hitt hollywood: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Rashida Jones book author, screenwriter and occasional singer

Rashida Leah Jones born February 25, 1976 is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network. Jones currently appears on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation as Ann Perkins.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Other work
* 4 Philanthropic efforts
* 5 Personal life
* 6 Awards
* 7 Filmography
* 8 References
* 9 External links
Early life
Jones was born in Los Angeles, the younger daughter of media mogul and musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton. She has an older sister, Kidada Jones, and five half-siblings by her father's other relationships. Her father is African-American and her mother caucasian Jewish, and Jones attended Hebrew school. She was raised in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California.
In his autobiography, Jones's father recalled how he would often find his six-year-old daughter under the covers after bedtime with a flashlight reading five books at a time. Jones also displayed musical ability from a young age and can play classical piano. Her mother told Entertainment Tonight that Jones is "also a fabulous singer and songwriter, so she has inherited it (from Quincy), there's no question about it. Her dad's teaching her how to orchestrate and arrange too."
Jones attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, where she made the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely To Succeed" by her classmates.[citation needed] Jones's parents divorced when she was 14 years old; her sister subsequently remained with their father while she moved to Brentwood with their mother.
In 1994, Jones garnered attention with an open letter responding to scathing remarks made by Tupac Shakur about her parents' interracial marriage. She later befriended Shakur, who was engaged to her sister before he was killed. After high school, Jones left California to attend Harvard University.
At Harvard, Jones was a resident of Eliot House and belonged to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Opportunes, Black Students Association and the Signet Society. She was initially interested in becoming a lawyer but lost interest after being disillusioned by the O.J. Simpson murder case. Instead, she became involved in the performing arts, and served as musical director for the Opportunes a cappella group, co-composed the score for the 149th annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals performance, and acted in several plays In her second year at college, she performed in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which she said was "healing" because she was seen by many blacks as not being "black enough". She studied Religion and Philosophy and graduated in 1997.

Rashida Jones

Nancy O'Dell television host and entertainment

Nancy O'Dell born February 25, 1966 is an American television host and entertainment journalist, who currently is the co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show Entertainment Tonight since 2011. She joined the show on January 3, 2011.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 Dancing With The Stars
* 3 Personal life
* 4 References
* 5 External links
Early life
Nancy Evelyn Humphries was born in Sumter, South Carolina and moved to Myrtle Beach as a baby. She graduated from Coastal Academy High School (now defunct) in 1984 and went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude with a major in Marketing from Clemson University in 1990, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Then known as Nancy Humphries, she won the Miss South Carolina pageant in 1987 and represented the state at Miss America 1988, where she won a preliminary swimsuit award. Two years later, she competed in Miss South Carolina USA 1990 and finished as 1st runner up to future Miss USA 1990 1st runner up and Miss World 1990, Gina Tolleson. In 1993, she joined NBC's WTVJ in Miami co-anchoring the 5:30pm news with Jackie Nespral. She left the station in 1995 to move to Las Vegas with her first husband.[citation needed]
Career
O'Dell co-hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions in 2004 and 2005. She co-hosted the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on WNBC from 2004-2006. She co-hosted the Miss USA 2006 pageant with Drew Lachey, the Miss Universe 2006 pageant with Carlos Ponce, and the Miss USA 2007 pageant with Tim Vincent.
O'Dell appeared in minor roles in the television series Charmed (Season 1 finale and Season 5 premiere). She also portrayed herself in Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), and Scream 4 (2011). She also served as host and consulting producer of the USA Network talent competition Nashville Star over its first two seasons.
On January 13, 2008, after the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards were cancelled as a result of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, she co-hosted NBC's 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Winners Special with Access Hollywood co-anchor Billy Bush.
In 2009, O'Dell hosted NBC's pre-show for the 66th Annual Golden Globes with Tiki Barber and Brooke Burke. She portrayed herself in the Hannah Montana Season 3 episode "Cheat It". She also appeared on the Fox sitcom Brothers, and in the same year, she and Maria Menounos guest co-hosted WWE Raw on October 12, 2009.
Until 2009, O'Dell co-hosted NBC's entertainment news show Access Hollywood with Billy Bush. She served as a contributor for NBC's Today Show and Dateline NBC. On June 22, O'Dell hosted the Nashville Rising concert to provide flood relief for Nashville residents. She shared hosting duties with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. As of January 3, 2011, O'Dell joined Entertainment Tonight as a special correspondent; and she replaced Mary Hart as co-anchor once Hart left the show in May 2011. An avid long-time scrapbooker, she has written a second book entitled "Full of Love" and partnered with Creative Memories, the industry leader.[citation need

Nancy O'Dell

Amber Heard-American actress and model

Amber Laura Heard born April 22, 1986 is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms. Her breakthrough came in 2008 with roles in Never Back Down and Pineapple Express. In 2009, Heard starred in The Stepfather and also had a small role in the horror-comedy Zombieland. She next starred in The Joneses and And Soon the Darkness (both 2010), John Carpenter's The Ward, alongside Nicolas Cage in Drive Angry, and alongside Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
o 4.1 Television
* 5 Awards
* 6 Magazine rankings
* 7 References
* 8 External links
Early life
Heard was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her father, David, is a contractor, and her mother, Paige (née Parsons), is an internet researcher for the state. She attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin until her junior year, when she left to pursue a career in Hollywood. As a teenager, Heard was active in her school's drama department and appeared in local commercials and campaigns. At the age of 16, her best friend died in a car crash and Heard, who was raised Catholic, subsequently declared herself an atheist, due to the influence of the works of Ayn Rand and George Orwell. Dropping out of school at the age of 17, to go to New York to start a career in modeling, she then relocated to Los Angeles to get into acting.
Career
Once in Los Angeles, Heard made appearances in various TV shows and a music video, Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life". She was cast as Liz in the pilot episode of The WB's Jack & Bobby (2004), as Riley in an episode of The Mountain (2004) and she had a brief cameo as a salesgirl in The O.C. (2005). Her first movie role was Maria in Friday Night Lights (2004). She next starred as Shay in Side FX (2005), an independent horror film, and had supporting roles in Drop Dead Sexy (2005), Price to Pay (2006) and You Are Here (2006). Heard had more prominent parts in Niki Caro's North Country (2005) and in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006). In 2006 she starred in an episode of Criminal Minds.
Heard at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Heard was next cast in the CW Network's Hidden Palms. On the show she portrayed Greta Matthews, who suffered the losses of both her mother and boyfriend, Eddie, and befriends Johnny, the anti-hero of the show. In order to get the part, Heard was asked to lose weight. It took her four months, daily workouts and a ban on carbohydrates to lose 25 pounds. Hidden Palms premiered in the US on May 30, 2007. Ultimately, The CW wrapped the summer series early; instead of the initial 12 episode arc, only eight were aired. The show ended on July 4, two weeks prior than originally planned.
She was next cast in the title role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. The horror film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006, immediately generating buzz and landing a deal with Harvey Weinstein. However, nearly a year after its Toronto debut, the movie had not reached theaters. In July 2007, Mandy Lane found a new distribution home and the film finally was released in 2008 with a February UK release and DVD release in June.
In 2007, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah and Jess Manafort's indie drama Remember the Daze (aka The Beautiful Ordinary), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and opened in limited release in April 2008. She then appeared in the Judd Apatow-produced, Rogen and Goldberg-written comedy Pineapple Express and the martial arts drama Never Back Down, released in 2008, back-to-back. The latter opened in March and Heard played the role of the free-spirited Baja Miller who falls for Sean Faris' Jake Tyler.

Amber Heard

Monday, August 29, 2011

Aarti Mann several television programmel

Aarti Mann is an American actress. She has starred in several television programmes, including Heroes and The Big Bang Theory. In The Big Bang Theory she plays Priya Koothrappali.
Biography
Born as Aarti Majmudar, and educated at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, Aarti began acting in mid 2000s, initially playing minor roles.
She uses both Aarti Majmudar and Aarti Mann as her professional name.
Currently lives in Los Angeles.

Aarti Mann

Friday, August 26, 2011

Kim Basinger american actress and former fashion model

Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger play /ˈbeɪsɪŋər/ bay-sing-ər, often mispronounced /ˈbæsɪndʒər/ bass-in-jər; born December 8, 1953 is an American actress and former fashion model.
She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983), and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman (1989). Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture nomination for her work in The Natural (1984). She won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in L.A. Confidential (1997). Basinger also acted in the movies 9½ Weeks (1986) and 8 Mile (2002).
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Personal life
o 3.1 Relationships and family
o 3.2 Financial problems
* 4 Activism
* 5 Filmography
* 6 Television work
* 7 References
* 8 External links
Early life
Basinger was born in Athens, Georgia. Her father, Donald Wade Basinger, was a big band musician and loan manager who was a U.S. Army soldier landed in Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944). Her mother, Ann (née Cordell), was a model, an actress, and a swimmer who appeared in several Esther Williams films.The third of five children, she has two brothers, Mick and Skip, and two sisters, Ashley and Barbara. Basinger's ancestry includes German, Swedish, Irish and native american, and she was raised a Methodist.
She spent most of her childhood studying ballet from about the time she was three to her mid-teens. When Basinger was 16, she started modeling by winning the Athens Junior Miss contest. She then won the title “Junior Miss Georgia”. She competed in the national Junior Miss pageant and was offered a modeling contract with Ford Modeling Agency. She turned it down in favor of singing and acting, but reconsidered and went to New York to become a Ford model.
Career
Basinger at the 1990 Academy Awards
Not long after the Ford deal, Basinger was on the cover of magazines. She appeared in hundreds of ads throughout the early 1970s, most notably as the Breck Shampoo girl. She alternated between modeling and attending acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse as well as performing in Greenwich Village clubs.
In 1976, after five years as a cover girl, Basinger moved to Los Angeles to act. After guest roles on TV shows such as Starsky and Hutch and Charlie's Angels in 1976, and a starring role on the short-lived series Dog and Cat (1977), her first feature-length role was in a made-for-TV movie, Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978) in which she played a smalltown young woman who goes to Hollywood to become an actress and winds up a famous centerfold for a men's magazine. She was then cast as a prostitute in From Here to Eternity (1979), in which she starred alongside Natalie Wood. Basinger played the same character in a 13-episode TV spinoff in 1980. She made her theatrical film debut in Hard Country (1981) with Jan Michael Vincent, followed by Mother Lode (1982) with Charlton Heston.
Basinger's breakout role was as Bond girl Domino Petachi in Never Say Never Again (1983), starring opposite Sean Connery. She posed nude for Playboy to promote the film. Basinger said Playboy led to opportunities such as Barry Levinson's The Natural (1984), co-starring Robert Redford, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress. She starred opposite Mickey Rourke in the sexually provocative 9½ Weeks (1986). Oscar-winning writer-director Robert Benton cast her in the title role for the film Nadine (1987) with Jeff Bridges. Basinger played Vicki Vale in the 1989 blockbuster Batman, directed by Tim Burton.
Directors repeated her in their films, such as Blake Edwards for The Man Who Loved Women (1983) and Blind Date (1987), as well as Robert Altman for Fool for Love (1985) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994). In 1992, Basinger was guest vocalist on a re-recorded version of Was (Not Was)'s "Shake Your Head", which also featured Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, and reached the UK Top 5.In the video for Tom Petty's 1993 song "Mary Jane's Last Dance", Basinger played the unconscious woman whom Petty brings home from the morgue for dinner, dressing her in a wedding gown. Later, Petty is shown throwing her into the sea. In a macabre ending, she floats with her eyes open.

Kim Basinger

phoebe tonkin Australian actress and model

Phoebe Jane Elizabeth Tonkin born 12 July 1989 is an Australian actress and model. She is best known for portraying Cleo Sertori in the television program H2O: Just Add Water and Fiona Maxwell in the film Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Contents
* 1 Career
* 2 Filmography
* 3 References
* 4 External links
Career
Tonkin's first television appearance was on the Australian teen show H2O: Just Add Water, where she played one of the main characters, Cleo Sertori. While not a strong swimmer, she worked to improve her abilities during pre-production of the show. On 20 October 2007, Tonkin appeared on the Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards, where she presented the award for best band alongside H2O co-stars Claire Holt and Cariba Heine.
Her other credits include appearances on the Australian series Packed to the Rafters and the film Tomorrow, When the War Began, and guest starred on Home and Away in 2010. She has appeared in various commercials, including ones for Vauxhall Motors and Chic Management.
Tonkin is set to star as Faye Chamberlain in the CW Network series The Secret Circle, which will premiere on 15 September 2011.
Tonkin also models, and has been in various photo shoots for catalogues and magazines such as Girlfriend and Dolly.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2006–2010 H2O: Just Add Water Cleo Sertori Series regular
2009 Packed to the Rafters Lexi Guest star
2010 Tomorrow, When the War Began Fiona Maxwell Feature film
2010 Home and Away Adrian Guest star
2011 Bait Jaimie Feature film
2011 The Secret Circle Faye Chamberlain Series regular[3]
2012 Tomorrow 2 (working title) Fiona Maxwell Feature film[5]

phoebe tonkin