Norma Jean's 'heartsong', which was a slightly altered version of "Kiss" by Prince.

Personal life

Relationships

Kidman met Tom Cruise on the set of their 1990 movie, Days of Thunder. Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time, and later divorced her. Kidman and Cruise were married on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted two children, daughter Isabella Jane (b. December 22, 1993) and son Connor Anthony (b. January 17, 1995), and lived in Los Angeles, Australia, Colorado, and New York City. Cruise left Kidman while she was three months pregnant, just before their 10th wedding anniversary. She subsequently had a miscarriage.. The marriage was dissolved in 2001. The reasons for the dissolution have never been made public.
The 2003 film Cold Mountain was plagued by rumors that an on-set affair between Kidman and co-star Jude Law was responsible for the breakup of his marriage. Both vehemently denied the allegations, and Kidman eventually won an undisclosed sum from the British tabloids that pushed the story. She donated the money to a Romanian orphanage in the town where the movie was filmed. Shortly after her Oscar win, there were rumours of a relationship between her and fellow Oscar winner Adrien Brody. There was no confirmation or denial. She met musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004.
Kidman met country singer Keith Urban at a Hollywood event honouring Australians in January 2005. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday June 25, 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.

Politics

Kidman took out an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times (August 17 2006) that condemned organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, and supported Israel's efforts in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The full-page advertisement was signed by 84 other Hollywood professionals and reads "We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die. We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs." Others who signed include actors Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny DeVito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt; directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Richard Donner and Sam Raimi; as well as tennis player Serena Williams.
Kidman has made numerous donations to U.S. Democratic party candidates.

Charitable work

Kidman publicly supports a variety of charities and causes. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Australia since 1994. She has worked to help raise money for and draw attention to the plight of the most disadvantaged children in Australia and around the world. In 2004, she was honoured as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations.
On January 26, 2006 Kidman received Australia's highest civilian honour when she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, both for her service to performing arts and for her charitable work. She was also nominated goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM.
Kidman joined the 'Little Tee Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care to design T-shirts or vests to raise money for breast cancer. Kidman's mother, Janelle, is a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed in 1984.

Trivia

  • In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney-based paparazzi photographers.
  • Kidman is an avid supporter of the Sydney Swans Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and attends many live matches. Her favourite player is Barry Hall.
  • Kidman's natural hair colour is light red.
  • The song "BMX Bandits" by pop/rock group Wheatus is about her movie of the same name. The video features a cartoon drawing that resembles her.

Sunday 4 January 2009

Jessica Simpson


Birthname: Jessica Ann Simpson
Date of birth: 1980-07-10
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, USA
Height: 5' 3"
Nationality: American
Profession: actress, musician



Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980 in Abilene, Texas) is an American pop singer and actress who rose to fame in the late 1990s. She has so far achieved 7 Billboard Top 40 hits and has five gold and two multi-platinum RIAA certified albums. She also starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds and released her own line of beauty products. She also began a career as an actress and is the older sister of Ashlee Simpson, a popular pop rock singer.

Biography

Early life

She started singing in her Baptist church. In 1992 she made an unsuccessful audition for The New Mickey Mouse Club, that also starred future pop stars Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
She attended J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas and was discovered at a church camp by a head of a small contemporary Christian record label. She recorded an album over the next three years; however, the label folded before the record could be released. She dropped out in her senior year to tour and promote her demo album, which was funded by her grandmother, Joyce (thus the reason for the name of her 2004 holiday album, ReJoyce: The Christmas Album). She later earned her GED. During this time, she also toured with the Christian Youth Conference circuit performing with Kirk Franklin, God's Property and CeCe Winans. She and her father sold copies of the album after these performances.
Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records later obtained a copy of the album and, thinking she had potential as a pop singer, signed her to a recording contract.

2002: Marriage to Nick Lachey and TV success


On October 26, 2002, at age 22, Jessica Simpson married Nick Lachey. She famously announced that she remained a virgin until her wedding night.

During the summer of 2003, the reality show, , starring Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey began airing on MTV. Though she was moderately successful before the series began, the show quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and is credited with making her a household name, even among those who did not follow pop music or MTV. Later that summer, Simpson won three Teen Choice Awards; Female Fashion Icon, Choice Hottie Female, and Female Reality/Variety TV Star for Newlyweds.

Throughout the run of four seasons, Simpson epitomized the stereotypical dumb blonde, most notably when she asked Lachey whether the Chicken of the Sea tuna she was eating was in fact chicken or fish. She also indicated that she believed that buffalo wings were made from actual buffalo. Moments like these helped turn the show into a huge hit, making the average rating for each episode about 1.4 million viewers while reaching a series peak of about 4 million viewers.

Simpson's third album, In This Skin, was released in August of 2003 to coincide with the series premiere of Newlyweds. It debuted at #10 on The Billboard 200 album chart with sales of just 64,000 in its first week. It rebounded after a special collectors' edition was released in April of 2004 and subsequently reached a peak of #2. It was eventually certified triple platinum, fueled largely by the couple’s television success on Newlyweds. It contained the hits “With You” (#14, 2004) and a cover of the Berlin song “Take My Breath Away” (#20, 2004).

The couple appeared in the television special The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour that aired in 2004 and drew comparisons to Sonny and Cher. Simpson released ReJoyce: The Christmas Album in late 2004 which peaked at #14 on the album chart and was later certified gold.

In 2005, Newlyweds won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show before wrapping shortly after.

Film debut


In the summer of 2005, at age 25, Simpson made her first appearance in a motion picture as Daisy Duke in the movie-remake of The Dukes of Hazzard. The film debuted at #1 at the U.S. box-office.

Simpson also appeared on the film’s soundtrack, releasing "These Boots Are Made for Walkin” (#14, 2005) a cover of the 1966 Nancy Sinatra hit. The song peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Song from a Movie in 2006.

Divorce from Nick Lachey


In November 2005, after months of tabloid speculation, such as adultery with Bam Margera (confirmed by Margera), Simpson and her husband Nick Lachey officially announced their separation. Simpson filed for divorce on December 16, 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple's divorce was highly publicized worldwide and was reportedly finalized in June 2006.

Jessica Simpson reportedly told Jane in October of 2006, that she knew her marriage to Nick Lachey was over when he refused to join her on a charity trip to Africa, even though it was on their third wedding anniversary.
The couple reportedly sold their Calabasas, California mansion in which Newlyweds was filmed to Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield for about $3.75 million.

2006: Back To Business


On June 30, 2006, Jessica and Nick's divorce was finalized. Simpson hosted the Teen Choice Awards in August of 2006 and appeared on The View in September of 2006 as the first choice of new co-host Rosie O'Donnell.
After a hard year Jessica looked forward to going back in the studio to record her fourth album but Columbia did not re-sign her to the company only to move her to Epic Records

Her fourth album, A Public Affair, was released on August 29, 2006 via Epic Records. The album saw lower-than-expected sales, debuting at #5 on the Billboard 200 with 101,000 copies sold in its first week and, as of November 4, 2006, has sold only a little over 240,000 copies in the United States which is less than half of what her 2001 album Irresistible sold. Public Affair dropped down to the lower part of the charts after only a few weeks out. Week number four saw the album slip down from number five to the sixties. Only after 10 weeks on the Billboard 200, it fell off the chart. The first single, "A Public Affair" (#14, 2006), reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100 but quickly fell off the charts. The music video for "A Public Affair" featured Eva Longoria, Christina Applegate, Christina Milian, Maria Menounos, Andy Dick and Ryan Seacrest. A second single, "I Belong To Me", was also released through her website and is now included on the CD itself. To date, it has not yet appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, making this Simpson's 4th single to not enter the top 100.

Her second movie, Employee of the Month, co-starring Dane Cook and Dax Shepard was released in American cinemas in October 2006.
At the Kennedy Center Honors of Dolly Parton in 2006, Simpson sung Parton's hit "Nine to Five". Simpson seemed to forget the last few lines of the song, finishing with, "Dolly, I'm so nervous". Unsatisfied with her performance, Simpson has retaped the show - the later will be aired on December 26th.

Personal life

Jessica has received a good deal of publicity in the aftermath of her marriage to Nick Lachey. Following their break-up and pending divorce, She was reportedly linked to her Employee of the Month co-star Dane Cook, singer John Mayer, and, from The Dukes of Hazzard actor/comedian Johnny Knoxville. During the marriage several reports of a one night stand with Bam Margera surfaced which both denied at the time. Recently Bam Margera went on Howard Stern's radio show to "admit the truth" of those rumors.
Nick has never stood up against reports that Jessica cheated, saying that he didn't know whether the rumors were true, and he chose not to ask her about them. This indirectly reinforced the truth behind the rumors, and has tarnished Jessica's once innocent image.
Jessica's rep has repeatedly denied that she has dated anyone since her break-up with Nick. Magazines have also speculated that she was jealous of her ex-husband's growing stardom and relationship with television personality Vanessa Minnillo, though she has publicly denied this to be true.
According to British Esquire, Jessica has befriended actress Liv Tyler, and is planning a new joint album pending release in 2007, featuring songs and sound tracks dubbed from the epic movie trilogy Lord of the Rings.
Adam Green wrote a song about her called "Jessica".
When Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo gained the starting job for the team, it was reported he admitted that Jessica Simpson was his dream date. Afterward it was rumored that Simpson's agent arranged a date for the two. This has since been denied by Romo .
Simpson's spokeswoman, Kim Meriwether, confirmed a report that she is currently dating Robert O'Connell, of Copiague, NY who is not involved in show business. 

Saturday 3 January 2009

Alyssa Milano


Birthname: Alyssa Jayne Milano
Date of birth: 1972-12-19
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Height: 5' 2''
Nationality: American
Profession: actress, musician


Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the sitcom Who's the Boss? and on the supernatural series Charmed.

Biography

Early life and career

Milano was born to parents Tom and Lin Milano, and she has a younger brother, Cory (born 1982), who is also an actor. She and Cory grew up on Staten Island. She began her career at the age of eight when she won a part in an open audition for a national tour of Annie. Having gained a reputation, she appeared in television commercials and off-Broadway productions. One of her first acting roles was at the age of 11 in the television program Who's the Boss?, alongside Tony Danza, Judith Light, Danny Pintauro and Katherine Helmond. She starred as Samantha Micelli, the daughter of Danza's character, Tony Micelli. Her family relocated from Brooklyn to Hollywood when Alyssa won the role.
In 1985, Milano played the role of Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter in Commando. When this film aired on cable in Japan in 1988, she became an overnight sensation and record executives took notice and asked if she could sing. Having recorded the theme song to her workout video, released earlier that year, she said yes. She signed a five album deal with Pony Canyon and a few months later, her first album, Look In My Heart, was released. The album was a #1 in Japan and she continued this success with every album she released, all of them reaching #1 in Japan with the exception of a compilation CD of remixes which reached #5. The lead single from the compilation, "The Best In The World" did reach #1 on the Pop charts and #1 on the Dance club charts.

Later career

At the beginning of her career, Milano was known mainly for her role as Samantha Micelli on Who's the Boss? (1984-1992). She tried to shed her "nice girl" image by appearing in several films targeted at adults, such as (1992), Embrace of the Vampire (1994), Confessions of a Sorority Girl (1994), Deadly Sins (1995), and (1995), where she starred opposite Johnathon Schaech and Xander Berkley. She gained more mainstream success in TV as Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place (1997-1998), Meg Winston in Spin City and most notably as Phoebe Halliwell on Charmed (1998-2006). Both Milano and Holly Marie Combs became producers for Charmed during the show's fifth season. Milano played the role of Eva Savelot in MCI's 1-800-COLLECT commercials.
On stage, she starred in Tender Offer, a one-act play written by Wendy Wasserstein, All Night Long, and the first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. She returned to her theater roots in 1991, when she starred in and produced a Los Angeles production of Butterflies Are Free.

In 2007 Alyssa will begin her new television show Me and Everyone Else. She plays a thirty year old Mia, who is trying to find her way in life. She is also filming a new movie called The Blue Hour; although very little has been released about the film, we know she plays a grieving mother.

Personal life

Milano is an avid fan of tattoos and has seven of them. She is a liberal and supported John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election.
Milano has taken groundbreaking action to protect her rights and the rights of celebrities on the World Wide Web. She has won several copyright infringement suits, and has dedicated the settlement money to the launch of a new search index on the web, Safesearching.com, a global community dedicated to offering a safe way to get the best entertainment information on the Internet.
Milano recently became a National Ambassador for UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). She traveled to India this summer, as well as Angola in 2004, to work with UNICEF field officers there. In the fall of 2004, she launched UNICEF's pivotal "Trick or Treat" campaign as an official spokesperson. In 2005, she visited India for UNICEF. She raised approximately $50,000 for South African women and children who have AIDS by selling her photo work, and that of a school's.
Milano is also an avid supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Milano announced on June 30, 2006, that she'll be partnering with G-III Apparel Group and Major League Baseball to create a line of ladies' baseball gear designed for juniors.
Milano resides in Los Angeles, California. Outside of acting, her hobbies include photography, humanitarian work and spending time with her 4 dogs; Ripely, Stella, Hugo, and Lucy. 

Friday 2 January 2009

Jennifer Love Hewitt


Date of birth: 1979-02-21
Birthplace: Waco, Texas, USA
Height: 5' 3"
Nationality: American
Profession: actress, musician 

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21 1979) is an American actress and singer. She is well-known for her roles in the Fox television series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, from (1995-1999), and also starred in the I Know What You Did Last Summer films, as Julie James. Hewitt can currently be seen on the CBS television series Ghost Whisperer, as Melinda Gordon, a young newlywed who communicates with the dead. As a singer, her single "How Do I Deal" reached twenty-six on the American charts.

Biography

Early life and career

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas to Herbert Daniel Hewitt and Patricia Mae Shipp (who are of mostly English descent). she moved to Garland, Texas in 1987, Her father is a technician and her mother worked as a speech pathologist. Hewitt grew up in Harker Heights, Texas. After the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her only sibling, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother. Her first name was given to her by her brother, after a girl of whom he was fond as a youngster, while her middle name, "Love", was given to her by her mother after her best friend in college.
As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music which led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" (as recorded by Whitney Houston) at a livestock show. Just a year after that, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make It Through the Night". By the time she was five, Hewitt already had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio. At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union). At the age of ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.
After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989-1991). In 1992, she played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde, which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures, but the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired. She later played on television in several short-lived series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992-1993), ABC's Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994-1995). Finally, Hewitt became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show Party of Five (1995-1999), joining the cast during its second season. She continued the same role in the short-lived Party of Five spinoff, Time of Your Life (1999). Hewitt was also one of the producers, but the show was cancelled after only half a season.
Her mother is very dear to her. She won sexiest woman of the year in 1997.

Film and music career

She made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). Hewitt became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The film had great box-office appeal (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide), and Hewitt became one of the most popular young stars in the USA (together with her co-stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar). She also played in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Other notable film roles included the high-school comedy flop Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy hit Heartbreakers (2001).
In 2000, Hewitt appeared in The Audrey Hepburn Story. That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of thirty-seven. For that reason, Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson, because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and wholesomeness". In 2002, she was paired with Jackie Chan in the action comedy The Tuxedo which was a box office bomb.
Since September 2005, Hewitt has starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer. In Australia, Ghost Whisperer has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averages 9-10 million viewers for each new episode.
To date, she has released four albums with some success, most notably in Europe and Japan. Her first album was released in Japan, where she is widely considered a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."
In March 2005, Hewitt was featured in Maxim magazine and their Girls of Maxim gallery. In May 2006, the magazine named her #29 in their Hot 100 list.

Trivia

  • Apparently a big fan of Sizzler restaurants. On a September 21, 2006 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, she expressed her desire to be a spokesperson for Sizzler.
  • She has been dating actor Ross McCall since January 2006.
  • According to talkshow interviews, she never learned to ride a bicycle.

Awards

  • Blockbuster Entertainment Award — Favorite Female Newcomer (I Know What You Did Last Summer) (1998)
  • Blockbuster Entertainment Award — Favorite Actress (I Know What You Did Last Summer) (1998)
  • People's Choice Award — Favorite Female Television Performer in a New Series (Time of Your Life) (2000)

Thursday 1 January 2009

Penelope Cruz


Birthname: Penolope Cruz Sonchez
Date of birth: 1974-04-28
Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
Height: 5' 55''
Nationality: Spanish
Profession: Actress, Model

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974 in Madrid, Spain), better known as Penélope Cruz (colloquially shortened to Pe), is a Spanish actress. Originally a dancer, she soon moved into Spanish television, and since then she has appeared in a string of films, in Spanish, English, French and Italian, with relative success and some awards.

Biography

Early life

Cruz was born in Madrid and was named after a song by Joan Manuel Serrat. Her parents are Eduardo Cruz, a retailer, and Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser. She was a dancer as a child and young teen. She completed 2º B.U.P. (2nd year of secondary school), but dropped out of school at the age of 15 after she beat more than 300 other girls in a dance competition. She received nine years of classic ballet training at the Conservatorio Nacional in Madrid, four years of dance performance with several dance courses at the Cristina Rota School in New York, and three years of Spanish Ballet with Ángela Garrido. She also had jazz dance courses with Raúl Caballero.

Career

Cruz first achieved fame when she appeared in the video clip La fuerza del destino for the Spanish synthpop group Mecano. She later started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group.
She was a TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha.
Cruz's first major films were Jamón, Jamón and Belle Epoque, a film which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
In 1997, she starred as Sofía alongside Eduardo Noriega in Abre los Ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, and in 2000 she appeared with Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses (film). In 1999, she appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre, which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
In early 2001, she appeared in the film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, which sparked a supposed three-year relationship with the actor. Vanilla Sky was the Hollywood remake of Abre los Ojos ("Open Your Eyes"), and she played the same part in both films.

Personal life

Cruz has a younger brother Eduardo, who is a singer, and a younger sister Mónica Cruz, who closely resembles her: a similarity exploited for some Spanish TV ads. In the 2000s, Mónica left her dancing career and achieved note on her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante. They are also distant cousins of Alexandra Cruz.
She has been a vegetarian since 2000.
She speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. She learned Italian because she wanted a part in the 2004 movie Non ti muovere, and she went on to win the Italian equivalent of the Oscars for Best Actress.
She has donated a considerable amount of money and time to charity. In 1997 she volunteered in Uganda for two months.
After appearing in 2001 in the film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, they had a three year relationship. Cruise and Cruz split in January 2004.
After filming Sahara in February 2005, she started dating actor Matthew McConaughey. In May 2006, they released a joint statement to People, saying that they "have decided to take time off as a couple. Due to busy work schedules and so much time apart, they mutually decided four weeks ago that separating was the best thing to do at this time."
Spanish press has been linking Cruz to Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, whom she co-stars in the upcoming film Manolete. Cruz herself has denied the rumors.
Cruz is best friends with actress/producer, Salma Hayek. The two co-stared in the 2006 movie Bandidas.