James Douglas Morrison the greatest rock star of all times and creator of songs that simply depict the “love revolution” that was going on in the nation at the time. His voice and his band became a symbol of freedom and happiness expressed in a careless yet extraordinary way. Jim Morrison’s lyrics depict the life of a rebellious and very outgoing soul inspired by philosophy and great minds resulting in some of the greatest songs of all times. Even though the majority of people see Jim Morrison as a party animal, the way he wrote songs and the way he performed on stage can only be described as the work of a “genius”.

Douglas Morrison was born on December 8^th 1943 on a small city on Florida’s eastern coast. As a kid, Jim lived in several places because of his dad job in the navy. He was constantly moving from one state to another attending to different school as a result. During his youth, Jim experienced events that change his life forever. The events marked his life in such way that he refers to them in some of his most famous songs.

Even though that Jim Morrison lived a relatively short life, his lyrics and his characteristic performances on stage improvising with self written poetry will always be remembered as well as his peculiar and explosive personality. His achievements as the lead singer and as the member of one of the best bands in history (the Doors) are considered among the most important in music history. The life of this poet, philosopher and very talented singer, got compromised ever since his band became famous in 1967. In the following years his alcohol and drug abuse, which was extremely evident in some of his most famous performances, would be the cause of his death at age 27 in Paris, France.

Jim Morrison’s allegedly died as a result of a heroin overdose, but since there was no autopsy performed on his body the actual reason of his death is still unknown and surrounded by controversy. Whatever the cause of Jim Morrison’s death may be, he will always be remembered as a charismatic, intelligent and very talented “Rock Star”.

Quick Facts

Nick name: “Jim Morrison”, “The lizard King” and “Mr. Mojo Risin” (a set of words formed with the letters found in the name “Jim Morrison”.)

Born: December 8^th 1943

Place of birth:  Melbourne, Florida

Died: July 3^rd, 1971, Paris, France

Profession:  Singer, poet, musician, philosopher, songwriter, actor, filmmaker

Origin: Irish and Scottish

Known for: being the greatest rock star of all times, his very characteristic improvised poetry while performing on stage, his alcohol and drug abuse, his amazing voice and lyrics, his great band “the Doors”, his erratic and explosive behavior, his death at a relative young age etc. etc.

Childhood and growing years

As part of a family of 5 having a navy officer as the head of the family, James was constantly moving from one state to another. James together with his younger sister Anne and his younger brother Andrew attend to different schools in at least 3 different states. As the event that change James’s life forever, he remembers that once on a family trip he saw a terrible accident on the highway near a Native American reserve which he recalls to have seen the family badly injured of death. This event marked James life in such way that some of his most famous songs refer to this incident.

As student teachers remember James as a bright student that loved to read, one of his teachers in high school during his senior year said that James was the student who read the most than any other student. He was fascinated by the works of authors such as Nietzsche, Rimbaud and James Joyce as well as Greek historian Plutarch and other famous authors. There is an anecdote from another teacher that says that he wasn’t sure that books mentioned by James actually existed, in his disbelief he went to the Library of Congress to check if the books James cited were actually real. To the teacher’s surprise school assignments read by Morrison indeed existed but these books were so old (16^th and 17^th century) that the teacher had no idea of their existence.

After graduating from high school in Alexandria Virginia, Morrison decided to return to Florida as his dad got transferred to work in another state. Back in Florida Jim lived with his grandparents in Clearwater Florida and attended school at St. Petersburg College. By this stage in Morrison’s life he had already developed a very rebellious attitude as well as a particular appeal for drugs and alcohol. Before graduating from high school, Jim had already discovered alcohol and other drugs that were very common during the 60’s. When Jim was on his early teens, he was a well behaved kid but as soon as he grew older (particularly during his high school years) his behavior radically changed resulting in a disruptive and problematic student. This behavior worsened during the time he lived with his parents. Even though his grandparents didn’t drink alcohol and totally disapprove his grandson way of drinking (specially the way Jim did), Jim would drink heavily nearly every single day and come back home really late at night totally obliterated just to make his grandparents angry. Nearly a year after Jim moved with his grandparents, he transferred from St. Pete College to Florida Seminole University (FSU) in the state’s capital.

While attending university in Tallahassee, Morrison got arrested because of his involvement on a prank after a FSU football game. At the time Jim got arrested he was under the influence of alcohol.

Decisive years

Little after 2 years studying in FSU, Jim became very passionate for films and visual arts. By 1964 following his instincts and one of his FSU professors’s advice, Jim decided to move to California to study in UCLA’s very prestige film school. It was in UCLA where Morrison got his Bachelor’s degree and where his poetry and filming style where considerably influenced. A year after he transferred to UCLA Jim graduated from university, but honoring his attitude as a rebellious young man and his some how careless behavior, Jim refused to attend to his graduation ceremony instead he requested to have his diploma sent to him by mail. This unique ideology of going “against the flow” and against pre established social standards would play a very important roll in Jim’s stereotype as the “greatest Rock Star of all times”.

Even though most people remember Jim Morrison as a party animal on and off the stage, his incredible poetry ability together with his magnificent talent of portraying his ideas an emotions through his songs and lyrics, plus other great talents that are also as remarkable as the others, have inspired hundreds if not thousands of artist all around the world. After graduation Jim pretty much clubbed all his great skills with his reckless behavior while leaving a life with little or no worries to form one of the greatest bands of all times, “The Doors”.

Jim lived with some of his UCLA friends in a building’s rooftop in Venice Beach; in this place Morrison wrote some of his first songs that years later would become extremely famous all around the nation and the world. Some of the most famous songs that Jim wrote in this place include, “Moonlight Drive”, “hello, I love you” among others. As Morrison and his buddies didn’t have a lot of money at the time, the way Jim and his friend lived was very limited, however one of Jim’s UCLA buddies says that canned food and hallucinogen drugs were Morrison’s daily diet (and perhaps for his friends as well) for months. This was the perfect diet containing the right vitamins and inspiration for a song writer and a film maker as well as the right combination for a rock star in the making.

During the 60’s, there were lots of artists of all kinds living in Venice Beach. This L.A. suburb served as Jim’s platform to expand and perfect his radical ideas in music, poetry, art and in his life as he related to people that shared similar ideas and perspectives as Jim did. During the 60’s the nation and the world was going through a rebellious yet very inspiring stage. In the United States particular case, young people of all ages, particularly students, were experiencing a time for exploration, peace, love and inspiration in various ways, a set of ideas that Jim Morrison exploited through his lyrics, through his famous performances on stage and through his life. The big majority of artist at the time sang and composed music in a very similar way that Jim Morrison and The Doors did. The youth was experiencing a stage in their lives in which everything that help them expand their minds, everything that represented their emotions and ideas was happily accepted (drugs, alcohol, music, clothing, etc). Jim Morrison together with other famous contemporary artist utilize this moment as the right time to express themselves, to express their emotions and their lifestyles that were influenced by LSD, Marihuana, alcohol, love, crazy parties, radical ideas, politics, and many other things that characterized the decade.

Jim Morrison and The Doors

In the summer of 1965 was the year in which Jim Morrison together with Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger formed the “The Doors”. Manzarek studied in UCLA film school with Jim becoming the first member of the band. Weeks after in the same summer of 65, the rest of the members joined the band. When the band was formed, all members agreed to name their band “The Doors”, referring to book written by Aldous Huxley name “The Doors of Perception”. This book referred to life as being some how limited without hallucinogen drugs usage and in the contrary, life would be “infinite” by using hallucinogen drugs, or by using these drugs you will be able to “unlock the perception door”. This was the perfect name for a band that would become a symbol for the era as well as for countless generations within the nation and across the world.

Contrary to what most people believe as Jim Morrison being the band’s lyricist, Robby Krieger the guitarist, also made substantial contributions to some of the most famous songs that are generally attributed to Morrison alone. Some of these songs that Krieger some how co-write include, Love me 2 Times, Touch Me, Light my Fire, etc. what Jim did best was to improvise his poetry while on stage and while writing songs with the band members he would propose the beat and rhythm by creating a melody with his own voice.

When The Doors had their first songs ready the band began playing in several gigs in bars around the area. By mid 1966, the band had an important opening performance for a band led by the famous musician Van Morrison. Nearly a year after the band became very famous in the U.S. as well as in other countries when The Doors sign a contract with the record company, Elektra Records. In 1967 The Doors released their first single “Light My Fire” which gave the band almost instant recognition all over the nation. The first single released by the band stayed for more than 2 weeks in the most famous music popularity charts of the decade as the number one song.

In matter of months The Doors as well as the charismatic and good looking singer Jim Morrison became extremely famous by the bands incredible songs and by the singer’s incredible performance on stage. When The Doors became famous Jim Morrison had this characteristic look of a rock star, defined facial features that were extremely appealing by the “groupies” as well as his body, plus his amazing performance on stage that captivate everyone alike. Jim’s characteristic look at the time was the result of having little money by the time he graduated from college and by his peculiar lifestyle that included LSD, alcohol, other drugs and lots of sex.

The same year The Doors became famous, the band was invited to a famous night TV show, The Ed Sullivan Show. This popular show presented the most famous artist and bands at the time. Some of the most outstanding guests of the show included, The Beetles, the legend Elvis Presley and The Jackson 5. When the The Doors were invited as guests to this TV show, the host Ed Sullivan asked Jim Morrison to sing the song “Light My Fire” but changing the lyrics of the song that referred to drugs and other inappropriate words while singing it. As Morrison agreed to sing his band’s first single changing the original lyrics there was a huge commotion in the audience but as he began singing, Mr. Mojo Risin completely ignored the host’s request and sang Light My Fire with its original lyrics. This very characteristic Mr. Mojo Risin’s behavior of doing whatever he felt like made Ed Sullivan extremely aggravated to such extend that he even refused to shake hands with the band members, thus The Doors never again returned to the show. Jim Morrison’s respond to the fact that they will never be invited again to the show was, “I can care less, we already appear on the show”.

The same year the band created the first promotional music video for the single, Break on Through. This was one of the first videos of its kind in which all the band members appeared playing their instruments and in Morrison’s case, singing the song. Although The Doors became very famous with their first album, by the time they released their second album, the band became one of the most famous and successful bands in the U.S. in 1968 and 1969 The Doors released their third and fourth album correspondingly. Approximately 2 years after The Doors signed a contract with the record company began projecting his alcohol addiction on his work. He would come to recording sessions totally “wasted”, also in numerous occasions he arrived late to his gigs forcing band members to improvise to keep the audience calm.

Jim’s behavior and alcohol and drug abuse was becoming a problem for his health, the band and his looks. At the end of the 60’s Morrison’s body wasn’t the same as the body he had when The Doors became famous. By 1969 Mr. Mojo Risin significantly gained weight enabling him to wear his characteristic outfit, leather pants and belts. Having extra weight, he changed his “rock star looks” for something more “casual and comfortable”. In the particular case of the band’s live shows, Morrison’s rebellious behavior fueled by alcohol and drugs would sometimes provoke the audience to riot or to behave recklessly. In one occasion on a gig in Mr. Mojo Risin home state (Miami) he unsuccessfully tried to start a riot, days after, the show the county’s police department had issued a warrant for Jim Morrison’s arrest for an alleged indecent exposure. Nevertheless The Doors drummer denies this accusation. By the end of the 70’s The Doors released their last album in which Jim participated, L.A. woman.

In prior years, the band released The Soft Parade and Morrison Hotel despite the fact that the band split for quite some time. By the 70’s the band was experiencing difficulties as Morrison alcohol and drug abuse worsen and when The Doors producer resigned as he didn’t like the band’s latest album. Besides being the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison also published 2 poetry books and also he acted in several films. A lot of his poetry work was released after his death and there is still some work that hasn’t been released by the family of Pamela Courson, Jim Morrison’s romantic companion.

Jim was involved in several love affairs specially after his band became famous in 1977. Although Morrison wasn’t faithful to Pamela and their relation was very problematic, both of them stayed together on and off for years until Mr. Mojo Risin died in Paris most definitely for a heroin overdose. Pamela also died of a heroin overdose years after Morrison died. Jim and Pamela never married but according to the laws of a specific state the love life of the couple was enough to consider it a consensual marriage. This legal technicality grant the Courson family the copyrights of Jim Morrison’s artistic legacy.

The death of the “Lizard King”

Jim Morrison had a lot of things going on in his life at the beginning of the 70’s and together with his desire to pursuit his dream of becoming a famous poet he decided to move to Paris with his long term companion, Pamela. For months the couple walked around the city admiring the city’s architecture and living a slower paced life. A little less than 3 months after Jim and Pamela arrived in Paris, The king Lizard died after a night of heavy drinking ending on a heroin overdose. James Douglas Morrison died at age 27 on July 3^rd 1971 in Paris, France.

Pamela said that after they returned to their apartment Jim wasn’t feeling well but after he went to the bathroom and cough in several occasion Jim said that he felt better after hearing this, Pamela decided to go to sleep and the following morning she found Jim Morrison laying on the bathtub completely motionless. As the French police didn’t saw any signs of injuries or aggression on Jim’s body, the French police decided not to perform an autopsy which resulted in controversy as the cause of Jim’s death wasn’t officially known.

James Douglas Morrison was buried in Pere Lachaise Cementery in Paris, one of the most visited places by tourist in the city. As Jim had a relative short life, this jim morrison biography honors the life of a very talented and unique individual, “The Greatest Rock Star of all times, period”.

Muhammad Ali is one of the greatest ever boxing legends.

Quick Facts

Nickname: The Louisville Lip, The Greatest, The People’s Champion

Date of Birth: 17^th January, 1942

Place of Birth:  Louisville, Kentucky

Origin: African-American

Profession: Professional Boxer, Social Activist

Known for: Professional Boxer

Website: http://www.ali.com/

Childhood and Growing Years

Muhammad Ali, was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1964, which was when he changed his name. He was born in a small town called Louisville in Kentucky and he was the namesake of his father, who was in turn named after a famous politician at the time. His mother was Odessa Clay who was a house wife, and his father was employed painting signs and billboards in Louisville. Ali and his older brother Rudolph Clay (later changed his name to Rahman Ali) were brought up as Baptists.

Clay was introduced to boxing through Joe E. Martin who was a police officer back in 1954. The then twelve year old Clay was angry about his bike being stolen and told Joe Martin that he would “whup” the offender if he was found. Joe Martin liked the spunk in Clay, and told him that he’d better learn boxing if that was what he wanted to do. A trainer called Fred Stoner taught Clay the basics of boxing, but it was clear to see that Clay had a natural aptitude for boxing. Though boxing was one of the roughest sports possible, Clay had a certain grace about his movements, which got him noticed.

Claim to Fame

He was regularly featured on a local television show sponsored by Martin, called “Tomorrow’s Champions” and he began training for various championships. In his amateur years as a boxer, he bagged a total of eight Golden Gloves championships, six local to Kentucky, and two national titles. He also won the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) championship in his early teen years. He participated in the Olympics in the Lightweight Championship when he was only eighteen, and he won the gold that year in 1960. He was rumored to have later thrown the gold medal he earned in the 1960 Olympics in a river in Ohio when he was denied service and discriminated against at a restaurant there.

His overall amateur record was that of only 5 losses in 105 matches.

He had a distinctive boxing style which coupled strong power-packed punches with speed and agility in the ring.

His Olympic win helped him bag a contract with the Louisville Sponsor Group after which he began a professional career in boxing post 1960. For the next 3 years until 1963, he continued a professional boxing career, and he grew more confident about his boxing skills. He received widespread media attention as much for his cheeky quotes and short rhymes belittling his opponent and talking about which round he would defeat them, as much as for his talent. Through the 3 years, he was slowly advancing towards what would be his first Heavyweight Championship Win against Sonny Liston. He did this at the age of 22, becoming the youngest person ever to win a Heavyweight Championship over a reigning champion. He defended this title for eight years after he won it.

In 1964, after his win in Liston, Clay declared himself to be a member and open supporter of the Nation of Islam. This was a religious movement which supported Pan Africanism. He was inspired by the speeches of Malcolm X, and in support for the Nation of Islam; he took up the name Cassius X for a while. On the same day, the leader of the Nation of Islam Elijah Muhammad declared that Cassius Clay would officially adopt the name “Muhammad Ali” and this was aired on the radio.

In the April of 1967, Ali was asked to report for duty in the U.S Army as a soldier in the front lines of the Vietnam War. He publicly announced his refusal to answer to the draft, saying that he personally felt the war was unjustified, and that it went against the main principles of the Qoran. This act of his caused national outrage, and his quotes were repeatedly aired on radio and national television. He was unapologetic about his views. And a court case began proceedings against him as it was a felony to refuse to answer to the call of duty by the U.S Army.  He was suspended from the boxing ring until he was determined guilty or innocent by the court of law.

In March of 1971, he participated in what would later be known as the “Fight of the Century” with Joe Frazier, for the title of the world heavyweight champion. This was a much-anticipated game, as both Ali and Frazier were equally deserving of the crown, as they had both been undefeated champions in their own leagues. Ali lost this crucial title to Joe Frazier, though he proved to be a tough competitor. This was one of the few losses in Muhammad Ali’s professional career.

After this through the next decade, Ali was a part of various nail biting boxing matches, which were widely known as “Rumble in the Jungle” (his fight against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974), the “Thrilla in Manilla” in which he face Joe Frazier for the third time in Phillipines in 1975.

For the last four years of his career, he trained under Chuck Bodak, who was a famous boxing cutman. He retired from boxing for good in the year 1981. In 1984, he began to be affected by the beginnings of Parkinson’s disease. Despite that, he still remains a much loved public figure and an active social rights activist to this day.

Awards and Nominations

He won the Gold in Light Weight Boxing in the Summer Olympics held in Rome in 1960. Ring magazine named him “Fighter of the Year” the maximum number of times than any other boxer. He was one of the first boxers to be named “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated magazine. He received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 1997. In 2005, he was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush.

Personal Quotes

“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”

“At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”

“Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.”

“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”

“I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.”

“I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”

Steve Nash is a well-known NBA basketball player known for his consistent performance on the basketball field, and also his philanthropic endeavors. Time Magazine called him one of the world’s 100 most Influential People in the year 2006.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Kid Canadian

Date of Birth: 7^th February, 1974

Place of Birth:  Johannesburg, South Africa

Origin: British, Canadian

Profession: Sportsperson

Known for: Professional Basketball Player

Website: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steve_nash/

Childhood and Growing Years

Stephen John Nash was born on 7^th February, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa to father John Nash who was of English descent and mother Jean Nash who was Welsh. They were both sportspersons, his father was a professional soccer player in South Africa, and his mother was on the National women’s netball team in England. He had two siblings a brother and a sister – Martin and Joann who both went onto become sportspersons as well.

His parents moved to Vancouver, Canada soon after his birth, and later relocated to Victoria in British Columbia. He went to a boarding school called St. Michaels University School where he developed an interest in sports, playing rugby, ice hockey, soccer and basketball. He was never exclusively interested in basketball, and he admits to have preferred playing soccer to basketball even in childhood. He started playing basketball when he entered his teens, and soon proved his prowess in the game. In 1991-1992, he won his school team the provincial British Columbia AAA championship title and was awarded “Player of the Year” for his province that year. He won a Sports Scholarship to the Santa Clara University for the 1992-1993 season, and won quite a few tournaments for them like the WCC (West Coast Conference) Tournament Title and a few other wins in some play-offs against other universities.

Claim to Fame

Nash began to get noticed in the 1995-96 season, as he spent the previous summer training with the national Canadian basketball team and honing his game and working out with NBA players like Gary Payton and Jason Kidd. He helped Santa Clara capture the second WCC Tournament Title and he was reinstated Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive time. He graduated from Santa Clara and later got his #11 jacket retired from the Santa Clara team, which was the first time in the history of the college that that had happened. He went on to pursue his NBA career.

Phoenix Suns (1996-1998)

His recruitment into the NBA draft of the Phoenix Suns in 1998 was met with disapproval from the Phoenix Suns fans because despite his accomplishments in his college team, he hadn’t played in any of the major college league games, and so he was relatively unknown to people. He did not give any stellar performances in his first season in the NBA, and seemed to be a support to Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Sam Cassell. In his second season, he performed better and was even placed 13^th overall in the three point field goal percentage league. He was traded to the Dallas Mavericks team in the 1998 NBA draft.

Dallas Mavericks (1998-2004)

It was in this team that Nash really came into his own as a point guard. While with the Phoenix Suns his talents were underutilized, with the Mavericks, he soon emerged as one of the top players in the game and into the limelight. He played 40 games for this team in the first year with them, and he started the game for his team in all of them. He posted his career high scores during the 2001-2002 season and earned many honors one of which was a much coveted spot in the NBA All Star Game. Even though he reached new career highs in 2003-2004, his comparative performance and contribution in the Mavericks was reducing. He became a free agent after the 2003-04 game, and signed on with the Phoenix Suns again for a $63 million contract.

Return to Phoenix Suns (2004-current)

He joined the Suns as an All-Star when the team had a spat of poor performances and showed no signs of improvement. The then-coach Mike D’Antoni decided to make use of the athleticism of his team players and adopt an offensive approach with Nash as point guard. This strategy worked well for the team with the overall team performance showing significant improvement over the years.

 Presently

He still plays for the Phoenix Suns since becoming a free agent in 2004. He has renewed his contract for the 2010-11 seasons. He plays point guard for them, and is used in defense as well as offense plays on the court. He is quite selective when it comes to brand endorsements and prefers to work with socially responsible companies. Nike and Steve Nash have had a long relationship since he signed on with them in early 2000. He recently split from Alejandra Amarilla in November 2010, soon after the birth of their third child. They were married nine years.

Awards and Nominations

He was twice awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2005 and 2006. He became the first white player to win the award since 1986. ESPN put him in the top ten greatest point guards of all time, with Nash ranking ninth in that list.

He won the Lou Marsh trophy in 2004 and the Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2007. He is also a 7-time NBA All Star, almost consistently appearing in the league since the 2002 season till date.

Personal Quotes

“People have always doubted whether I was good enough to play this game at this level. I thought I was, and I thought I could be. What other people thought was really always irrelevant to me.”

“We were excited to win, staying undefeated is just the icing.”

“The playoffs are the playoffs. You just play who is put in front of you.”

“What happened in the past is just that, the past. Champion or not.”

“You should be able to voice your opinion and respect the voice of the other side. You should be willing to educate yourself and know what it is you’re dealing with.”

About the most famous British – American actress – Elizabeth Taylor

Born on 27^th February 1932 in the suburbs of London, Elizabeth Taylor was a British- American actress who started her acting career from her childhood and later in life she had become one of the great screen actresses in Hollywood. She was considered as one of the world’s most famous star and was largely recognized for her extraordinary acting ability and her glamorous eyes and distinctive beauty. She was most famous of multiple marriages, beautiful violent eyes and extensive collection of jewelry. It was the movie in the year of 1944 titled as National Velvet that had given her, her first success followed by this; she appeared in the film Father of the Bride which was released in the year of 1950. Elizabeth Taylor had also won an Academy Award in the category of the Best Actress for her performance in the movie Butterfield 8 which was released in the year of 1959. She is the co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research established in the year of 1985 and also the foundation known as Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation which was started in the year of 1993.

Quick Facts:

• Nick name: Kitten, Liz
• Date of birth: 27^th February, 1932
• Place of birth: London, England
• Origin: England
• Profession: Actress
• Known for: Her explicit actress skills in films like Butterfield 8 and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Apart from this she is also known for her scandalous love life and stunning violent eyes
• Website: http://www.elizabethtaylorbeauty.com/

Childhood and growing up years:

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor most commonly known as Elizabeth Taylor was born on 27^th February 1932 in her parents’ home located in Heathwood at the 8 Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb situated on the northwest of London in England. Elizabeth was accompanied by her older brother who was named Howard Taylor and was born in the year of 1929. However her parents Sara Viola Warmbrodt and Francis Lenn Taylor were Americans who were residing in the country of England but they had their origins from Arkansas City which is located in Kansas. Elizabeth’s father was an art dealer while her mother was a former stage actress with the stage name as “Sara Sothern”. When the World War II broke out the Taylor family relocated their living to the United States and were found beginning a new life in the city of Los Angeles. Her mother retired from acting in the year of 1926 when she was married to Francis in city of New York. Thus, the skill of acting was in her blood which she had got from her mother. And at the very young age of three, Elizabeth had begun dancing and gradually she even got the opportunity to recite for Princess Elizabeth and Margaret. The first two names of Taylor Elizabeth Rosemond are in honor of her parental grandmother whose name was Elizabeth Mary Rosemond.

It was Colonel Victor Cazalet, one of the important family friends who had a great influence on the Taylor family. He was a rich person and a well-connected bachelor and was also the member of the Parliament and he as the close friend of Winston Churchill. Victor was both a theatre and art lover and would always encourage the Taylor family to make a permanent home in England. Apart from being an art lover he was a Christian Scientist who maintained spiritual links with the family. Later on, he was made the godfather to Elizabeth. She acquired a dual citizen of United States and also the United Kingdom although she was born British she had acquired American citizenship through her parents. When Elizabeth was thirteen years of age she started taking ballet classes and just before the beginning of the World War II, her parents decided to return to United States in order to avoid being hostages. The mother and the children first arrived to New York in the year of 1939 in April whereas her father remained in London so as to complete his art business and then joined the family in the month of November. Settled in Los Angeles, her father established a new art gallery in which a number of paintings where bought from England. Soon the gallery attracted numerous Hollywood celebrities who appreciated the work of the modern European paintings.

Claim to fame:

After settling in Los Angeles, Elizabeth’s mother discovered that the people of Hollywood were in thirst for watching a pretty face on screen and some of Sara’s friends and close relatives of the family urged Elizabeth Taylor to take a screen test where she attended and was tested for the role of Bonnie Blue who was Scarlet’s child in the movie Gone With the Wind. However, her mother refused the offer as Elizabeth was still a child and child actress were something alien to her at that time. Apart from this thought in mind, the family would return back to England once the war would finish. It was the columnist of Hollywood Hedda Hopper who had introduced Elizabeth Taylor to Andrea Berens, who was the fiancée of John Cheever Cowdin who was the chairman and stockholder of Universal Pictures. It was Berens who had insisted that Sara takes Elizabeth Taylor to meet Disney Entertainment because of her dazzling and breathtaking beauty. No sooner she was signed a contract with the Universal Studios and made her debut film at the age of 10 by starring in the movie “There’s One Born Every Minute” which was released in the year of 1942. But sadly, the studio fired Elizabeth Taylor after a year for unknown reasons. While some say that she could not live up to the expectations of Cowden while others say that she wasn’t really welcomed at the Universal Studios. However, this was followed by a bigger hit in the movie Home in which she played the role of Lassie Come and was released in the year of 1943. She experienced huge success with this film and was later welcomed to star in another film entitled The White Cliffs of Dover released in the year of 1944. He had acquired the offer of appearing in Lassie film because of her father who was working as a air warden in the MGM for the producer Sam Max through him he learnt that the studio was looking up for an English actress and then Elizabeth Taylor was called on and subsequently a long-term contract was signed at the start of 1943. Taylor chose MGM because she believed that people in this studio were much king and nicer and the following years of work with MGM she was trusted by the crew and eventually she tasted success. But her success and breakout in her acting career came out when she was 12 years old in the year of 1944 when she starred in the film National Velvet. She spent four months working for this film and the film was a huge hit as it pulled out more $4 million apart from making the twelve year old kid a huge glamorous star. In this movie, she plays the role of young girl who trains her horse to win the Grand National. In this movie she co-starred alongside the young actor Mickey Rooney who was also an English newcomer. Years later after the completion of this film Elizabeth Taylor said that this was her most exciting film that she had made in her career despite the fact that this movie made her ill because of the tiring horse riding practices which were a part of the film. This film had acquired a net gross of US $4 million and also the MGM had signed her for a new long-term contract. Followed by the success of this film she was taken for another animal film which was titled as Courage of Lassie released in the year of 1946. In this movie Bill who is a dog outsmarts the Nazis and the success of this film led Taylor to sign another film which was going to pay her $750 per week. She was then followed by the roles of Mary Skinner in film of Warner Brothers titled Life With Father released in the year 1947 and then as Carol Pringle in the movie A Date with Judy in the year of 1948. Also her role as Cynthia Bishop in the movie Cynthia and Susan Prackett in the movie Julia Misbehaves were successful. For being a consistent successful adolescent actress she was given the nickname of “One-Shot Liz” who had a promising career ahead. Her last role as an adolescent young woman was in the movie Little Women which was released in the year of 1949. While she entered her teenage she was still reluctant to her acting career and her actress mother forced Elizabeth Taylor to practice her acting skills and she also accompanied her during filming so that she would signal her daughter in case she commits any mistakes during the delivery of her dialogues. At the sets of these movies, she met a few another people of her age and she was poor at math as she used her fingers to do basic arithmetic. When Elizabeth turned 16, she told her parents that she wanted to quit acting as she was craving to have a normal childhood but her mother told her that she was ungrateful to have one and that acting had become her responsibility not just to the family also to the whole world. So in the year of 1948 in October she sailed to RMS Queen Mary which is in England in order to begin the filming of Conspirator. Elizabeth made an easy transition into adult roles and before the movie Conspirator was released in the year 1949, Time magazine covered an article on her and called her ‘jewel of great price, a true star sapphire’. By now Taylor had developed a matured figure and was appreciated by a number of Hollywood big-wigs although the film Conspirator had failed at the box office. By now Taylor had started to charge a new salary of $2,000 per week and under this new salary of hers she signed the movie The Big Hangover which was released in the year of 1950 however she did not show up success. The picture failed to broadcast the beauties’ of Taylor. It was in the year of 1950 that her first box office adult movie had seen success with the comedy movie Father of the Bride in which she played the role of Kay Banks alongside the actor Joan Bennett and Spencer Tracy. After receiving immense success a sequel was also released entitled as Father’s Little Dividend in the year of 1951. The film tasted success but it was the next film of Elizabeth Taylor that had her acting career set as a dramatic actress. In the late days of the year 1949, Taylor began working with George Stevens film ‘A Place in the Sun’, it was released in the year of 1951 and Elizabeth was largely praised for her performance as playing the role of Angela Vickers who is a spoilt socialite disturbing the life of George Eastman. This film was based on Theodore Dreiser’s novel known as An American Tragedy which is an indictment to “American dream”. By this time, Elizabeth was seventeen years. Although she was just 17 she knew about all the psychological implication and the complications of the story. Her performance in this movie had become a pivotal performance in her career. Critics claimed that film to be a classic one as it survived for the next fifty years in the history of cinema. After receiving compliments for her recent success she was surrounded with a roles but nothing seemed to be satisfying. She wanted to play lead roles in films like I’ll Cry Tomorrow and The Barefoot Contessa but MGM had restricted her to accept these roles. She made a cameo in the movie Callaway Went Thataway in the year 1951 followed by a couple other films in the subsequent years. Two years later she dazzled on the screen with the adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof then followed by Williams classic Suddenly Last Summer. During the same period enacted as a call girl in the film Butterfield 8 for which she has won an Oscar Award.

Her happiness by attaining success was suddenly struck by tragedy and loss in the year of 1958 when she had become a young widow as her husband who was a pioneering film director Mike Todd had lost his life in a plane crash. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth Taylors’ name was made it to the greatest Hollywood love scandals of that era as she had gone into an affair with Todd’s close friend Eddie Fisher. Later, Fisher had submitted divorce papers to Debbie Reynolds and was remarried to Elizabeth in the year of 1959. However, the couple could not stay for long and their marriage ended after five years when she left fisher for another actor known as Richard Burton. She soon took the place in the everyday headlines and was a public’s obsession figure by this time as her love life had reached new dimensions with her marriage in the year of 1964 to Richard Burton. She met this actor while she was shooting for the film Cleopatra in the year of 1963. The communion of Elizabeth Taylor and Burton was a passionate and they shared a fiery love and they also appeared onscreen in the film The V.I.P’s in the year 1963 and two years later in the movie titled Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?. This movie had Taylor achieve her second Oscar Award for her role as an angry and overweight wife of the alcoholic professor Richard Burton. In the following years she had come across many ups and downs while she was also involved in a number of marriages, more divorces and various health obstacles while she struggled side-by-side for her filming career as her movies were gaining her less success among the critics and also the public. However, coping with the tough times she continued to act and also found work in television shows. At this time she had made a guest appearance in General Hospital. Apart from acting she also devoted her time in doing philanthropy. Not enough she was distressed and saddened by her own life the pain was just added as one of her close friend Rock Hudson had passed away in the year of 1985 while suffering from HIV/AIDS. In this pain she began working to find a cure to this deadly disease and in the year of 1991 she established the Elizabeth Taylor HIV/AIDS Foundation. The aim of this foundation was support patients who are sick and suffering from HIV/AIDS and to conduct research facilities for advanced treatments. By this time, she had retired from acting and she also received a number of awards of her work. In the year of 1993 she was given the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award and in the year of 2000 she was made the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). Throughout the years of 90’s Taylor suffered from health problems ranging from cognitive heart failure to diabetes. She had to get both her hips replaced and in the year of 1997 she got her brain tumor removed and in 2009 of October Taylor who had four children by now went through a successful heart surgeries  and in the early days of 2011 Taylor once again experienced heart problems. She was then admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in the month of February for suffering from heart failure. Finally in the year of 2011 on March 23^rd she passed away from this world.

Presently:

Shortly after the death of the popular actress Elizabeth Taylor, her son Michael Wilding released a statement announcing that his mother was an extraordinary woman who lived her life to the fullest by enjoying love, humor and passion. He also said that every person must be inspired by the contribution given by her to this world. During the last days of life she had struggled a lot with her life as she faced a number of health problems and also sadness as she was also divorced with Hilton apart from going through serious health issues in her personal life. In the whole of her life, Elizabeth Taylor was hospitalized for atleast seventy times and went through twenty major operations. A number of newspapers had earlier announced that she was close to death but she herself claimed to almost face death only in four particular occasions. When she was in her mid-fifties she got into the habit of smoking cigarettes and feared to have lung cancer when she got an X-Ray done in the year of 1975 in the month of October but fortunately she did not have this disease.

After all the pain, fame and illness, Elizabeth Taylor remains as the “greatest movie start of all”, the title given by the biographer William J. Mann. As a child star when she was just twelve years old she was launched into public eyes by MGM which was followed by a string of successful films. She is made the “Hollywood Icon” and is given the Hollywood fame for creating model stardom. She was also one of the major sparkling actresses in the sexual revolution that took place in the early 1960’s and she moved ahead and removed the envelope of sexuality by posing nude for the Playboy magazine. Her dynamics of acting does not end her as she was the first star to remove her clothes onscreen too. On the other hand, in the real life she was considered as “a star without airs” by Mann while others describes her as being a movie queen with no ego. Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times having seven husbands and when someone asked her about why so many marriages, Taylor would always comment that if she fell in love once she would not have a love affair and said she was old-fashioned. When Elizabeth was twenty-seven years old she converted from Christian to Judaism. After the conversion she then took the Hebrew name Elisheba Rachael. This conversion of religion as on her mind since long and it was not related anywhere to her marriages.

She was a person who had passion for perfume, fashion and jewelry. At the time of Taylor’s death, the estimated jewelry that she owned was said to be $150 million. She was a regular client of the famous jewelry designer Shlomo Moussaieff. She owned some very explicit pieces and among those two of the pieces are said to be unique, one being the 33.19 carat Krupp Diamond which was worn by Elizabeth Taylor everyday and the other one was a 69.42 carat pear shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond. Both of these extraordinary pieces were gifts given to her by her husband. At the time of her death, she left an estate which is estimated to be worth $600 million to about $1million, $130 million in real estate business and more than $150 million with her jewelry. The collection of her jewelry is complied in the book entitled as My Love Affair with Jewelry which was published in the year 2002 along with photographs by a New York photographer known as John Bigelow Taylor.

Awards and Nominations Received:

Elizabeth Taylor had won two Academy Awards in her entire acting career where one is given for being the Best Actress for her performance in the movie Butterfield 8 which was released in the year of 1960 and the second for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the year of 1966. Apart from the above awards, she was also given the prestigious Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award in the year of 1992 for her work fighting for curing HIV/AIDS.

In the year of 1997 she was honored with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) along with the Life Achievement Award. Unfortunately, Taylor could not attend this award ceremony and the award was accepted by Gregory Peck on behalf of Taylor.

Apart from this she also received the BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Laurel Award and many more. The list of her awards and nominations is never ending. During her entire life on earth she was showered with various awards for both her acting performance and also for her humanitarian works.

Trade Marks:

• Dazzling Violent Eyes.
• Her love affairs with expensive and unique jewelry
• Dark Black Hair
• Light Complexion

Personal Quotes:

My mother says I didn’t open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw was an engagement ring. I was hooked.

You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.

“I don’t like my voice. I don’t like the way I look. I don’t like the way I move. I don’t like the way I act. I mean, period. So, you know, I don’t like myself.”

 “If someone’s dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”

Malcolm Little, more popularly known as Malcolm X, was the spearhead of the Black Nationalist movement during the mid-1900’s and an ardent human rights activist. He was considered to be one of the most influential African Americans in American history, equal to Martin Luther King.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Malcolm Little, Malcolm X, Red

Date of Birth: 19^th May, 1925

Place of Birth:  Omaha, Nebraska

Origin: African

Profession: Muslim Minister, Human Rights Activist

Known for: Role in the Pan-Africanist political movement and the Black Nationalist Movement

Website: http://www.malcolmx.com/

Childhood and Growing Years

Malcolm Little was born on 19^th May, 1925 to father Earl Little who was a Baptist Preacher and an active member of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and Louise Norton, who was half-white. He was the fourth child of the seven children his parents had. His father was a radical African American man who was a local leader of the UNIA, and was a big supporter of the Pan African belief system. His work with the UNIA got him in trouble with the Ku Klux Klan, an early cult mostly comprising of white supremacists, and when Louise was pregnant with Malcolm in Omaha, his family was threatened by members of the Klan, and asked to leave town. Soon after Malcolm’s birth, they did leave town, and relocated to Milwaukee where they stayed for a few months before finally moving to Lansing, Michigan. Malcolm Little took after his mother looks-wise, was the lightest skinned kid among all the Little children; however personality-wise he was more like his father, and the principles like black pride and self reliance that his father preached were something that he lived by all his life. He had reddish-blonde hair, which earned him the nickname “Red”. His hair darkened as he grew older.

When they were living in Lansing, their house was set on fire in 1929, but the family managed to escape unscathed. Arson was suspected, but was never proved, and no one was ever charged with the crime. On 8^th September, 1931, Earl Little was involved in a hit-and-run where he was hit by a speeding car in Lansing. This was suspected to be a planned hit by the Black Legion (a sub-sect of the Ku Klux Klan), but it was never proved. In fact Earl was still alive when the police and paramedics arrived at the scene, and he was said to have told them that he slipped and fell and the streetcar ran over him by mistake after that. But Malcolm always held the Black Legion responsible for his father’s death. Louise supported her family from the life insurance payout that she got after Earl’s death and the weekly widow’s allowance she got from the probate court. She had a metal breakdown in December 1938, after which she was committed to a mental institution in Michigan after being declared legally insane. She remained there for the next 24 years.

Malcolm was a bright student in school, and did quite well until junior high, but he dropped out of school after being told by one of his high school teachers that his dream of becoming a lawyer was unrealistic for a black man. He was disappointed and humiliated by the incident, and it was then that it struck him that no matter how smart he was, the color of his skin would always get in the way of his true ambition in the world he lived in then.

After being shuttled between a series of foster homes, he finally found a stable home in February, 1941 with Ella Collins who was his older half-sister.

Troubled Adolescence

The Collins family lived in Roxbury, Boston in a predominantly black neighborhood. Malcolm had never seen so many blacks in one place ever before, and he soon was drawn to the local culture and social life in the neighborhood, which got him familiar with various ‘gangs’ on the street. From 1943 to 1946, he drifted between various cities, never having a stable job, always taking up odd jobs to earn his living. He then moved to New York City for a few months, where he got involved in peddling drugs for money, gambling, robbery, racketeering and pimping. He was arrested on a burglary charge in 1946, and was sentences for around 10 years in prison.

Ironically, it was prison that transformed him. When he initially started serving his prison sentence, he was nicknamed ‘Satan’ by his prison inmates due to his open hostility towards religion. But in a few months he met fellow inmate John Elton Bembry, who was a self-educated man, and soon they became friends. Malcolm developed intense respect for the man, and on Bembry’s behest, he decided to educate himself and began to read. As he started reading, he developed a voracious appetite for books, and would stay up reading long after lights out in prison.

In 1948, Malcolm’s little brother Philbert wrote to him talking about the Nation of Islam which was a religious movement headed by Elijah Muhammad. Their ideology was similar to that of UNIA, but Malcolm was not interested to know more until his other brother Reginald wrote to him about it too. Soon after, Reginald visited Malcolm in prison and described the group and their teaching to Malcolm, who grew interested. Their preaching of unification of all blacks and the liberation of blacks from domination of white people greatly appealed to Malcolm, and he became receptive to their teachings. He quit smoking and eating pork, and decided to turn his life around. He wrote to the leader of the movement, Elijah Muhammad in late 1948, and he was told to atone for his sins by renouncing the past and bowing down in prayer to a higher lord, Allah, and to promise to never behave in such a destructive manner again. Malcolm, who was always a skeptic and never religious, found it very difficult to follow Elijah’s advice, but when he finally did, he felt truly liberated even though he was in prison. He stayed in regular contact with Elijah Muhammad for the remainder of his prison term. On 7^th August, 1952, he was released on parole.

Claim to Fame

By the time Malcolm was released from prison in 1952, he was a transformed man. He marked this with a conscious decision to change his name from Malcolm Little to ‘Malcolm X’. He changed his last name to ‘X’ as he felt that ‘Little’ was a last name imposed on his forefathers by some white racist whereas the ‘X’ in Muslim culture would represent his true African surname which he would now never know.

Soon after his prison release, Malcolm X went to Chicago to visit Elijah Muhammad. In June 1853, he was named an assistant minister in the Detroit temple of the Nation of Islam. He soon transitioned to become a full-time minister, and in the one year following this, he amassed a huge following for the Nation of Islam and grew to be a respected and important member of the movement.

In 1950, FBI had a file on Malcolm X when he sent a letter to the then-President Truman openly declaring himself a Communist and opposing the War on Korea. But soon they turned their attention from possible Communist connections, to his rapid rise in the ranks of the Nation of Islam. He was noted to be an impressive speaker with a self-assured air about him. He was always well groomed and articulate.

He met Betty Sanders (who would soon become his wife) in 1955 when she attended one of his lectures. She was suitably impressed by him, and started attending most of his talks and lectures, and even joined the Nation of Islam in 1956. They met up regularly after that, though never on one-on-one dates as it was against Muslim policy. They soon discovered the attraction was mutual, and got married in January, 1958 in Lansing, Michigan. They had six daughters in the seven years of marriage.

The first time Malcolm X came into the public eye was with the Johnson Hinton incident. In April 1957, three Nation of Islam members, one of them being Johnson Hinton, were involved in an altercation with the police, and were brutally beaten when they tried to intervene when a police officer was assaulting a black man on the street. They were beaten up too, and were thrown in jail. One of the witnesses to this incident brought this to the notice of the Nation of Islam members. Soon Malcolm X and a small group of representatives rushed to the police station and demanded to talk to Hinton and the others in custody, but they were denied. In a few hours, a crowd started to accumulate near the station, and fearing a riot of sorts, the police finally relented and allowed Malcolm X to speak with Hinton and the others. Malcolm then demanded medical attention for Hinton, and while this was happening, close to 4000 people had accumulated near the police station. After making arrangements for bail for the members in police custody, Malcolm X stepped out of the station and gave a hand signal after which the crowd near the station began to disperse immediately. This brought to notice the amount of power that Malcolm X had over the people and the respect he commanded.

Malcolm X became even more known after a television broadcast in 1959 called Hate that Hate produced, which was about the Nation of Islam. His passionate conviction in standing up for what you believe in, and his strong personality and speaking skills got everyone’s attention. He was frequently approached by all forms of media after this broadcast, and he gave countless interviews and his opinions on various public policies and common issues began to be published and aired to the general public. He alarmed white people and sometimes even black people with his radical public statements.

In 1964, he officially parted ways with the Nation of Islam, as there were already strained relations between him and Elijah Muhammad. The Nation feared that he was getting out of hand, and his public statements were too extremist for their liking. In 1963, he made some comments about the President Kennedy assassination which forced the Nation of Islam to prohibit Malcolm X from public speaking for 90 days. Malcolm X felt that he had gotten as much as he could from the Nation of Islam organization and believed that if they kept up with their rigid religious policies, they wouldn’t be able to further the movement.

Soon after leaving the Nation of Islam, he founded the Muslim Mosque Inc. and Organization of Afro-American Unity, both of which advocated ideas of Pan Africanism and advocated equal rights for black people and encouraged more blacks to stand up for what was rightfully theirs. It was around this period that he started researching Sunni Islam, and soon converted.

In 1964 and 1965, Malcolm X spent his time in international travel, visiting Africa and France and the United Kingdom. He spent all this time giving lectures, visiting and meeting with officials from those countries, gave interviews to newspapers and spoke on national TV. Before he returned to the United States, he had met with and talked to every African leader of note and helped establish a bridge between the African communities living abroad with their roots.

Assassination

By the time Malcolm X returned to America, the tension between him and the Nation of Islam was at unparalleled heights. The Nation of Islam viewed him as a deserter and hypocrite and made many public statements making disparaging remarks against Malcolm X and belittling his work. They made multiple private, as well as many public death threats against Malcolm X even going as far as to issue a public statement saying he was worthy to have his head cut off!

On 21^st February 1965, Malcolm was scheduled to give a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, addressing the Organization of Afro-American Unity. It was being attended by about 400 people. There were 3 armed people in the room who shot at him, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Columbia Presbytarian Hospital. There were 21 gunshot wounds on his body.

The three men, Talmadge Hayer (the first assailant), Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson were apprehended and taken to trial. Hayer confessed to being one of the shooters, whereas Butler and Johnson proclaimed innocence and still stand by their claim of innocence till date.

His funeral was a huge affair, and was covered by all media channels as well. He was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in New York after an elaborate funeral. His death prompted mixed responses from people, whilst many blacks who were inspired by his teachings mourned the death of a great leader, the local media and Nation of Islam commented on how he used his talents and aspired to a meaningless goal or a “evil purpose”, and Elijah Muhammad said that he met a fitting end given the kind of radical teachings Malcolm promoted. His life inspired movies to be made in his name, and his teachings ensured the fight for Black Nationalism continued on.

Personal Quotes

“Nonviolence is fine as long as it works.”

“A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.”

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

“I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that won’t let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion.”

“I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”

“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”

“Power never takes a back step only in the face of more power.”

Born on 25^th September 1968 in Pennsylvania Will Smith is a powerful and fun-packed actor in Hollywood. He is most commonly known by his stage name The Fresh Prince. He an American by origin and has also created a name for himself as a rapper and a producer. Will Smith has experienced success in fields of music, television and most importantly his films. He has also been nominated for some prestigious awards such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and also the Golden Globe Awards.

Quick Facts:

• Nick name: Mr. July, Fresh Prince
• Date of birth: 25^th September 1968
• Place of birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Origin: United States
• Profession: Actor, Rapper, Producer
• Known for: Being a powerful actor in the Hollywood
• Website: http://www.willsmith.com/

Childhood and growing up years:

Will Smith was born on 25^th September in the year of 1968 in West Philadelphia which is located in Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in this place but also spent his time in Germantown which is located at the Northwest of Philadelphia. He was the second of the four siblings who were born to the blessed couple Willard Christopher Smith and Caroline. His father was a refrigerator engineer and he also owned a refrigerator company while his mother was employed as a school administrator in the Philadelphia school board. Will Smith was raised as being a Baptist and sadly, his parents separated when Smith was just thirteen years old while they officially received their divorce in the year of 2000. Will Smith was originally both a Native American heritage and also an African American and he attended the Overbrook High School which is located in Overbrook section in the state of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. It was during his childhood days itself that he got his nickname “Prince” because of his ability to get his way out of trouble. As a child, Will Smith excelled in his studies and furthermore, he signed up for the high-status Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and also the Demonstration School which is situated in Philadelphia. There is a large spread rumor that Will Smith turned down the scholarship that he received to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) but however, he never did applied for this school and was instead admitted to a pre-engineering program in the same institution.

Will Smith had originally started his career by signing up to be a MC for the hi-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince along with his childhood buddy Jeffrey who was present as a turntablist and a producer. This trio-group was popularly known for their humorous performances combined with their friendly radio songs. The most notable songs of this trio were “Summertime” and also the “Parents Just Don’t’ Understand”. For their musical creations they had won the first Grammy Award in the category of rap Songs in the year of 1988. In this trio works, Will Smith had his line in the song “Voices That Care” which was released in the year of 1991. This song was a Persian Gulf War song by a group of celebrities. Later in his life, he started performing with “DJ Jazzy Jeff” and the duo was known as “DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince”. In no time, the dup became had gained popularity and were gaining attention all over the world for their songs. Money was free-flowing for Smith in his early career and as a result he started his spend a lot in buying cars, jewelry and also houses and this act of his resulted in bankruptcy just in his early twenties in the year of 1990 because he was underpaying his taxes. Eventually, The Internal Revenue Service had imposed a $42.8 million tax debt on Will Smith and also took away a number of his valuable possessions while garnishing his income levels. In the year of 1989 he met Benny Medina who gave him the idea of portraying him his life in Beverly Hills. No sooner than he heard this idea Smith was totally in love with his thought and accepted the offer. For this purpose he approached the NBC who would help him to sign a deal to telecast a show by building a sitcom where the show was titled as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. The show was started in the year of 1990 and the series lasted for six years and the plot of this show was simple where Will Smith played himself as a street-smart West Philly kid who was later on shifted to the Beverly Hills. While the show was experiencing success by now, the aim of Will Smith was to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world and for this purpose he studied the characteristics of box office success. We see him playing major roles in the famous drama Six Degrees of Separation which was released in the year in 1993 and also in the action flick Bad Boys in the year of 1995. With these movies, Will Smith’s movie career was set.

Claim to fame:

While his movie career was taking shape, in the year of 1996 Will Smith got the luckiest offer for being a part of the cast crew for Ronald Emmerich’s movie “The Independence Day”. This movie has seen a massive blockbuster hit and soon it had become the second highest grossing movie in the history. Not only that the movie had created a record, it was this particular film that had established Will Smith as an actor in the prime box office. In this movie Will Smith plays the role of an alien-battling Marine Cops Caption named Steven Hiller. Followed by this movie, he was starred in Gene Hackman’s film title Enemy of the State. However, he rejected the role of Neo in the film Matrix because he had accepted Wild Wild West in the year of 1999 which was a disappointing movie. Although his movie Wild Wild West did not do well at the box office, Will Smith said that he does not regret the decision of opting this movie over the deal of playing the role of neo in the movie The Matrix and he also said that Keanu Reeves had done a better performance for the role than what he could have done but contrary in certain interviews which he had given subsequent to the release of the movie Wild Wild West he said that “he made a mistake by opting Wild Wild West”.

In the year of 2005, Will Smith had acquired international fame as his name made it to the Guinness Book of World Records by creating a record by attending three premiered in just a span of 24-hour hours. He then planned to be a part of a feature film which was a remake of the television series “It Takes a thief”. Two years later in the year of 2007 on 10^th December Will Smith was recognized at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre located on Hollywood Boulevard. Here, Smith left the imprint of his feet and hands outside the world famous theatre amidst many well-wishers and his fans. Later in the same month, Will Smith was seen starring in the movie I Am Legend which released on 14^th December in 2007. This film had received marginal reviews but its opening saw the largest film released in the United States in the month of December. Will Smith too believes that this movie was an aggressively unique movie. The next year of 8^th December TV Guide had reported that Will Smith was selected among the American Top Ten most Fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that was telecasted on 4^th December 2008. At this time, he was also shooting for the film The Last Pharaoh in which he plays the role of Taharqa. The President of United States Barack Obama too praises Will Smith and said that if incase in the future a film is about on him, then he would have the popular Will Smith play the role of him while stating that he has the perfect ears for being him. He also said that the two have had a discussion of making a film on the elections which took place in the year of 2008 but this will not happen till Obama holds the office of Presidency.

Presently:

Presently he is filming for the movie Men in Black III which is stated for a release in 2012. In this film Will Smith plays the role of Agent J which is one of his most popular roles that he has taken up till now and this role of his has been a major starring role for Will Smith in the past four years.

In the year of 2011, on August 19^th Will Smith has announced that he returned back to the studio in order to work with the producer La Mar Edwards, who has previously worked with T.I, Game and also Chris Brown. The duo is making a new album.

Will Smith has seen acting in nineteen films till date and out of which fourteen films of his have acquired gross earning of over nearly $100 million out of which four have crosses more than $500 million around the global box office revenues. Will smith’s most financially successful movies are Bad Boys, Men in Black, Independence Day, Bad Boys II, Men in Black II, The Pursuit of Happiness, Enemy of the State, I Am Legend, Wild Wild West, Hancock, Hitch, Shark Tale and also Seven Pounds. Apart from setting records with these movies he has also acquired critical appreciation for his performances in movies like The Pursuit of Happiness, Six Degrees of Separation and Ali while he received the Best Actor Oscar Award. However, Will Smith credits his success to his father’s dedication towards his children. In the year of 1922 Smith was married to Sheree Zampino and later had a son whom they named Willard Christopher Smith III who was also most commonly known as “Trey”. But the couple was divorced in the year of 1995. Trey has appeared in Will Smith’s music video “Just the Two of Us” which was released in the year of 1998 and it was a single of Smith. However, later on Will Smith married an actress Jada Pinkett in the year of 1997. He then had two children whom they named Jaden Christopher and he was his co-star in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness and William Camile Reign who appears as his daughter in the movie I Am Legend. Presently, Will Smith along with his brother Harry Smith they own a Treyball Development Inc. which is a Beverly Hills based company and are named after his first son. Smith resides in his house which is located on Star Islands in Miami Beach situated in Florida.

He is also continuously listed in the Fortune Magazine in the list of Richest 40 among the forty wealthiest Americans under the age of forty. According to a magazine Smith is estimated to own a wealth of $188 millions. He also recently donated $4,600 to the presidential campaign for the Democrat Barack Obama. In the year of 2009 on 11^th December Will Smith along with his wife have conducted a Nobel Peace Prize Concert in the place of Oslo in Norway during the time when Obama had won the prize.

Trade Mark of Will Smith:

• Most frequently uses the phrase “Aw, Hell No!” in his movies
• Most often Will Smith is seen playing the role of a cop or an agent

Awards and Nominations Received:

Will Smith has a number of awards to his credits. He has won four Grammy Awards till date and also been nominated four times for his performances and music for his song “Will 2k”, his movie Wild, Wild West and also “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson”.

He has won nine American Music Awards in the category of Pop/Rock Male Artist. Smith has also acquired the MTV Movie Awards five times while also being nominated many a times. Besides, this he has four Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards while being nominated once. He has also won four awards of the People’s Choice Awards which is hosted in USA.

Personal Quotes:

“There’s so much negative imagery of black fatherhood. I’ve got tons of friends that are doing the right thing by their kids, and doing the right thing as a father – and how come that’s not as newsworthy?”

“My skin is hard when it comes to my music. But with my movies, I’m still a virgin in a lot of ways. I’m not used to being shot down for no reason.”

“I try to speak my points of view about black America, and how I feel about black men and the role that black men should play in their lives with their children and in their lives with their women.”

“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away”

“Not if you pay attention. I mean, you’re sending all the right signals – no earrings, heels under two inches, your hair is pulled back, you’re wearing reading glasses with no book, drinking a Grey Goose martini, which means you had a hell of a week and a beer just wouldn’t do it. And if that wasn’t clear enough, there’s always the “fuck off” sign that you have stamped on your forehead.”

Born on 22^nd July in the year of 1992 in Texas, Selena Gomez is an American Singer and Actress who is best known for her works of Waverly Place. She has also featured in a number of feature films and also has to her credit a few television movies such as the Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, Another Cinderella Story and Princess Protection Program. However, it was Ramona and Beezus through which she made her theatrical debut. She is just not limited to acting but has also expanded her career to the music industry and is seen as the lead singer in various songs. Selena is the founder of the popular pop band Selena Gomez and the Scene which has released the two most prestigious RIAA Gold certified studio albums A Year Without Rain and Kiss & Tell.

Quick Facts:

• Nick name: Conchita, Sel, Selenita, Selly
• Date of birth: 22^nd July, 1992
• Place of birth: Grand Prairie, Texas
• Origin: United States
• Profession: Television and Film Actress, Philanthropist, Businesswoman
• Known for: Being a part of the movies, music and also shows produced by Disney Universe where Selena plays the role of Alex who is a wizard.
• Website: http://www.selenagomez.com/

Childhood and growing up years:

Selena Gomez was born on 22^nd July in the year of 1992 in Grand Prairie located in Texas, United States. She was born to the blessed couple of Ricardo Joel Gomez and the famous former stage actress Amanda Dawn “Mandy” Teefey who is a part of the Italian Descent while her father was from a Mexican ancestry. The Gomez family attends the communion church and they follow all the traditions and customs of a catholic but they do not have traditions of going to a park and having barbecues on Sunday after attending the church. However, sadly Selena’s parents were divorced when Selena was just five years old and subsequently she was raised by her working mother who was her only child. Her mother was remarried in the year 2006 to Brian Teefey. Selena was born when her mother was sixteen years old and she is named after the famous Tejano singer Selena who died three years later the birth of Gomez. In an interview with the People magazine in the year of 2009 Selena Gomez said that she developed an interest in acting since children while she was watching her mother preparing herself acting in theatre productions. Selena acquired her high school diploma through home schooling as she did not attend any private school in the year of 2010 in May.

Claim to fame:

Selena Gomez officially began her acting career when she was seven years old when she first showed up in the year of 2001 while performing in the popular children’s show titled Barney & Friends in which she played the role of Gianna. However, she was dropped from this role two years later in the year of 2003. The consequent year she tried her luck by auditioning for a number of shows but her efforts did not receive much success. Finally she landed with an offer where she has a very minor role to play in the famous film series of Spy Kids 3D: Game Over which was released in the year of 2003. Later she was also seen playing bit roles in the TV movie Walker and Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire which was released in the year 2005. She was gifted with the offer of playing the role of Emily Grace Garcia for a television show which was titled Brain Zapped and was telecasted in the year of 2006. Selena also recorded a song for this particular show.

However, it was in the year of 2006 that Selena Gomez had received her breakthrough as she got a major offer to play a guest role as Gwen in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody which was going to be telecasted on Disney Channel. The Disney Channel had found Selena Gomez after conducting a USA-wide scouting for this role. This offer was later followed by a recurring role as she got to play the role of Mikayla who is the evil in the series of Hannah Montana and was starring from season two to three. Earlier, Selena has recorded two unique pilots which were spin-offs to the earlier Disney show series. The first one was “What’s Stevie Thinking?” which was a spin-off to Lizzie McGuire. She was also seen playing the role of Stevie Sanchez who was Miranda Sanchez’s small sister. However, neither of the shows was picked up and saw little success.

In the earlier years of 2007 Selena was selected to be casted for the famous Disney Channel series entitled Wizards of Waverly Place in which she has played one of the three main characters of the show known as Alex Russo. The show was premiered before 5.9 million audiences and had seen huge success. In the later years, the show had become a popular fixture in the Disney Channel. Seeing Selena’s success with this show, a number of media channels had begun to comment that Selena Gomez was becoming the next “Miley Cyrus”. During the same time she was also in news for causing some kind of controversies following this she was reported as a “feud”. However, Selena cleared this comment while she explained that there was no kind of feud and she was just flattered by the comparison that was made while she also said that it was overwhelming to hear to such a great compliment. The next year in 2008 she was seen in Another Cinderella Story acting with Andrew Seeley and this film was a direct DVD sequel to the 2004 Hilary Duff film starring opposite Drew Seeley. She also lent her voice for a minor voiceover role to one of the Mayor’s ninety-six years old daughter which is an animated movie Horton Hears a Who! and it was released in the same year in the month of March. With this, she made her first animated film. In the month of April in the same year Lacey Rose who is a part of Forbes had ranked Selena Gomez has the fifth person in their “Eight Hot Kid stars to Watch” list and Lacey describes Selena as being a multitalented teen. Selena Gomez was also featured in two films for the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise. The first film was titled as Princess Protection Program, released in the year of 2009 followed by Demi Lovato.

In the year of 2009 she gave a guest appearance in one episode of her best friend Demi Lovato’s Disney Channel television show which was known as Sonny with a Chance and the episode was titled was “Battle of the Network Stars”. In the same month she was also seen acting alongside with Lovato in the movie Princess Protection Program. This movie had received 8.5 million viewers at the time of its release and it had become the third most watched Disney Channel Original Movie. On 28^th August which is two months after appearing in Princess Protection Program she was seen starring the Wizard of Waverly Place: The Movie which was a movie that was based on a television show. This particular show was premiered to nearly 11.5 million audiences and it had become the No. 1 scripted telecast in the year of 2009 while becoming the Disney Channel’s second most viewed film premiered after the movie High School Musical 2. In the following year this movie had won Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Children’s Program over its counterpart television show which has also won Emmy Awards.

Presently:

Selena Gomez was making a mark in the music industry and in the year of 2008 she had started working for “Cruella de Vil” in which she had recorded its cover and it was a compilation album for the DisneyMania 6. She also recorded three other songs for Another Cinderella Story in which is also appears. Apart from this she also composed music and recorded the “Fly to Your Heart” in the year of 2008 which appears in the animated film ‘Tinker Bell’. In the year of 2008 on July when Selena was going to turn sixteen she signed a deal with the famous Hollywood Records which is a label that is owned by Disney.

In the year 2009, Selena formed the band Selena Gomez & The Scene which is a teen pop band and Selena takes the part of lending vocals while Ethan Roberts plays the guitar , Greg Garman on drums, Joey Clement works on the bass and Dane on the keyboard. The band made a debut album “Kiss & Tell” in the year 2009 on 29^th September. The second album of this band was “A Year Without Rain” and was released on 17^th September in year of 2010. This particular album took the fourth position in the Billboard 200 and sold around 66,000 copies. Followed by this success, the band released its third album which was titled When the Sun Goes Down however; previously they had named it Otherside and were release in the year of 2010 on 28^th June. By now the band had become the highest charting song in the list of Billboard 200 and is stood at the 21^st position.

Selena has made her first theatrical film Ramona & Beezus which was premiered in 23^rd July in the year of 2010. The film had received positive reviews and in the same year in the month of March, Variety reported that Selene Gomez was going to appear to three lead roles in Monte Carlo starring opposite the famous actor Katie Cassidy and Leighton Meester. In this film Selena plays the role of Grace who is a girl who is mistaken for a popular socialite while on her trip to Paris. In order to prepare herself for this role, Selena Gomez learnt how to play the game polo and also took nearly two weeks of vocal training classes so as to learn the two different British accents. In the same year, she was also signed up for the fourth consecutive season of her hit show on Disney Channel, Wizards of Waverly Place and this was going to be the last season of the show.

In the year of 2011, in combination with Strike Entertainment and Universal Pictures, Selena had received to play the lead alongside Jay Asher in the novel Thirteen Reason Why. This news was apparently reported by Deadline.com. In the same month the TV Guide had announced that Selena was going to make a cameo by appearing in the film Muppets. This year had also seen the wrapping up of the popular Disney Channel Show Wizard of Waverly Place on 14^th March, 2011. Selena was bestowed with the prestigious opportunity to co-host the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards which was going to be held on June 19^th. This was followed by playing the host for MTV EMA’s of 2011 on 6^th November. In this award ceremony she has also performed her band’s latest single known as “hit The Light”. The same year Variety reported that Selena was in talks to appear in the upcoming movie Spring Breakers beside James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Emma Roberts. However, Selena later confirmed this news and said that the actually production would begun in the early days of the year of 2012.

Apart from making success in acting and music, Selena has also lent her efforts to participate in the UR Votes Count campaign where she strived to encourage the teenagers to know more about the 2008 presidential campaign about Barack Obama and also John McCain. Presently, she is the spokesperson for Borden Milk and is seen featuring in the campaign’s television and also print advertisements. Selena is the ambassador for DoSomething.org when this website had seen her being involved in the charity of Island Dog which was started to help dogs in the place of Puerto Rico. Besides all the above, she is often seen to various commercials that are aired on Disney Channel so as to raise awareness of being a safe driver. In the year of 2008, Selena was selected for being the spokesperson for UNICEF for the Trick-or-Treat campaign that was started by UNICEF. She was the designated UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in that year.

In 2011 February Selena Gomez had traveled to Chile in order to witness and communicate with the families of UNICEF’s program “Programa Puente”. This helped her understand the families better and also develop skills to deal effectively with the development stages of childhood. She is also part of the Disney’s Friends for Change which is an organization that promotes ‘environmental friendly products and behavior’. For this purpose she has also done a number of public service announcements. Later that year Selena along with Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato had recorded the song “Send It On” which is a charity single and all the revenue where proceeded to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. This song stood at the number 20^th position in the Billboard Hot 100. She is the owner of six rescued dogs and she is a animal-lover.

Trade Marks of Selena Gomez:

Dark Eyes and Dark Hair

Awards and Nominations Received:

Selena Gomez has eleven awards to her credit till date for her works in music and acting. She has won the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for her performance in the movie Another Cinderella Story in the category of Favourite TV Actress in the year of 2008.

In the year of 2009 she was won the Teen Choice Awards in the category of Choice Summer-Celebrity Dancer for her Performance in Princess Protection Program and also Another Cinderella Story. In the same year she had won the Alma Awards for being the Best Television Actress for her show Wizards of Waverly Place. Apart from this she has received the Gracie Award for being the Outstanding Female Rising Star in a Comedy Series for the show Wizards of Waverly Place. In this year she also acquired another Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award.

In the year of 2010, she won the Teen Choice Awards for her performance in Herself and the following year she received the Imagen Awards for being the Best Young Actress once again for Wizards of Waverly Place.

Selena Gomez is also seen nominated in a number of prestigious awards.

Personal Quotes:

“Who says, who says you’re not perfect? Who says you’re not worth it? Who says you’re the only one that’s hurting? Trust me, that’s the price of beauty, who says you’re not pretty? Who says you’re not beautiful… Who says?”

“When you take your step your dream comes true, you see the sky with fluffy clouds you take your breath-the flowers bloom you below your way to the top of the mountain you see the sky it leaves you nothing but bumps the rain comes down the lighting hits you are the thunder and Im your lighting just deal with everything Naturally.”

“who says you’re not star potential who says you’re not presidential who says you can’t be in movies listen to me listen to me who says you don’t pass the test who says you can’t be the best who said who said would you tell me who said that. yea! who says” “so cool nobody to hold me, you’re so wrong believe in what you told me, you would never leave me by myself out in the middle of nowhere, now I’m lost trying on my own I thought I could never do this alone, but now I’m walking by myself out the middle of nowhere”

“I maybe had a first love and had my heart broken, but reflecting on it, I don’t think that was love. I think as I’m getting older and having more in-depth relationships, maybe I’ll experience it. At the moment, I don’t know, exactly, if I’ve been in love.”

Jennifer Aniston, most popularly known for her portrayal of ‘Rachel Greene’ on the wildly popular TV sitcom Friends, is a successful Hollywood actress with many movies and awards to her name.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Jen, Jenny

Date of Birth: 11^th February, 1969

Place of Birth:  Sherman Oaks, California

Origin: Greek, Italian and Scottish-Canadian

Profession: Actress

Known for: Her role in the sitcom “Friends”

Website: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000098/

Childhood and Growing Years

Jennifer Joanna Aniston was born to John Aniston and Nancy Dow, both of whom were actors. She lived in Greece for a year during childhood, and spent most of her later years in New York. She grew up in an actor’s household, so it was only natural for her to become interested in the profession as well. Her godfather, Telly Savalas, was an actor too. Her parents got divorced when she was only 9 years old, and she was raised by her mother. She enrolled in the Rudolf Steiner School and actively involved in the activities of the drama club there. It was here that she developed her interest in art as well. She then went on to graduate from the New York’s School of Performing Arts. She started appearing in Off Broadway shows, like Dancing on Checker’s Grave and For Dear Life after graduation in 1987. She worked as a waitress, worked a telemarketing gig and even as a bike messenger in order to support her acting career. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1989.

Claim to Fame

In 1989, she landed her first recurring role on a television series Molloy (1989). She also had appearances in Ferris Bueller (1990), Herman’s Head (1991) and The Edge (1992). Her acting career truly took off in 1994, when she auditioned and bagged the role of ‘Rachel Greene’ in the sitcom Friends. She was initially invited to audition for the role of Monica, but she felt she would be better suited to play the role of Rachel, and auditioned for this instead.

With the success of Friends, Aniston gained recognition worldwide, and was nominated for, and also won a range of awards for her performance on the show. She made her foray into films as well, making her debut with Leprechaun in 1992, which was not very well received. She then took a 4-year hiatus from films until 1996, where she played supporting roles in a few movies. Her first movie Picture Perfect (1997) featuring her in a lead role, did not do well at the Box Office, but her performance in the movie was noticed and appreciated. She started doing movies on a regular basis after that, some of her best known performances being in Office Space (1999) and The Object of my Affection (1998), both of which were light comedy movies which did well at the box office. One of her biggest box office hits was in the movie Bruce Almighty (2003) starring opposite Jim Carrey. During all this time, she continued filming for the sitcom Friends, which was doing quite well commercially, and went on for ten seasons from 1994-2004. She was one of the highest paid TV actresses of all time, earning $1 million for every episode filmed in the last 2 seasons of Friends.

After this she had a spat of hits, starring in movies like Along came Polly (2005), Derailed (2005), Rumour Has It (2005). She also starred opposite Owen Wilson in the movie Marley and Me in 2008, which set a record for ticket sales during a Christmas Weekend Release.

Presently

She is currently in a relationship with actor-director Justin Theroux, and is currently living in a 2 bedroom rented apartment in Hollywood Hills. She has recently sold her Beverly Hills home for around $38 million. She has a movie, Wanderlust, slated for release in 2012.

Awards and Nominations

She has won numerous awards during her career, and most of these are for her role in the TV sitcom Friends. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Emmy, as well as a Golden Globe for her role as Rachel in Friends. She has also won a slew of People’s Choice awards and Editor’s Choice awards and Teen Choice Awards for the same.

She also won a Teen Choice award for her role in the movie The Good Girl. (2002)

Personal Quotes

“I always say don’t make plans, make options.”

“I don’t have a religion. I believe in a God. I don’t know what it looks like but it’s MY god. My own interpretation of the supernatural.”

“I guess we’d be living in a boring, perfect world if everybody wished everybody else well.”

“Once you figure out who you are and what you love about yourself, I think it all kinda falls into place.”

“Really try to follow what it is that you want to do and what your heart is telling you to do.”

Babe Ruth, born George Herman Ruth Jr., was an American Baseball legend, who set new records in the game which lasted for decades. He changed the face of baseball by making the game more dynamic and hitting multiple home runs in each season almost effortlessly at a time when home runs were had to come by, and he was the one who popularized the game of baseball.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, Babe, the Home Run King, The Big Bam

Date of Birth: 6^th February, 1895

Place of Birth:  Baltimore, Maryland

Origin: American

Profession: Sportsperson

Known for: Greatest Baseball Player of all time

Website: http://www.baberuth.com/

Childhood and Growing Years

He was born George Herman Ruth Jr. to George and Kate Ruth in the small town of Pigtown in South Baltimore. He was one among 8 of their children, who managed to survive infancy. The couple’s youngest daughter Mamie, and Ruth, were the only two children who made it. The details of the childhood years of Babe Ruth are hazy. His father was constantly busy in trying to support his family, and George Herman Jr. was a known trouble maker. Finally his parents could not handle the responsibility of Ruth anymore, and they sent Ruth, who they thought was an incorrigible seven year old, to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, and signed him off to the orphanage there. This was basically a reformatory school, and he lived here for most of his childhood and adolescent years. It’s known that his mother passed away after suffering from Tuberculosis, she died when he was just a teenager.

It was here at St.Mary’s that he regularized his behavior in their regimented setting, and it was during this time that his interest in baseball began. The head of discipline at the school, Brother Matthias became somewhat of a father figure and a role model in Ruth’s life. He was the one who worked tirelessly to help Ruth improve his game on the field, and acquire the skills which took him a long way in the Major Leagues. Ruth seemed to have a natural knack for baseball, and after watching him play, the school decided to invite Jack Dunn, who was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles(which was a minor league), to the school so that he could watch Ruth in action. It took less than an hour for Jack Dunn to be thoroughly impressed by Ruth’s skills, and promised to get in touch with him again. Since he was still underage at the time, Jack Dunn became his legal guardian in order to complete the contract. When he joined the Baltimore Orioles, his team mates jokingly called him “just another of Jack’s babes”, and it was from this time that he began to be called Babe Ruth.

On July 9^th, 1914, Babe Ruth was sold to the Boston Red Sox.

Claim to Fame

Boston Red Sox (1914-1919)

Though Babe Ruth was most remembered for his capability as a batter and for slugging the balls out of the park, he actually started his career with the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher. And he was quite good at it too! He played 5 games for the Red Sox in 1914, in which he pitched in 4 of them. He won his first major league debut in 11^th July,1914. But he did not get an opportunity to play much in the major league after that, as the Red Sox roster was already full. He played with the Providence Grays, who were the minor league of the Boston Red Sox. It was around this time that he met and fell in love with Helen Woodford who was a waitress in a local coffee joint. They were married by October, 1914.

In 1915, he started playing as a pitcher in the Major League again for the Red Sox. During this time, his pitching skill had become extraordinary. He won the E.R.A title in the American League in 1916.By 1918, he had also proved his prowess with the bat, but was also involved in a few outbursts on the field which got him in trouble with the umpires and cost his team. This was one of the reasons why the Red Sox would eventually sell him to the Yankees at the end of the season, even though he showed promise as a star player. In retrospect, this would be one of the worst moves made by the Boston Red Sox.

New York Yankees (1920-1925)

This period when he played for the New York Yankees, was the time when Ruth really came into his own. He joined the team at a time when the team was almost moribund, and he completely turned their luck around in the time that he played for them. In the 15 seasons that he was with the Yankees, he set new records, and broke his own records, and popularized baseball in a way that people had never experienced.

The media loved him, and he gave them plenty to write and talk about. Both in personal life, and professionally, he was a media delight. In 1920, he hit 54 home runs in one season and broke his old record. He then broke his own record again in 1921, by hitting 59 home runs. He became the player that started raking in hordes of people to the stadiums to see baseball matches. He made the sport livelier, and more spirited and breathed life into the game and made it more appealing to the masses. When the Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, people flocked in to see him in action. This soon came to be known as the “House that Ruth Built”, and the name stuck. He never could remember the names of any of his team members and managed it by calling everyone on the team “kid”.

He hit a massive 714 home runs in his baseball career, and this record stayed unparalleled till 1974.

Retirement and Death

Babe Ruth was known for his blatant disregard for rules. He was somewhat uncouth, had a temper, and loved practical jokes. He lived a fast and loose life, gave cheeky sound bites which the media loved, and was known to be a very rash driver.

By the time he turned 35, he was still playing well, but the teams seemed to be looking for younger and better players, and he always wanted to be a manager. So he shifted to the Boston Braves team in 1935, in the hopes of soon transitioning to manager. But after two years with them, when he realized that was to remain a dream, he decided to retire from the game. He played his last major league baseball game on 30^th May, 1935 for the Boston Braves.

He kept busy in his retirement years, travelling the world, visiting sick children in various hospitals, going hunting and bowling, playing golf, etc.

In 1946, he was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent surgery for the same. But they were unable to remove all of it, and the cancer made a return in a few years. He finally lost the fight with cancer, and passed away on 16^th August, 1948 when he was only 53 years old. His death was mourned by the entire nation and made headlines in all major papers. He was a hero to many young baseball fans, and his death marked the end of a watershed era in baseball history.

Awards and Nominations

Despite his retirement from baseball in 1936, most of the hitting and pitching records set by Babe Ruth remain unbroken to this day. He still holds the record for highest all-time slugging percentage (0.690). He was named the World Series champion 7 times in his overall career. (1915, 1916, 1918, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932)

He was voted the Athlete of the Century by the Associated Press. He was one of the first original members of the Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1936).

Sports Illustrated, as well as The Sporting News magazines, named him The Greatest baseball player of the 20th Century. ESPN Sports put him at the #2 position in the best Athlete of the 20^th Century, with only Michael Jordan ahead of him.

Personal Quotes

“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.”

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”

“Don’t ever forget two things I’m going to tell you. One, don’t believe everything that’s written about you. Two, don’t pick up too many checks.”

“I didn’t mean to hit the umpire with the dirt, but I did mean to hit that bastard in the stands.”

“Reading isn’t good for a ballplayer. Not good for his eyes. If my eyes went bad even a little bit I couldn’t hit home runs. So I gave up reading.”

“Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.”

“Gee, its lonesome in the outfield. It’s hard to keep awake with nothing to do.”

Salvador Bali was a prominent and flamboyant Spanish painter, with most of his paintings centering on surrealist art. His work was said to have been inspired by Renaissance art and he was arguably one of the most influential painters of the 20^th century.

Quick Facts

Nickname: Avida Dollars

Date of Birth: 11^th May, 1904

Place of Birth:  Figueres, Spain

Origin: Spanish

Profession: Painter, Artist, Photographer

Known for: Contribution to Surrealist Paintings

Website: http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index.html

Childhood and Growing Years

The unusually long named Salvador Domènec Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, more popularly known as Salvador Dalí, was born to Salvador Dalí i Cusí who was a lawyer by profession and a strict disciplinarian, and his mother Felipa Domenech Ferrés nurtured his creativity and encouraged his artistic side. He was the namesake of his older brother, who passed away soon after birth. His parents always told him that Dalí was the reincarnation of his deceased older brother, which he soon grew to believe. He had a younger sister three years smaller than him, Ana Maria. She later wrote a book, Dalí as seen by his Sister, about his life from her viewpoint.

He attended art school as a child, and his interest in modern painting began in 1916, when he was vacationing in Cadaqués with his friend’s family. He then tried his hand at charcoal drawing, and his father displayed these in a private exhibition in 1917. His first exhibition of his works for public display was in 1919 in the Municipal Theater.

His mother passed away when he was just sixteen thus delivering to him the biggest blow in his life. She died due to breast cancer, and his father soon remarried, to his wife’s sister. Dali never resented the marriage, as he always had great love for his auntie and respected her as a person.

Claim to Fame

In 1922, he attended the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, and earned a reputation for being eccentric, and quite a quirky fellow. As the years progressed, he began to draw more attention because of his paintings depicting Cubism, rather than his nature. There weren’t any other artists who attempted to do this during that time in Madrid, and so even though he did not understand the movement completely himself, he still gained recognition for his work. He illustrated his first book in 1924, “Les bruixes de Llers”, a book that was written by his good friend Carles de Climent.

He was expelled in 1926 from the school on account of antagonistic behavior and trying to cause unrest among the student body. He remained unruffled by his expulsion, as he believed he was anyway more qualified than the people who would have been examining his work. He then did one of his most famous paintings Basket of Bread in the same year, and also visited Paris for the first time. It was here that he met Picasso, who soon became his role model. And most of his later works were influenced by the style of Picasso and his mentor Joan Miro. It was also during this time that he grew out his mustache in what would later be known as his trademark feature.

By 1929, he had created a niche for himself in the surrealist art world. His paintings were vivid, and flamboyant, and as the name suggest, were a depiction of the world that lies in the subconscious mind. His work was both classically traditional, and also totally contemporary, and it was this mix that got his work noticed. 1929 was a tumultuous year for him, as it was during this time that he grew estranged from his father, who had always been disapproving for his provocatively cheeky demeanor. It was this year that he met his long-term muse and wife-to-be, Gala. She was a Russian Immigrant who was ten years older than him, and was a married woman when they met for the first time. They fell in love, and she decided to stay with him, even though she was still married to Paul Eduard (another painter).

Dali painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931, which was the painting that earned him international recognition. This painting was a picture of melting, soft watches in a distant sunset, this was said to depict the volatility and ethereal quality of time, rather than it being deterministic or rigid.

He was introduced to the American art world in 1934 by Julian Levy, who organized an exhibition with Dali’s work in New York. It was his rendition of The Persistence of Memory painting that made him instantly famous in the Unites States as well, and he got rave reviews from critics and general public alike.

By this time, his penchant for pageantry was well known, and he shocked people worldwide with his antics. His words, actions and overall personality made him very different from any other artist. While most artists were known to be withdrawn and loners, his love for flamboyance and for being the center of attention and megalomania were known by everyone.

He met his inspiration Sigmund Freud in 1938. He spent around 8 years in America, and then returned to Catalonia post-1949 where he spent the rest of his time. He experimented with various art forms during his life time, which included drawing, sculptures, films, photography etc among other things.

His last painting was Still Life Moving Fast. His paintings were known to be the picture of surrealism, with some details realistic enough to make the paintings believable despite the absurdity of the situation.

He died of heart failure on 23^rd January, 1989

Other Notable Works

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954), Galatea of the Spheres (1952),

The Temptation of St. Anthony(1946), Face of Mae West Which May Be Used as an Apartment (1935) , Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)(1936), Swans Reflecting Elephants(1937), Ballerina in a Death’s Head(1939)

Presently

He has four museums named after him, with displays of his works of art. The largest collection of his works is in the Dalí Theatre and Museum  in Figueres, Catalonia and the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida (which was initially founded in 1971 in Ohio, and later relocated to Florida). He is the only artist till date who has had two museums to his name while he was still alive.

The other two museums to his name are the Dalí Universe in London and the Espace Dalí  in Paris.

Personal Quotes

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”

“Don’t bother about being modern. Unfortunately it is the one thing that, whatever you do, you cannot avoid.”

“The one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.”

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”

“It is good taste, and good taste alone, that possesses the power to sterilize and is always the first handicap to any creative functioning.”

“In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.”

“The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.”

“There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad.”