Meryl Streep

Mary Louise, "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. She is widely regarded as one of the most talented and respected movie actors of the modern era.
Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, and her screen debut came in the made-for-television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with Julia. Both critical and commercial success came soon with roles in The Deer Hunter (1978) and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), the former giving Streep her first Oscar nomination and the latter her first win. She later won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Sophie's Choice (1982).
Streep has received 16 Academy Award nominations, winning two, and 25 Golden Globe nominations, winning seven, more nominations than any other actor in the history of either award. Her work has also earned her two Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Cannes Film Festival award, four New York Film Critics Circle Awards, five Grammy Award nominations, a BAFTA award, an Australian Film Institute Award, and a Tony Award nomination.

Early life and background

Streep was born Mary Louise Streep in Summit, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Wolf (née Wilkinson), a commercial artist and former art editor, and Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. She has two brothers, Dana and Harry. Streep is of German, Swiss and English ancestry. Her heritage can be traced back ten generations to Loffenau, from where her second great-grandfather, Gottfried Streeb, emigrated to the United States, and where one of her ancestors served as mayor. Another line of the Streep family was from Giswil, a small town in Switzerland. Her maternal ancestry can be traced to Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Her eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was one of the first Europeans to settle Rhode Island. Streep is a distant relative of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and records show her family were among the first purchasers of land in Pennsylvania.
She was raised a Presbyterian, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey, where she attended and graduated as valedictorian from Bernards High School. She received her B.A. in Drama at Vassar College in 1971 (where she briefly received instruction from Jean Arthur), but also enrolled as an exchange student at Dartmouth College for a semester before that school had become coeducational. She subsequently earned an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama. While at Yale she played a variety of roles onstage, from the glamorous Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream to an eighty-year old woman in a wheelchair in a comedy written by then-unknown playwrights Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato. "It was immediately apparent," said then-dean Robert Brustein, "that she was destined for greatness."



Early career

Streep performed in several theater productions in New York after graduating from Yale School of Drama, including the New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew with Raúl Juliá, and Measure for Measure opposite Sam Waterston and John Cazale, who became her fiancé. She starred on Broadway in the Brecht/Weill musical Happy End, and won an Obie for her performance in the all-sung off-Broadway production of Alice at the Palace.
Streep began auditioning for film roles, and later recalled an unsuccessful audition for Dino De Laurentiis for the leading role in King Kong. De Laurentiis commented to his son in Italian, "She's ugly. Why did you bring me this thing?" and was shocked when Streep replied in fluent Italian.Streep's first feature film was Julia (1977), in which she played a small but pivotal role during a flashback scene. Streep was living in New York City with her fiancé, Cazale, who had been diagnosed with bone cancer. He was cast in The Deer Hunter (1978), and Streep was delighted to secure a small role because it allowed her to remain with Cazale for the duration of filming. She was not specifically interested in the part, commenting, "They needed a girl between the two guys and I was it."
She played a leading role in the television miniseries Holocaust (1978) as an Aryan woman married to a Jewish artist in Nazi era Germany. She later explained that she had considered the material to be "unrelentingly noble", and had taken the role only because she had needed money. Streep travelled to Germany and Austria for filming while Cazale remained in New York. Upon her return, Streep found that Cazale's illness had progressed, and she nursed him until his death on March 12, 1978. She spoke of her grief and her hope that work would provide a diversion; she accepted a role in The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) with Alan Alda, later commenting that she played it on "automatic pilot", and performed the role of Kate in The Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park. With an estimated audience of 109 million, Holocaust brought a degree of public recognition to Streep, who was described in August 1978 as "on the verge of national visibility". She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress –



Miniseries or a Movie for her performance.
The Deer Hunter (1978) was released a month later, and Streep was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
Streep played a supporting role in Manhattan (1979) for Woody Allen, later stating that she had not seen a complete script and was given only the six pages of her own scenes, and that she had not been permitted to improvise a word of her dialogue. Asked to comment on the script for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), in a meeting with the producer Stan Jaffee, director Robert Benton and star Dustin Hoffman, Streep insisted that the female character was not representative of many real women who faced marriage breakdown and child custody battles, and was written as "too evil". Jaffee, Benton and Hoffman agreed with Streep, and the script was revised.In preparing for the part, Streep spoke to her own mother about her life as a mother and housewife with a career, and frequented the Upper East Side neighborhood in which the film was set.Benton allowed Streep to write her dialogue in two of her key scenes, despite some objection from Hoffman.Jaffee and Hoffman later spoke of Streep's tirelessness, with Hoffman commenting, "She's extraordinarily hardworking, to the extent that she's obsessive. I think that she thinks about nothing else but what she's doing."
Streep drew critical acclaim for her performance in each of her three films released in 1979: the romantic comedy Manhattan, the political drama, The Seduction of Joe Tynan and the courtroom drama, Kramer vs. Kramer. She was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her collective work in the three films. Among the awards won for Kramer vs. Kramer were the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.




1980s

Streep at the Academy Awards, 1988
After prominent supporting roles in two of the 1970s most successful films, the consecutive winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs. Kramer, and praise for her versatility in several supporting roles, Streep progressed to leading roles. Her first was The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981). A story within a story drama, the film paired Streep with Jeremy Irons as contemporary actors, telling their modern story as well as the Victorian era drama they were performing. A New York Magazine article commented that while many female stars of the past had cultivated a singular identity in their films, Streep was a "chameleon", willing to play any type of role.[28] Streep was awarded her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work.
Her next film, the psychological thriller, Still of the Night (1982) reunited her with Robert Benton, the director of Kramer vs. Kramer, and co-starred Roy Scheider and Jessica Tandy. Vincent Canby, writing for the New York Times noted that the film was an homage to the works of Alfred Hitchcock, but that one of its main weaknesses was a lack of chemistry between Streep and Scheider, concluding that Streep "is stunning, but she's not on screen anywhere near long enough".
As the Polish holocaust survivor in Sophie's Choice (1982), Streep's emotional dramatic performance and her apparent mastery of a Polish accent drew praise. William Styron wrote the novel with Ursula Andress in mind for the part of Sophie, but Streep was very determined to get the role. After she obtained a pirated copy of the script, she went to Alan J. Pakula and threw herself on the ground begging him to give her the part. Streep filmed the "choice" scene in one take and refused to do it again, as she found shooting the scene extremely painful and emotionally draining.Among several notable acting awards, Streep won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She followed this success with a biographical film, Silkwood (1983), in which she played her first real-life character, the union activist Karen Silkwood. She discussed her preparation for the role in an interview with Roger Ebert and said that she had met with people close to Silkwood to learn more about her, and in doing so realized that each person saw a different aspect of Silkwood Streep concentrated on the events of Silkwood's life and concluded, "I didn't try to turn myself into Karen. I just tried to look at what she did. I put together every piece of information I could find about her... What I finally did was look at the events in her life, and try to understand her from the inside."
Her next films were a romantic comedy, Falling in Love (1984) opposite Robert De Niro, and a British drama, Plenty (1985). Roger Ebert said of Streep's performance in Plenty that she conveyed "great subtlety; it is hard to play an unbalanced, neurotic, self-destructive woman, and do it with such gentleness and charm... Streep creates a whole character around a woman who could have simply been a catalogue of symptoms."
Out of Africa (1985) starred Streep as the Danish writer Karen Blixen and co-starred Robert Redford. A significant critical success, the film received a 63% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Streep co-starred with Jack Nicholson in her next two films, the dramas Heartburn (1986) and Ironweed (1987), in which she sang onscreen for the first time. In A Cry in the Dark (1988), she played the biographical role of Lindy Chamberlain, an Australian woman who had been convicted of the murder of her infant daughter in which Chamberlain claimed her baby had been taken by a dingo. Filmed in Australia, Streep won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, a Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for several other awards.
In She-Devil (1989), Streep played her first comedic role, opposite Roseanne Barr. Richard Corliss, writing for Time, commented that Streep was the "one reason" to see the film and observed that it marked a departure from the type of role for which she had been known, saying, "Surprise! Inside the Greer Garson roles Streep usually plays, a vixenish Carole Lombard is screaming to be cut loose."




1990s and 2000s

From 1984 to 1990, Streep won six People's Choice Awards for Favorite Motion Picture Actress and, in 1990, was named World Favorite.
In the 1990s, Streep took a greater variety of roles, including a strung-out movie actress in a screen adaptation of Carrie Fisher's novel Postcards from the Edge, with Dennis Quaid and Shirley MacLaine. Streep and Goldie Hawn had established a friendship and were interested in making a film together. After considering various projects, they decided upon Thelma and Louise, until Streep's pregnancy coincided with the filming schedule, and the producers decided to proceed with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. They subsequently filmed the farcical black comedy, Death Becomes Her, with Bruce Willis as their co-star. Time's Richard Corliss wrote approvingly of Streep's "wicked-witch routine" but dismissed the film as "She-Devil with a make-over".
Biographer Karen Hollinger describes this period as a downturn in the popularity of Streep's films, which reached its nadir with the failure of Death Becomes Her, attributing this partly to a critical perception that her comedies had been an attempt to convey a lighter image following several serious but commercially unsuccessful dramas, and more significantly to the lack of options available to an actress in her forties.Streep commented that she had limited her options by her preference to work in Los Angeles, close to her family, a situation that she had anticipated in a 1981 interview when she commented, "By the time an actress hits her mid-forties, no one's interested in her anymore. And if you want to fit a couple of babies into that schedule as well, you've got to pick your parts with great care."
Streep appeared with Glenn Close in the movie version of Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits, the screen adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County with Clint Eastwood, The River Wild, Marvin's Room (with Diane Keaton and Leonardo DiCaprio), One True Thing, and Music of the Heart, in a role that required her to learn to play the violin.
Streep is adept with foreign accents and some of her best known roles have called for them. In The Bridges of Madison County, she played a woman from Bari, Italy, while in Sophie's Choice she adopted a Polish accent. She was a voice actor for the animated series The Simpsons, King of the Hill and voiced the Blue Fairy character in the Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
In 2002, she costarred with Nicolas Cage in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. as real-life author Susan Orlean, and with Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in The Hours. She also appeared with Al Pacino and Emma Thompson in the HBO adaptation of Tony Kushner's six-hour play, Angels in America, in which she had four roles. She received her second Emmy Award for Angels in America, which reunited her with director Mike Nichols (who directed her in Silkwood, Heartburn, and Postcards from the Edge). She also played Aunt Josephine in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events with Jim Carrey.


Streep in 2004
In addition, she appeared in Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate, costarring Denzel Washington, in which she played a role first performed by Angela Lansbury. Since 2002, Streep has hosted the annual event Poetry & the Creative Mind, a benefit in support of National Poetry Month and a program of the Academy of American Poets. Streep co-hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Liam Neeson in Oslo, Norway, in 2001.
In 2004, Streep was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award by the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute, which honors an individual for a lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television.
Streep's more recent film releases are Prime (2005); the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion, with Lindsay Lohan and Lily Tomlin; and the box office success The Devil Wears Prada, with Anne Hathaway, which earned Streep the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and an Academy Award nomination.
In 2008 she appeared as Donna in the film version of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!, For this role she won the award of Best Female Performance at the National Movie Awards (UK), and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical. She played Sister Aloysius in the 2008 film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. She received both an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama for that film. She also shared the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress with Anne Hathaway for the role, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
In 2009, she starred in Julie & Julia, in which she played the late Julia Child. For this role she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and also shared the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress with Sandra Bullock. Streep also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for this performance. She then starred in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy It's Complicated, with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.[38] She received nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for this film as well. Streep also lent her voice to Mrs. Felicity Fox in the stop-motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox.




Theatre

In New York City, she appeared in the 1976 Broadway double bill of Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Arthur Miller's A Memory of Two Mondays. For the former, she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Her other early Broadway credits include Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and the Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical Happy End in which she originally appeared off-Broadway at the Chelsea Theater Center. She received Drama Desk Award nominations for both productions. Once Streep's film career flourished, she took a long break from stage acting.
In July 2001, Streep returned to the stage for the first time in more than twenty years, playing Arkadina in the Public Theater's revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. The staging, directed by Mike Nichols, also featured Kevin Kline, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Marcia Gay Harden, and John Goodman.
In August and September 2006, she starred onstage at The Public Theater's production of Mother Courage and Her Children at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. The Public Theater production was a new translation by playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America), with songs in the Weill/Brecht style written by composer Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change); veteran director George C. Wolfe was at the helm. Streep starred alongside Kevin Kline and Austin Pendleton in this three-and-a-half-hour play, in which she sang several songs and was in nearly every scene.




Music

Streep (fourth from left) at the premiere of Mamma Mia!
After appearing in Mamma Mia!, Streep's rendition of the song "Mamma Mia" rose to popularity in the Portuguese music charts, where it has so far peaked at #8, adding to Streep's many achievements in the entertainment industry.
At the 35th People's Choice Awards, her version of "Mamma Mia" won an award for "Favorite Song From A Soundtrack".[42] In 2008, Streep was nominated for a Grammy Award (her fifth nomination) for her work on the Mamma Mia! soundtrack.



Personal life


Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (May 2010)
Streep married sculptor Don Gummer on September 15, 1978. They have four children: Louisa Jackson, Grace Jane, Henry, and Mamie Gummer, an actress.



Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Meryl Streep
Streep holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations of any actor, having been nominated 16 times since her first nomination in 1979 for The Deer Hunter (13 for Best Actress and 3 for Best Supporting Actress).
Meryl Streep is the most nominated performer for a Golden Globe Award as well (she has 25 nominations as of 2009 and has won the most overall when she won for Julie & Julia in 2010). Streep received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2003, she was awarded an honorary César Award by the French Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. In 2004 at the Moscow International Film Festival, Meryl Streep was honored with the Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school.
In 2004, Streep received the AFI Life Achievement Award.
In 2009, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by Princeton University.
In 2010, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.



Work

Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1977 Julia Anne Marie
1978 The Deer Hunter Linda National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1979 Manhattan Jill Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Kramer vs. Kramer
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Kramer vs. Kramer
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Kramer vs. Kramer
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
The Seduction of Joe Tynan Karen Traynor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer Joanna Kramer Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Kansas City Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Manhattan
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Manhattan
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan and Manhattan
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Seduction of Joe Tynan
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1981 The French Lieutenant's Woman Sarah/Anna BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1982 Still of the Night Brooke Reynolds
Sophie's Choice Sophie Zawistowski Academy Award for Best Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Award for Best Actress shared with Julie Andrews for Victor Victoria
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1983 Silkwood Karen Silkwood Kansas City Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1984 Falling in Love Molly Gilmore David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress
1985 Plenty Susan Traherne
Out of Africa Karen Blixen David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1986 Heartburn Rachel Samstat Valladolid International Film Festival Best Actress
1987 Ironweed Helen Archer Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1988 A Cry in the Dark Lindy Chamberlain Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1989 She-Devil Mary Fisher Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1990 Postcards from the Edge Suzanne Vale Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1991 Defending Your Life Julia Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
1992 Death Becomes Her Madeline Ashton Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993 The House of the Spirits Clara del Valle Trueba
1994 The River Wild Gail Hartman Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1995 The Bridges of Madison County Francesca Johnson Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1996 Before and After Dr. Carolyn Ryan
Marvin's Room Lee Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1998 Dancing at Lughnasa Kate 'Kit' Mundy Nominated — Irish Film and Television Awards — Best Actor in a Female Role
One True Thing Kate Gulden Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1999 Chrysanthemum Narrator
Music of the Heart Roberta Guaspari Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence Blue Fairy (voice cameo)
2002 Adaptation. Susan Orlean Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Film Award for Actress of the Year
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Hours Clarissa Vaughan Silver Bear for Best Actress shared with Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2003 Stuck on You Herself
2004 The Manchurian Candidate Eleanor Shaw Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Aunt Josephine
2005 Prime Lisa Metzger, therapist
2006 A Prairie Home Companion Yolanda Johnson National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress also for The Devil Wears Prada
Nominated — Gotham Awards - Best Ensemble Cast
"The Music of Regret" The Woman (short musical)
The Devil Wears Prada Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
North Texas Film Critics Award for Best Actress
London Film Critics Circle Film Award for Actress of the Year
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress also for A Prairie Home Companion
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
The Ant Bully Queen Ant (voice)
2007 Dark Matter Joanna Silver
Evening Lila Wittenborn Ross
Rendition Corrine Whitman, CIA official
Lions for Lambs Janine Roth
2008 Mamma Mia! Donna Sheridan Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress - People's Choice
Rembrandt Award (NL) - Best International Actress
National Movie Award (UK) — Best Female Performance
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Doubt Sister Aloysius Beauvier Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress tied with Anne Hathway for Rachel Getting Married
Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
North Texas Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Film Award for Actress of the Year
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009 Julie & Julia Julia Child Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
North Texas Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
New York Film Critics Online
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress also for The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (tied with Sandra Bullock)
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Alliance of Woman Journalists Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — St Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Actress
Fantastic Mr. Fox Mrs. Fox[45] (voice) New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress also for Julie & Julia
It's Complicated Jane Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress - People's Choice
National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy



Television
Year Title Role Notes
1978 Holocaust Inga Helms Weiss Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
1994 The Simpsons Jessica Lovejoy Episode: "Bart's Girlfriend"
1999 King of the Hill Aunt Esme Dauterive Episode: "A Beer Can Named Desire"
1997 …First Do No Harm Lori Reimuller Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Movie
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Film
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Television Film
2003 Angels in America Ethel Rosenberg
The Rabbi
Hannah Pitt
Angel Australia Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries
Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Special
Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Miniseries
[


Stage
Year Production Role Notes
1975 Trelawny of the Wells Miss Imogen Parrott
1976 27 Wagons Full of Cotton Flora Meighan Theatre World Award - Debut performance, Broadway/Off-Broadway
Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
Nominated — Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
A Memory of Two Mondays Patricia
Secret Service Edith Varney
Henry V Katherine
Measure for Measure Isabella
1977 Happy End Lieutenant Lillian Holiday
The Cherry Orchard Dunyasha
1978 Alice at the Palace Alice
The Taming of the Shrew Kate
1979 Taken in Marriage Andrea
1980-81 Alice at the Palace Alice
2001 The Seagull Irina Nikolayevna Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
2006 Mother Courage and Her Children Mother Courage Drama League Award — Distinguished Performance Award
Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
Source:wikipedia

Clotilde Reiss

Clotilde Reiss (born 31 July 1985) is a French student, whose arrest in Iran on espionage charges on 1 July 2009 has generated considerable diplomatic controversy. She holds a master's degree from Sciences-Po Lille. At the time of her arrest she was teaching in Isfahan and writing a master'sthesis about teaching history and geography in Iranian schools.
Reiss was arrested at Tehran airport on 1 July 2009 on her way home to France via Beirut. Iranian authorities alleged that Reiss took photographs of the 2009 Iranian election protests in Isfahan and emailed them to a friend, an act which constituted potential espionage against the Islamic Republic in the eyes of Iranian prosecutors. News of her arrest did not become public for several days, during which time the French government tried unsuccessfully to obtain her release.
When it became clear that Iran intended to put Reiss on trial, officials at the highest level of the French government publicly mobilized on her behalf; French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the charges against her "absurd" and President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed them as "pure fantasy". She was visited by the ambassador of France in Tehran, Bernard Poletti, on 9 July 2009.
Her trial began in Tehran on August 8, 2009[4], at the same time as Nazak Afshar, a French-Iranian employee of the French Embassy and Hossein Rassam, an Iranian employee of the British embassy. The Swedish Presidency of the European Union expressed concern over the trial and demanded that the prisoners be released promptly, saying, "The Presidency reiterates that actions against one EU country - citizen or embassy staff - is considered an action against all of EU, and will be treated accordingly." She was released on bail and resided at the French embassy, unable to leave the country pending the final outcome of her trial.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran issued a statement signaling his government's willingness to release Reiss, but clarifying that her release depended on the "approach and behavior adopted by French officials. He declined to elaborate further as to what he expected from the French government, saying only that "they know what to do." France has suggested that Iran is attempting to blackmail Paris into releasing an Iranian agent jailed in France for the 1991 murder of an exiled former prime minister in exchange for Reiss's freedom, a swap that they have vigorously opposed.
Clotilde Reiss was freed on Sunday, May 16th, 2010. She arrived in Paris on Sunday the 16 May 2010 at around one o'clock and was received at the Elysee by president Nicolas Sarkozy. In a statement, she thanked her supporters and the president, "who proclaimed my innocence as soon as I was arrested".wikipedia

Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone 

Deepika Padukone (Kannada/Konkani:ದೀಪಿಕಾ ಪಡುಕೋಣೆ, pronounced [diːpɪkaː ˈpədʊkoːn]); born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress and a former model. Padukone made her acting debut with the 2006 Kannada film Aishwarya. The following year, she made her Hindi film debut with the blockbuster Om Shanti Om which earned her the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award.

Early life and background

Padukone was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to Bangalore, India, when she was eleven months old. Padukone is of Mangalorean origin, and her mother tongue is Konkani. Her lineage hails from Padukone village in Kundapura Taluk in the Udupi District of the state of Karnataka, India.Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a retired badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born on February 2, 1991.

Padukone attended Sophia High School in Bangalore, and completed her pre-university studies at Mount Carmel College Bangalore. While in high school she played badminton at the state level.However, she was not keen on pursuing a career as a badminton player.

Career

Modeling

While in college, Padukone pursued a career in modeling. She was spotted in a ramp competition in NLS, Bangalore. Over the years, she has modeled for such Indian brand names as Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and has been "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewellery show. The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson.

At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year". Shortly afterward, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year". Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.

Acting

After pursuing a successful career in modeling, Padukone branched out into acting. She started by starring in the music video for the song Naam Hai Tera from the independent pop album Aap Kaa Surroor by Himesh Reshammiya.

In 2006, Padukone made her cinematic debut in the Kannada film Aishwarya starring opposite actor Upendra. She later made a successful Bollywood debut in 2007 with Farah Khan's blockbuster Om Shanti Om opposite Shahrukh Khan. Her performance was well received, earning the actress a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award as well as her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Taran Adarsh from indiaFM noted, "Deepika has all it takes to be a top star — the personality, the looks and yes, she's supremely talented too. Standing in the same frame as SRK and getting it right is no small achievement. She comes as a whiff of fresh air!" Padukone was then seen in Siddharth Anand's romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno opposite Ranbir Kapoor and alongside Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba. The film, which released on 15 August 2008, performed reasonably well at the box office. Her next film Chandni Chowk To China, released on 16 January 2009, and was a critical and commercial disaster. Padukone's fourth release Love Aaj Kal, released on 31 July 2009 and proved to be one of the biggest hits of 2009.

Padukone was last seen in Excel Entertainment’s Karthik Calling Karthik opposite Farhan Akhtar followed by Sajid Khan’s Housefull alongside Akshay Kumar. Her future projects include Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, and Kunal Kohli’s Break Ke Baad co-starring Imran Khan.

Other work

In 2009, Deepika started writing weekly columns for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of Hindustan Times. These columns appear online on social network, Desimartini.

Personal life

In March 2008, Padukone began dating Ranbir Kapoor, her co-star from the film Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). The couple broke up in November 2009.

Awards and nominations

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone

Filmography

Year Film Language Role Notes

2006 Aishwarya Kannada Aishwarya

2007 Om Shanti Om Hindi Shantipriya,

Sandhya (Sandy) Double-Winner, Filmfare Best Female Debut Award &

Sony Head N Shoulders Fresh Face of the Year

Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award

2008 Bachna Ae Haseeno Hindi Gayatri

2009 Chandni Chowk to China Hindi Sakhi (Ms. TSM),

Meow Meow (Suzy) Double role

Billu Hindi Herself Special appearance in the song Love Mera Hit Hit

Love Aaj Kal Hindi Meera Pandit Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna Hindi Raina Khan Special appearance

Love 4 Ever Telugu Herself Special appearance for an item number

2010 Karthik Calling Karthik Hindi Shonali Mukherjee

Housefull Hindi Sandy Released on 30 April 2010

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey Hindi Kalpana Datta Filming

Break Ke Baad Hindi Aaliya Filming.

(source:wikipedia)

Russell Crowe

Russell Ira Crowe, (born 7 April 1964) is a New Zealand-born, naturalized Australian actor and musician. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as Police Rescue and films such as Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in US films such as the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential. He has been nominated for three Oscars, and in 2001, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in the film Gladiator. Crowe is also co-owner of National Rugby League team the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Early life

Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom were movie set caterers; his father also managed a hotel.  Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who, according to Crowe, produced the first film by New Zealander Geoff Murphy,[6][dead link] and was also named an MBE for filming footage of World War II. Crowe's maternal great-great grandmother was Māori, and his paternal grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales;Crowe also has Scottish, Norwegian, English and Irish ancestry. Two of his cousins, Martin and Jeff Crowe, are former New Zealand national cricket captains.
When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia, where his parents pursued a career in film set catering. The producer of the Australian TV series Spyforce was his mother's godfather, and Crowe at age five or six was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode, opposite series star Jack Thompson. (In 1994 Thompson played Crowe's father in The Sum of Us. He had been educated at the same school which Crowe was to attend for two years: Sydney Boys High School.) Crowe also appeared briefly in serial The Young Doctors.
From his youth to the present, Crowe has had a special love of horses. "They're just like people," he told CraveOnline, "there are some horses that you have a deeper connection with immediately, and you can work on that over time." He has also noted that he sometimes finds it difficult to part with his equine co-stars when a film wraps.
When he was 14, Crowe's family moved back to New Zealand, where he (along with his brother Terry) attended Auckland Grammar School with cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe. He then continued his secondary education at Mount Roskill Grammar School, which he left at age 16 to chase his dreams of becoming a musician or actor. A classmate and friend from that time, John Maloney, remembers Crowe as a "sombre, misshapen" boy who was "frequently shirtless and even more frequently sans culottes".
In the mid-1980s Russell, under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, performed as a rock 'n' roll revivalist, under the stage name Russ Le Roq, and had a New Zealand single with "I Just Want To Be Like Marlon Brando." In 1986 he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri in a production of The Rocky Horror Show. He played the role of Eddie/Dr Scott. He repeated this performance in a further Australian production of the show. In the 1988 Australian production of Blood Brothers, Crowe played the role of Mickey. He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny in the stage musical of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom in 1989.
Crowe returned to Australia at age 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. "I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA," Crowe recalled. "I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it'd be a waste of time. He said, 'You already do the things you go there to learn, and you've been doing it for most of your life, so there's nothing to teach you but bad habits.'" In 1987 Crowe spent a six-month stint as a busker when he couldn't find other work.
After appearing in the TV series Neighbours and Living with the Law, Crowe was cast in his first film, The Crossing (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protégé of Ogilvie's, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the film Blood Oath (1990) (aka Prisoners of the Sun) which was released a month earlier than The Crossing, although actually filmed later. In 1992, Crowe starred in the first episode of the second series of Police Rescue. Also in 1992 Crowe starred in Romper Stomper, an Australian film which follows the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright, for which Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor, following up from his Best Supporting Actor award for Proof in 1991.



Hollywood

This section requires expansion.
After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He first co-starred with Denzel Washington in Virtuosity, and with Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for Gladiator. Crowe wore his grandfather Stan Wemyss's Member of the Order of the British Empire medal to the ceremony.
Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations for The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Crowe won the best actor award for A Beautiful Mind at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony. However he failed to win the Oscar that year, losing to Denzel Washington. It has been suggested that his attack on television producer Malcolm Gerrie for cutting short his acceptance speech may have turned voters against him.


Crowe at the London premiere for State of Play in April 2009
All three films were also nominated for best picture, and both Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind won the award. Within the six year stretch from 1997–2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, L.A. Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, though he was nominated for neither. In 2005 he re-teamed with A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard for Cinderella Man. In 2006 he re-teamed with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for A Good Year, the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being American Gangster co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). While the light romantic comedy of A Good Year was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films.
On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on 25 March 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda (the 11 September attacks took place later that year) and was quoted as saying:
"You get this late-night call from the FBI when you arrive in Los Angeles, and they're, like, absolutely full-on. 'We’ve got to talk to you now before you do anything. We have to have a discussion with you, Mr Crowe.'" Crowe recalled that "it was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers...it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural-destabilisation plan".
Crowe was guarded by Secret Service agents for the next few months, both while shooting films and at award ceremonies (Scotland Yard also guarded Crowe while he was promoting Proof of Life in London in February 2001). Crowe said that he "...never fully understood what the fuck was going on."
Crowe will appear in Robin Hood, an upcoming film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott, due for release on May 14, 2010.
Crowe is slated to appear in the Paul Haggis film The Next Three Days, an adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour Elle.


Charities

One of several tree donations by Russell Crowe, Centennial Park in Sydney
Crowe, who was in Toronto filming Cinderella Man with director Ron Howard, learned of a fire-bombing at a Jewish elementary school that took place in Montreal. Police said a note with anti-Semitic comments was found on the outside wall of the gutted library. He was so distraught that he offered (a reported $250,000 donation) to help rebuild the school's library. Montreal resident Shelley Paris says, "It was a huge morale boost for the school community. He said he was very upset about what had happened that a place of learning should be attacked that way. He wanted to make sure that our students knew that he was thinking about them and that he was very upset about the fire-bombing."
On another occasion, Crowe donated a large sum of money ($200,000) to a struggling primary school near his home in rural Australia. Crowe's sympathies were sparked when a pupil drowned at the nearby Coffs Harbour beach in 2001, and he believes the pool will help students become better swimmers and improve their knowledge of water safety. At the opening ceremony in characteristic Crowe style he dove into the pool fully clothed as soon as the venue was declared open. Nana Glen principal Laurie Renshall says, "The many things he does up here, people just don't know about. We've been trying to get a pool for 10 years."



Personal life

On 7 April 2003, his 39th birthday, Crowe married Australian singer and actress Danielle Spencer. Crowe met Spencer while filming The Crossing (1990). Crowe and Spencer have two sons: Charles "Charlie" Spencer (born 21 December 2003) and Tennyson Spencer (born 7 July 2006).
Prior to his marriage to Spencer, Crowe had a relationship with Meg Ryan during and after the filming of Proof of Life in 2000.
Most of the year, Crowe resides in Australia. He has a home in Sydney at the end of the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo and a 320-hectare rural property in Nana Glen near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.
Crowe also owns a house in the North Queensland city of Townsville: he purchased the $450,000 home in the suburb of Douglas on 3 May 2008. It's believed the home is for his niece, who is studying at James Cook University.
Crowe stated in November 2007 that he would like to be baptised, and feels that he has put it off for too long. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," he says. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith."
In the beginning of 2009, Crowe appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen", featuring Australian actors. He, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, and Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.



South Sydney Rabbitohs
Crowe has been a supporter of the rugby league football team the South Sydney Rabbitohs since childhood. Since his rise to fame as an actor, he has continued appearing at home games, and supported the financially troubled club. Following the Super League war of the 1990s Crowe made an attempt to use his Hollywood connections to convince Ted Turner, rival of Super League's Rupert Murdoch, to save the Rabbitohs before they were forced from the National Rugby League competition for two years. In 1999 Crowe paid A$42,000 at auction for the brass bell used to open the inaugural rugby league match in Australia in 1908 at a fundraiser to assist Souths' legal battle for inclusion in the League. In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his movie Cinderella Man on their jerseys.
He is friends with many current and former players of the club, and currently employs former South Sydney forward Mark Carroll as a bodyguard and personal trainer. He has encouraged other actors to support the club, such as Tom Cruise and Burt Reynolds.
On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court to purchase 75% of the organisation, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It cost them A$3 million, and they received four of eight seats on the board of directors. A six part television miniseries entitled "South Side Story" depicting the takeover aired in Australia in 2007.
On 5 November 2006, Russell Crowe appeared on Tonight Show with Jay Leno to announce that Firepower International was sponsoring the South Sydney Rabbitohs for $3 million over three years. During a Tonight Show with Jay Leno appearance, watched by over 11 million viewers, Crowe showed viewers a Rabbitoh playing jersey with Firepower's name emblazoned on it.
Crowe helped to organise a rugby league game that took place in Jacksonville, Florida between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the English Super League champions Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day). The game was played at the University of North Florida. Crowe told ITV Local Yorkshire the game wasn't a marketing exercise.
Crowe wrote a letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper following the sacking of South Sydney's coach Jason Taylor and one of their players David Fa'alogo after a drunken altercation between the two at the end of the 2009 NRL season.
Also in 2009 Crowe persuaded young England international forward Sam Burgess to sign with the Rabbitohs over other clubs that were competing for his signature, after inviting Burgess and his mother to the set of Robin Hood, which he was filming in England at the time.


Other sporting interests
In European soccer, Russell acknowledged to be a fan of FC Barcelona.
Crowe is a big cricket fan. He played cricket in school and his cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe are former Black Caps Captains. Russell Crowe also captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match.[34] On 17 July 2009, Crowe took to the commentary box for the British sports channel, Sky Sports, as the 'third man' during the second test of the 2009 Ashes series, between England and Australia.
He is also a fan of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League[36] and a supporter of the Leeds Rhinos[citation needed] in the Super League.
Crowe is a big supporter of the University of Michigan Wolverines American football team, an interest that stems from his friendship with former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr. Carr used Crowe's movie Cinderella Man to motivate his team in 2006 following a disappointing 7–5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his Rugby league team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, an offer Carr took Crowe up on the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' 0–2 start, Crowe traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame to show his support for Carr. He addressed the team before the game and watched from the sidelines as the Wolverines defeated the Irish 38–0.
Crowe is also a fan of the National Football League, and on 22 October 2007, appeared in the booth of a Monday Night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is also a devout fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs which stems from his shooting of Cinderella Man at Maple Leaf Gardens.



Altercations

June 2005: Russell Crowe en route to his arraignment for the phone throwing incident
Crowe has been involved in a number of altercations in recent years which have given him a reputation for having a bad temper.
In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was caught on security video. Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail Crowe.[40]
When part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 BAFTA awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris who was then terminally ill, and was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, saying "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been." Later that year, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a "brawl" inside a trendy Japanese restaurant in London.The fight was broken up by British television actor Ross Kemp.
In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by New York City police, after he threw a telephone at an employee of the Mercer Hotel who refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from his room, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). The employee, a concierge, was treated for a facial laceration. Crowe described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in... and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life". He was sentenced to conditional release. Prior to the plea bargain, Crowe settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada.Terms of the settlement were not disclosed but amounts in the 6 figure range have been suggested.



Musician

Crowe at O'Reilly's Pub in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Crowe, going under the name of "Rus le Roq", recorded a 1980s tune titled "I Want To Be Like Marlon Brando". Crowe and a friend formed a band, "Roman Antix", which later evolved into the Australian pub rock band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts (TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band had found neither critical nor popular success but had several releases including 1998's Gaslight, 2001's Bastard Life or Clarity and 2003's Other Ways of Speaking, plus various CD releases now out of print. The band's web site indicates that group has "dissolved/evolved" and states that Crowe's music would take a new direction.
He continued with a collaboration with Alan Doyle of the Canadian band Great Big Sea in early 2005, which also involved members of his previous band. A new single, Raewyn, was released in April 2005 and an album entitled My Hand, My Heart has been released for download on iTunes. The album includes a tribute song to actor Richard Harris, who became Crowe's friend during the making of Gladiator. In 2002, he directed the music video clip (which starred former child actor Duy Nguyen) for his wife Danielle Spencer's single 'Tickle Me' from her 'White Monkey' album. On 10 March 2006, Russell Crowe performed with his new band The Ordinary Fear of God on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Crowe landed a role in a musical, Grease, in 1983. From 1986–1988, Crowe performed in the touring production of The Rocky Horror Show. In Summer 2010, Crowe will work with Irish band size2shoes on their second album at his personal studio.


Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1990 Blood Oath Lt. Jack Corbett
The Crossing Johnny Ryan Nominated—Australian Film Institute Award – Best Actor in Lead Role
1991 Proof Andy Australian Film Institute Award – Best Supporting Actor
Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor – Male
1992 Spotswood Kim Barrett
Romper Stomper Hando Australian Film Institute Award – Best Actor in Lead Role
Seattle International Film Festival for Best Actor also for Hammers Over the Anvil
1993 Hammers Over the Anvil East Driscoll Seattle International Film Festival for Best Actor also for Romper Stomper
The Silver Brumby The Man (Egan)
For the Moment Lachlan Currie
1994 The Sum of Us Jeff Mitchell
1995 The Quick and the Dead Cort
No Way Back FBI Agent Zack Grant
Virtuosity SID 6.7
Rough Magic Alex Ross
1997 L.A. Confidential Officer Wendell "Bud" White Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Heaven's Burning Colin O'Brien
Breaking Up Steve
1999 Mystery, Alaska Sheriff John Biebe
The Insider Jeffrey Wigand Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor also for Gladiator
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
2000 Gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius Academy Award for Best Actor
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Action
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Empire Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor also for The Insider
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Proof of Life Terry Thorne Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Suspense
2001 A Beautiful Mind John Nash BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—American Film Institute Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Australian Film Institute Award – Best Actor in Lead Role
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Capt. Jack Aubrey Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
2005 Cinderella Man Jim Braddock Nominated—Australian Film Institute Award – Best International Actor
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
2006 A Good Year Max Skinner
2007 3:10 to Yuma Ben Wade Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
American Gangster Det. Richie Roberts Nominated—Australian Film Institute Award – Best International Actor
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008 Tenderness Detective Cristofuoro
Body of Lies Ed Hoffman
2009 State of Play Cal McAffrey Australian Film Institute Award – Best International Actor
2010 Robin Hood Robin Hood
2011 The Next Three Days[53] Post-production
In Search Of Immortality / Amrit Kumbh[54] Announced, Indian film
Source:wikipedia

Ascension of Christ

Ascension Day (in Switzerland and Liechtenstein: drive ) within the Christian faith, the return of Jesus Christ as the Son of God to His Father in heaven. Ascension is on the 40th Day of the Easter circle , ie 39 days after Easter Sunday celebration. Therefore, the festival falls always on a Thursday. The earliest possible date is 30 April, the latest possible the third June. In 2010, the holiday falls on the 13th May


Origin and Meaning

In the writings of the New Testament is in Luke 24.50-53 EUand Acts 1.1 to 11 EUshows that the Risen Christ during forty days after his resurrection before his disciples and was then in heaven on the place at the right hand raised was (the place right by the owner since ancient times belonged to the heir or the guest of honor). The Ascension is also mentioned in Mk 16,19 EU, 1 Pet 3,22 EU, Lift 4,14 EUand 9.24 EU, and - from a Christian perspective - P 68,19 EU.
The Ascension of Christ has great significance for the Christian eschatology . Him who humbles himself and has become obedient until death on the cross, God has increased all over and given him a name which is above every name ( Phil 2.8 to 9 EU).
The belief in the Assumption is early Christian texts and beliefs evidenced in, for example, Polycarp , Justin and Irenaeus of Lyons . The belief in the Assumption is also expressed in the old Roman Creed of the third century, the forerunner of the Apostles' Creed of 325 and the Nicene Creed of 381:
"He is on the third day he rose again
and ascended into heaven and .
is seated at the right hand of the Father
, and will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
his kingdom will be no end. "
The Solemnity of the Ascension of Christ in the liturgy of Jerusalem since 383 / 384 by the report of the pilgrim Egeria witnessed. According to Luke's texts is the date forty days after Easter and ten days before Pentecost.
The nine days between Ascension and Pentecost, the time of Pentecost , in particular, at the descent of the Holy Spirit is praying.
Three days prior to Ascension found in Catholic areas, the Rogation Days instead. On these days are called the processions take place. These processions to the fields of the municipalities or from place to place to serve the intercession of a good harvest.
In the Catholic tradition of the Baroque in some areas (eg in Bavaria, Mittenwald , or in Neustift Monastery in South Tyrol ), the statue of the Risen Christ's ascension through the " Holy Spirit holes on the Church of memory drawn.

Resurrection and Ascension

The ratio of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ was and is the subject of theological debate. In traditional theology, there is a clear demarcation of Easter, on which the resurrection of Jesus Christ day after his death is celebrated on the third. Jesus rose after his crucifixion , first in an "in depth" localized beyond down ("descended into the realm of the dead", also see Jesus' descent into hell ), from the third day he rose again to the living on. The Ascension of Jesus to the later described the following event, that Jesus came into the hereafter own, without (again) die and leave behind a corpse without. This ascension, he got into an "on high" located on the other side (see heaven ). If we stick to the only concrete indication of time in the Bible, passed between the Resurrection and Ascension 40 days ( Acts 1,3.9 f LUT), although Luke 24,51 LUTAscension on Easter Day seems to suggest one. Therefore, Assumption is the feast of Christ days after Easter, celebrated 40th
Many theologians today reversed stress the commonality of resurrection and ascension. According to Conzelmann / Lindemann, there is no fundamental difference between resurrection and exaltation of Jesus: "The general rule is that Jesus 'resurrection, never as a mere revival of his body [...] has been understood, means the Easter event in Jesus' establishment of a unique dignity (cf. Rom 1.3 f LUT), so basically resurrection and exaltation at the same time. This is true even where, as in the hymn of Phil from 2.6 to 11 LUTonly on the increase, but not the resurrection of the talk is of, or conversely, where explicit statement is missing an increase (cf. 1 Cor 15.4 f. LUT). Although each case is the emphasis placed differ, but one fundamental difference is not. "[1]
"It was only later resurrection and exaltation ( Mary ) deliberately separated from each other, without it would come to a single view, however (after Luke 24,51 LUTwas the ascent to heaven on Easter Day, after Acts f. 1,3.9 LUTonly forty days later). [...] Will later distinguish between the actual Easter appearances on earth ( Luke 24 LUT, Acts 1 LUT), and the other appearances of Christ from heaven ( Acts 7.55 f. LUT; Acts 9.3 ff LUT). " [1]The fundamental event is the victory. God pulls his son out and up. This is a triumph over the powers of this world, a triumph of which all Christians have a share.
Iconography

In the early Christian catacomb is found ascension is not the motive. From the 4th Century, it unfolds in different ways to play:
Christ by angels borne aloft.
Christ walks into heaven and is from the hand of God put into reception.
Around 1000 is the guy on the disappearing Christ. Often leaving only the legs and feet together with the visible footprint, 14 from Century, only the footprints.
In the Catholic iconography of the Baroque comes the Typos "Ascension" in favor of the motif of the Assumption of Mary , and the glorification of other popular saint back a little.[2]
Holiday

The Feast of the Ascension is in the liturgy of the Catholic Church , the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church as the Feast committed. In Germany there is also a public holiday since 1936.


Ascension Day public holiday in Germany
Ascension Day is a public holiday in Germany , which Switzerland , Austria and Sweden , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Greenland , Haiti , Indonesia , Iceland , Colombia , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , Madagascar , Namibia , Netherlands and Norway . In Italy (Ascension), , Poland and Hungary was the festival public holiday several years ago and is now being abolished as the church celebrated the following Sunday. In Italy run intensive efforts, Ascension Day public holiday again than to introduce. Over 12 draft laws in this regard are in the Roman Parliament in both chambers on it. Many Italian ministers and politicians are positive about the concerns, as well as high-ranking church officials.
In the secular world has developed in Germany for the holiday Father's Day , also known as Men's Day and Father's Day means. On that day, there are customs such as the game master (a carriage ride or hike in nature with consumption of alcohol) or day trips with the whole family.
In 2008, Ascension of Christ was with the holiday, " Labor Day "(May 1 combined). This situation occurs very rarely only one, previously modified in 1913 and after 2008 again until 2160th
In addition, every year on Ascension Day in Aachen, the Charlemagne Prize awarded.
In Erftstadt-Gymnich takes to Ascension of Gymnich ride instead of a pilgrimage, the rider and Fußpilger attend.
See also

Church year , Öschprozession , weather blessing , Assumption
Ascension
Holidays in Germany , Austria and Switzerland
Dates of the movable holidays in Germany
Literature

New Testament and theological
Alfons Weiser , Horst Georg Pohlmann : Art Ascension I. New Testament Church History II / systematic-theological . In: Encyclopedia of Theology Real 15 (1986), p. 330-341 (with further references)
AW Zwiep: The Ascension of the Messiah in Lukan Christology . Supplements to Novum Testamentum 87th Brill, Leiden etc. 1997 ISBN 90-04-10897-1
M. Muehling: Basic Information eschatology, Göttingen 2007 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) ISBN 978-3-525-03619-8 , 101-122, esp 117-119
Thomas Marschler : resurrection and ascension of Christ in the scholastic theology, to Thomas Aquinas . Contributions to the history of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages NF 64.1 to 2. Aschendorff, Münster 2003 ISBN 3-402-04017-4
Douglas Farrow: Ascension and Ecclesia. On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology . T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh 1999 ISBN 0-567-08676-3
Jens Herzer, : Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Christmas. What we know about the origins of Christianity? Focus on the Bible, 4th Evang. Main Bibelges. and Canstein Bibelanst., Berlin 2000 ISBN 3-7461-0144-1 (and a generally scientifically sound)
Fritz Rienecker (Hg): Encyclopedia of the Bible. R. Brockhaus Verlag Wuppertal
Hans Conzelmann : plan of the theology of the New Testament , 4 Ed / edited by Andreas Lindemann. Tübingen 1987th UTB 1446, ISBN 3-16-145161-9.
Christian festival calendar
Hans-Christoph Schmidt-Lauber : Article Ascension . In: Encyclopedia of Theology Real 15 (1986), p. 341-344 (with further references)
Hans Jürgen milter (ed.) ascension - the proximity of Christ celebrate. Sermons and liturgical designs . Ministry of the Word 72nd Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996 ISBN 3-525-59337-6
Uehlein Hermann: hymns and text history. Literary tradition of education at the example of the German Day song from the Enlightenment to the present . Pietas Liturgica, Studia 10th King & Neumann, Würzburg; EOS-Verl., St. Ottilie 1995 ISBN 3-8260-1081-7
Friedrich Benesch: The event of the Ascension of Christ. The forty days. Urachhaus, 1997, ISBN 3-87838-285-5
Hermann Kirchhoff: Ascension to St. Martin in the Christian tradition. Kösel, Munich, 1986, ISBN
Source:wikipedia