Brad Pitt Biography

Born December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri, the eldest of three children in a devoutly Southern Baptist family. His father, Bill Pitt, owned a trucking company and his mother, Jane Pitt, was a family counselor. Pitt originally aspired to be an advertising art director, studying journalism at the University of Missouri. However, the young college student had other quiet aspirations, the product of a childhood love of movies, which finally seemed tangible his last semester at university when he realized, "I can leave." On a whim, Pitt dropped out of college, packed up his Datsun, and headed West to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles, just two credits shy of a college degree.

Pitt told his parents he intended to enroll in the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, but instead spent the next several months driving a limousine—chauffeuring strippers from one bachelor party to the next, delivering refrigerators, and trying to break into the L.A. acting scene. He joined an acting class and, shortly after, accompanied a classmate as her scene partner on an audition with an agent. In a twist of fate, the agent signed Pitt instead of his classmate. After weathering only seven months in Los Angeles, Pitt had secured an agent and regular acting work.

Pitt's first jobs came in television, appearing in episodes of Dallas, the daytime soap Another World, the sitcom Growing Pains, and in 1990's short-lived Fox Television series, Glory Days. In 1989, Pitt played Billy Canton, the drug-addicted pimp of a teenage runaway, played by Juliette Lewis, in the NBC made-for-television movie Too Young to Die. Pitt and Lewis (9 years his junior at age 16) started dating and eventually moved in together.

Pitt made his big screen debut in 1989's horror/slasher film Cutting Class with Donovan Leitch, and played a teen track star in Sandy Tung's Across the Tracks, but it was a well-timed bit part in a controversial Hollywood film that pushed him into the glare of instant stardom. Pitt's performance as a renegade, sugar-tongued hitchhiker who gets picked up by the two title characters in Ridley Scott's Thelma and Louise (1991) grabbed universal attention despite only a few minutes worth of screen time. Pitt's combination of charming bad boy charisma and sexual playfulness (particularly in a fiery love scene with Geena Davis) secured him as a genuine sex symbol (and wore out the rewind button on many a VCR).

Pitt's next few films failed to boost his acting credibility and establish him as more than just a pretty face in Hollywood. He appeared in The Favor (1992) with Elizabeth McGovern, Tom CiCillo's directorial debut, Johnny Suede (1992), and the unconvincing, half-animated Cool World (1992).
However, later that year, the Hollywood sunshine set the golden boy alight once more in Robert Redford's 1992 film based on Norman McLean's autobiography, A River Runs Through It. Pitt played the main character's charismatic gambling, fly-fishing brother (looking remarkably like the young Robert Redford). Redford later admitted that he did not choose Pitt on the strength of his audition, rather, because "[he] had an inner conflict that was very interesting to me." Pitt delivered a sparkling performance, skillfully depicting the character's dangerous footing between overwhelming charm and reckless self-destructiveness.

In 1993, Pitt re-teamed with three-year girlfriend Lewis in Dominic Sela's Kalifornia. Pitt played Early Grayce, a man who goes on a cross-country killing spree with his girlfriend. The film was deemed self-indulgently violent and nihilistic by many reviewers and did not do well in the box office. Pitt and Lewis broke up soon after filming, creating a publicity disaster.

Pitt proceeded to lighten his repertoire with a comedic performance as "Floyd," a burnt-out hippie in Tony Scott's True Romance, but his next major role came in the adaptation of Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire, alongside Tom Cruise. Rice initially expressed outrage at the casting choices, finding the two boyish, all-American film stars too rough for the subtle, slightly homoerotic overtones of the tale. "It's like casting Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer," she reportedly complained. However, after seeing the final film, Rice retracted her initial statements and filmed a short spot for the video version, endorsing the film. Caryn James of The New York Times reported, "the power of the film depends on Mr. Pitt's rich and deeply affecting performance. Low-key and serene, he makes Louis convincing as a bereaved father, lover, even son."

Pitt's next few efforts secured his place as a Hollywood staple; still, many critics found his roles lacking in dimension. In 1994's Legends of the Fall, an epic family melodrama, Pitt played Tristan, a stereotypical romantic hero with long, golden locks and a penchant for alternately selfish and self-sacrificing gestures. However, Pitt abruptly took a gritty turn as a detective on the trail of a serial killer in David Fincher's disturbing and gory thriller, Seven. During filming, he met and began dating his then relatively unknown costar, Gwyneth Paltrow. Both claimed it was "love at first sight." The two stayed together for two and a half years and were one of Hollywood's most admired and celebrated couples. Then, in 1997, after a seven-month engagement, the couple split for unknown reasons.
In 1995, Pitt starred as a mental patient in Terry Gilliam's psychological thriller Twelve Monkeys and won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. He followed with another dark thriller, Sleepers (1996), and Alan J. Pakula's Devil's Own with Harrison Ford, before heading to Argentina to film Seven Years in Tibet, an ambitious, seventy million dollar project, which met disappointingly mixed reviews. Unfortunately, his next film, the three-hour plus Meet Joe Black, co-starring Anthony Hopkins, in which he played a very comely version of Death, also inspired little praise.

In 1999, after a brief hiatus from the Hollywood hot list, Pitt re-teamed with Seven director, David Fincher, to make Fight Club. The apocalyptic film, also starring Edward Norton, presents an unglamorous Pitt in a disturbing role as leader and recruiter of Fight Club, a bloody diversion for young professional males. Next up for Pitt was the British crime-caper Snatch (2001), costarring Benicio Del Toro and directed by Guy Ritchie. That same year, Pitt starred with Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican, teamed with Robert Redford in the thriller Spy Game, and joined an A-list ensemble cast including Roberts, George Clooney, and Matt Damon in Steven Soderbergh's remake of the Rat Pack heist caper Ocean's Eleven. In 2004, he starred as the Greek hero Achilles in Warner Bros.' blockbuster epic Troy.

In 2005, Pitt starred across from Angelina Jolie in the blockbuster film, Mr. And Mrs. Smith. The action flick, about a married couple who are both secretly working as spies, earned more than $100 million at the box office.

Pitt's next film, the critically acclaimed Babel (2006) earned the actor a Golden Globe nomination. The actor moved on to less serious fare in the reprisal of his role as Rusty Ryan in the Ocean's Eleven sequel, Ocean's Thirteen (2007). In 2008, Pitt teamed up with the Coen brothers to star in the FBI comedic thriller, Burn After Reading. The film earned two Golden Globe nominations, and grossed more than $60 million at the box office.

Pitt took on a more whimsical role for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this David Fincher-directed movie, Pitt plays Benjamin Button who is born as a 70-year-old man and ages in reverse. Button is currently nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nod for Pitt.

For his next project, Pitt will star with Sean Penn in the film The Tree of Life, as well as the action film Inglourious Basterds. Both are slated to hit theaters in 2009.

A two-time winner of People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" title (1995 and 2000), Pitt began dating Jennifer Aniston, star of the TV sitcom Friends, in 1998. Pitt and Aniston were married July 29, 2000, in Malibu, California. The couple announced their separation in January 2005 and divorced in October of that year.

Soon after their separation, Brad Pitt began dating actress Angelina Jolie. In May 2006, the couple had a baby girl, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. They also have three adopted children (Maddox, Pax Thien, and Zahara). In July 2008 Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie had twins, a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline. The family currently splits their time between Los Angeles and New Orleans.

© 2009 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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Story About Jet Li

Li Lianjie (born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese martial artist, actor, Wushu champion, and international film star. After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin , Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring at age 17, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei Hung. His first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, most recently starring beside Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), and as the titular villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser.

Chines Film

The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. They likened his career to an aircraft, which likewise "takes-off" as quickly, so they placed the name Jet Li on the movie posters. Soon everybody was calling him by this new name, which was also based on the nickname, "Jet," given to him as a young student, due to his speed and grace when training with the Beijing Wushu team. He made his debut with the 1982 film Shaolin Temple. Some of his more famous Chinese films include:

• The Shaolin Temple series (1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China;
• The Once Upon a Time in China series (Chinese title: Wong Fei Hung), about the legendary Chinese folk hero Master Wong Fei Hung.
• Fist of Legend (Chinese title: Jing Wu Ying Xiong), a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury.
• The Fong Sai Yuk films about another Chinese folk hero.

Li starred in the 1995 film High Risk, where Jet Li plays a Captain who becomes disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crime lords. Along the way, he pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, Frankie (played by Jacky Cheung), and proceeds to engage in a series of violent battles in a high-rise building. The setting is similar to that of Die Hard and both their Chinese film titles. This movie is notable in that director Wong Jing had such a terrible experience working with Jackie Chan in Jing's previous film City Hunter that he chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan. Jet Li would later publicly apologize to Chan for taking part in it.

American films

In 1998, he made his American film debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a film. He agreed to do Lethal Weapon 4 after the producer Joel Silver promised to give him the leading role in his next film, Romeo Must Die (2000) which was a box office hit launching his career as a leading man in Hollywood.

Li turned down Chow Yun-Fat's role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) because he promised his wife that he would not make any films during her pregnancy.[1] He also turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy, based on his belief that the role was not one which required his skills and that the films were iconic and stunning enough without adding his name to the cast list.

In 2001, he appeared in two more Hollywood films: The One and Kiss Of The Dragon opposite Bridget Fonda which did moderately well at the box office. In July 2001, Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Jackie Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. In 2002, the period martial arts epic film Hero was released in the Chinese market. This film was both a commercial and critical success. In 2003 he reunited with producer Joel Silver for the action thriller film Cradle 2 The Grave where he starred alongside rapper DMX and fellow martial artist Mark Dacascos. In 2004, Li lent his likeness, voice and provided motion capture work for the video game Jet Li: Rise To Honor.

Li departed from his usual martial arts action films with the 2005 dramatic film, Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny the Dog), where he portrays an adult with the mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal. Although his martial arts skills were utilized extensively, it was a somber film with more depth than had been previously seen in Li's films, and co-starred dramatic actors Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.

In 2006, the martial arts film epic Fearless, was released worldwide. Although he will continue to make martial arts films, Fearless is his last Wushu epic. In Fearless, he played Huo Yuanjia, the real-life founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, who reportedly defeated foreign boxers and Japanese martial artists in publicized events at a time when China's power was seen as eroding. Together with the film Fist of Legend, Li has portrayed both Chen Jun, the student and avenger of Huo Yuanjia (aka Fok Yun Gap), as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. Fearless was released on January 26, 2006 in Hong Kong, followed by a September 22, 2006 release in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend.
“ I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Huo Yuanjia is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star. ”

Li has stated in an interview with the Shenzhen Daily newspaper that this will be his last martial arts epic, which is also stated in the film's television promotions. However, he plans to continue his film career in other genres. Specifically, he plans to continue acting in action and martial arts films; epic films deal more with religious and philosophical issues.

Li's 2007 Hollywood film, War, was released in August of that year, and re-teamed him with actor Jason Statham, who previously starred with him in The One, and action choreographer Corey Yuen. War raked in a disappointing $23M at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly $52M in rental revenue, more than doubling its box office take. With the exception of Romeo Must Die and the worldwide release of Hero, most of Jet's American films have been only modest hits like Kiss Of The Dragon, The One, Unleashed, Cradle 2 The Grave, and the worldwide release of Fearless.

In late 2007 Li returned again to China to participate in the China/Hong Kong co production of the period war film The Warlords with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This film with its focus on dramatics rather than martial arts netted Li the Hong Kong Film Award for best actor.

Li and fellow martial arts veteran Jackie Chan appeared together onscreen for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom, which began filming in May 2007 and was released to critical and commercial success on April 18, 2008. The film was based on the legend of the Monkey King from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West.Li also starred as the lead villain in the fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor with actors Brendan Fraser, Isabella Leong and Michelle Yeoh.

Personal life

Li's father died when he was 2, therefore leaving the family to struggle on its own, with Li being the youngest of two boys and two girls. His mother didn't let him do anything risky like riding a bicycle; he was nearly 15 when he rode a bike for the first time. In the summer when Li was eight his talent for wushu was noticed at a summer course at school, and he began his practice there. Li is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. His master is Lho Kunsang of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school.

In 1987, Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Shaolin Temple series co-star Huang Qiuyan,[9] with whom he had two daughters. They divorced in 1990, Since 1999, he has been married to Nina Li Chi (born Li Zhi), a Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based actress. He has two daughters with her as well, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002).

Li was in the Maldives when the tsunami hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Although it was widely reported at the time that he had died during the disaster,[10] he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his 4-year-old daughter Jane to safety. The two were by the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave came ashore.

According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!" which earned him much respect in his homeland.

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Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American recording artist and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following hermarriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.[4] Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her album work, to much initial success, but her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001, and she was dropped by Virgin Records the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and after a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to pop music in 2005.[5][6] Carey was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 2000 World Music Awards.[7] She has had the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the United States (eighteen; second artist overall behind The Beatles),[8] where, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, she is the third best-selling female and sixteenth overall recording artist.[9]. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, Carey has earned five Grammy Awards, and is well-known for her large vocal range, power, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register.

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Rihanna

Rihanna (pronounced /riːˈɑːnə/; born Robyn Rihanna Fenty; February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian/Guyanese singer, model and fashion designer. She is the second artist, and first female, from Barbados to have received a Grammy Award (the first being Jimmy Senya Haynes). Rihanna is currently signed to the Def Jam Recordings label.…

She has attained four Billboard Hot 100 number ones thus far ("SOS", "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", and "Disturbia"), tying her with Mariah Carey and Beyoncé as the female solo artist with the most number ones this decade. She has sold over 11 million albums and nearly 40 million singles worldwide.

Rihanna came to fame in 2005 with the release of her debut album Music of the Sun, which featured her breakthrough single "Pon de Replay". Less than a year later, Rihanna released A Girl Like Me and gave her first number one single, "SOS". In 2007, Rihanna released her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad. The album has yielded six hit singles including three worldwide number one singles including "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music" and "Take A Bow". Since the release of her debut album, Rihanna has amassed twelve top 40 hit singles in the U.S.

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Beyonce

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981), commonly known as Beyoncé (pronounced /biːˈɑn.seɪ/), is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling girl group of all time.

After a series of commercial successes with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously In Love, in June 2003. The album became one of the most-successful albums of that year, spawning the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". It earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004, and its reception signaled her viability as a solo artist. The disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success; she released her second album, B'Day, in 2006, which spawned the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", and the worldwide hit "Irreplaceable". Knowles has sold 15 million albums and singles worldwide.

The success of her solo albums has established Knowles as one of the most marketable artists in the industry. She has added acting and endorsement deals to her repertoire. In 2006, she starred in the comedy film The Pink Panther, and, in the same year, scored the main role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Knowles launched in 2004 her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, and among her many lucrative commercial deals are Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, and L'Oréal. Knowles has been with boyfriend Jay-Z since 2002, though they have been discreet about their relationship. After much speculation, they married on April 4, 2008.
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