Kelly Bensimon

Kelly Killoren Bensimon is an author, model, jewelry designer, and former editor of Elle Accessories. She currently appears on Bravo The Real Housewives of New York City.

Personal life

Kelly Jean Killoren, was born on May 1, 1968 and raised in Rockford, Illinois. She began working as a model at the age of 15. Killoren was the third wife of French fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, who is 24 years older. He is an internationally renowned photographer and former International Creative Director of Elle magazine. The couple have two daughters: Sea Louise Bensimon (born in 1998) and Thaddeus Ann "Teddy" Bensimon (born in 2000). The couple divorced in July 2007. The former Mrs. Bensimon now resides in New York City and East Hampton.
Education

Killoren Bensimon initially attended Trinity College, Connecticut as a member of the Class of 1990, but left after a year. She later enrolled at the Columbia University School of General Studies, majoring in English,  in 1998
Career

Killoren began her modeling career in New York City. She has appeared in magazines such as ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar. She was also the face of Clarins. She is the editor at large for Hamptons Magazine and Gotham Magazine. She is the founding editor Elle Accessories Magazine. She has authored several books including In The Spirit of the Hamptons, American Style, and The Bikini Book. Kelly also wrote a column in Page Six Magazine called The Socializer: Kelly Killoren Bensimon.
Killoren-Bensimon has been host of the IMG (business) fashion week, and of the IMG swim shows in Miami. She was a spokesperson in 2006 for Wool  as part of their Test Marketing Productions (TMP;) however, a current search of the Wool website indicates no 2009 relationship or representation . Bensimon has hosted menswear events with GQ magazine. She was also an "ambassador" for Spring 2007 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week  in New York City. Killoren Bensimon launched her jewelry line "Kelly" at Bloomingdale's in fall 2007.
Killoren Bensimon appears on Bravo's popular reality show The Real Housewives of New York City.
Bensimon appeared in a six-page pictorial in the March 2010 edition of Playboy magazine.
Lawsuit

Designer Celeste Greenberg, founder of jewelry line Tuleste Market, claims that the owl design that Bensimon displays and promotes on The Real Housewives of New York City was not designed by Bensimon, but by herself. Greenberg initiated a legal case for copyright infringement and breach of contract.
Arrest

Killoren Bensimon was arrested on 5 March 2009 and charged with assaulting her boyfriend Nicholas Stefanov. Stefanov filed an in-person criminal complaint with the NYPD and was photographed as part of the complaint with visible facial wounds.. The criminal complaint stated that Bensimon hit Stefanov "with a closed fist, thereby causing informant to suffer a laceration below informant's left eye and substantial pain."
Source:wikipedia

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Marie Pfeiffer, (pronounced /ˈfaɪfər/; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. She made her screen début in 1980, but first garnered mainstream attention with her appearance in Scarface (1983). She rose to prominence during the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which time she gave a series of critically-acclaimed performances in the films Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Married to the Mob (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Russia House (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Love Field (1992), and The Age of Innocence (1993), as well as appearing as Catwoman, the feline anti-heroine of Batman Returns (1992).

Pfeiffer has been nominated for an Academy Award three times: Best Supporting Actress for Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Best Actress for The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), and Best Actress for Love Field (1992). She won a Golden Globe Award for The Fabulous Baker Boys, a BAFTA Award for Dangerous Liaisons, and the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Love Field. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

Pfeiffer appeared on the cover of People's first "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue in 1990, and again in 1999, having made the list a record six times during the decade.

Early life

Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California, the second of four children born to Richard Pfeiffer, a heating and air-conditioning contractor, and Donna (née Taverna), a homemaker. She has one elder brother, Rick, and two younger sisters, Dedee Pfeiffer and Lori Pfeiffer, both actresses. The family moved to Midway City, California, where Pfeiffer spent her childhood. She attended Fountain Valley High School and worked as a check-out girl at Vons supermarket. She then attended Golden West College where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. After a short stint training to be a court stenographer, she decided upon an acting career, and entered the Miss Orange County Beauty Pageant in 1978 (which she won), and the Miss Los Angeles contest later that year, after which she was signed by a Hollywood agent who appeared on the judging panel. Moving to Los Angeles, she began to audition for commercials and bit parts in films.

Film career

First television and film appearances

Pfeiffer's early acting appearances included television roles in Fantasy Island, Delta House and BAD Cats, and small film roles in Falling in Love Again (1980) with Susannah York, The Hollywood Knights (1980) opposite Tony Danza, and Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981), none of which met with much success. Pfeiffer took acting lessons, and appeared in three further television movies - Callie and Son (1981) with Lindsay Wagner, The Children Nobody Wanted (1981), and a remake of Splendor in the Grass (as Ginny) - before landing her first major film role as Stephanie Zinone in Grease 2 (1982), the sequel to the smash-hit musical Grease (1978). The film was a critical and commercial failure, although Pfeiffer herself received some positive attention, notably from the New York Times, which said "although she is a relative screen newcomer, Miss Pfeiffer manages to look much more insouciant and comfortable than anyone else in the cast." Despite escaping the critical mauling, Pfeiffer's agent later admitted that her association with the film meant that "she couldn't get any jobs. Nobody wanted to hire her."

Screen success

Pfeiffer in March 1985

Director Brian de Palma, having seen Grease 2, refused to audition Pfeiffer for Scarface (1983), but relented upon the producer's insistence. She was cast as cocaine-addicted trophy wife Elvira Hancock. The film was considered excessively violent by most critics, but became a commercial hit and gained a large cult following in subsequent years. Pfeiffer received positive reviews for her supporting turn; Richard Corliss of Time Magazine wrote, "most of the large cast is fine: Michelle Pfeiffer is better..." while Dominick Dunne, in an article for Vanity Fair entitled "Blonde Ambition", wrote, "[s]he is on the verge of stardom. In the parlance of the industry, she is hot."

Following Scarface, she accepted the roles of Isabeau d'Anjou in Ladyhawke (1985) opposite Rutger Hauer, Diana in John Landis' comedy Into the Night (1985) opposite Jeff Goldblum, Faith Healy in Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty (1986) opposite Michael Caine, and Brenda Landers in a segment of the 1950s sci-fi parody Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), all of which, despite achieving only modest commercial success, helped to establish her as an actress. She finally scored a major box-office hit as Sukie Ridgemont in the supernatural comedy The Witches of Eastwick (1987), alongside Jack Nicholson, Cher and Susan Sarandon.

Critical acclaim

Pfeiffer was cast against type, as a murdered gangster's widowed moll on the run, in Jonathan Demme's mafia comedy Married to the Mob (1988), opposite Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell and Mercedes Ruehl. For the role of Angela de Marco, she donned a curly brunette wig and a Brooklyn accent, and received her first of six consecutive Golden Globe Best Actress Award nominations. Pfeiffer then appeared as chic restauranteuse Jo Ann Vallenari in Tequila Sunrise (1988) opposite Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell, but experienced creative and personal differences with director Robert Towne, who later described her as the "most difficult" actress he's ever worked with.

At Demme's personal recommendation, Pfeiffer joined the cast of Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons (1988) alongside Glenn Close and John Malkovich, playing the virtuous victim of seduction, Madame Marie de Tourvel. Her performance won her widespread acclaim; Hal Hinson of the Washington Post saw Pfeiffer's role as "the least obvious and the most difficult. Nothing is harder to play than virtue, and Pfeiffer is smart enough not to try. Instead, she embodies it. Her porcelain-skinned beauty, in this regard, is a great asset, and the way it's used makes it seem an aspect of her spirituality." She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Pfeiffer then accepted the role of Susie Diamond, a hard-edged former call girl turned lounge singer, in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), which co-starred Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges as the eponymous Baker Boys. She underwent intensive voice training for the role, and performed all of her character's vocals. The film was a modest success, but Pfeiffer's portrayal of Susie drew raves from critics. Pauline Kael wrote of the performance as possessing "the grinning infectiousness of Carole Lombard, [and] the radiance of the very young Lauren Bacall," while Roger Ebert compared her to Rita Hayworth in Gilda and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, and described the film as "one of the movies they will use as a document, years from now, when they begin to trace the steps by which Pfeiffer became a great star."Variety singled out her performance of 'Makin' Whoopee', writing that Pfeiffer "hits the spot in the film's certain-to-be-remembered highlight... crawling all over a piano in a blazing red dress. She's dynamite." During the 1989–1990 awards season, Pfeiffer dominated the Best Actress category at every major awards ceremony, winning awards at the Golden Globes, the National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Chicago Film Critics Association. At the Academy Awards, she was favored to win the Best Actress Oscar,but the award went to Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy in what was considered a surprise upset. The only other major acting award for which she was nominated that she did not take home for The Fabulous Baker Boys was the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which also went to Tandy.

Mid-career

Pfeiffer continued to build on her A-list status in Hollywood, accepting (and also turning down) many varied, high-profile roles. She took the part of Katya Orlova in the film adaptation of John le Carré's The Russia House (1990) opposite Sean Connery, a role that required her to adopt a Russian accent. For her efforts, she was rewarded with a third Golden Globe nomination. Pfeiffer then landed the role of damaged waitress Frankie in Garry Marshall's Frankie and Johnny (1991), a film adaptation of Terrence McNally's Broadway play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, which reunited her with her Scarface co-star, Al Pacino. The casting was seen as controversial by many, as Pfeiffer was considered far too beautiful to play an "ordinary" waitress; Kathy Bates, the original Frankie on Broadway, also expressed disappointment over the producers' choice.Pfeiffer herself stated that she took the role because it "wasn't what people would expect of [her]." Pfeiffer was once again nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

Pfeiffer earned her third Academy Award nomination and fifth Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Lurene Hallett in the nostalgic independent drama Love Field (1992), a film that had been temporarily shelved by the financially-troubled Orion Pictures. It was finally released in late 1992, in time for Oscar consideration. The New York Times review wrote of Pfeiffer as "again demonstrating that she is as subtle and surprising as she is beautiful." For her portrayal of the eccentric Dallas housewife, she won the Silver Bear Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Pfeiffer took the role of Catwoman (Selina Kyle) in Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992) opposite Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito. For the role of Catwoman, she trained in martial arts and kickboxing; one co-star stated that "Michelle had four stunt doubles - but she did all her own whippin'." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised her for giving the "feminist avenger a tough core of intelligence and wit" and called her a "classic dazzler."Premiere retrospectively lauded her performance: "Arguably the outstanding villain of the Tim Burton era, Michelle Pfeiffer's deadly kitten with a whip brought sex to the normally neutered franchise. Her stitched-together, black patent leather costume, based on a sketch of Burton's, remains the character's most iconic look. And Michelle Pfeiffer overcomes Batman Returns' heavy-handed feminist dialogue to deliver a growling, fierce performance."

The following year, she played Countess Ellen Olenska in Martin Scorsese's film adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence (1993) opposite Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, receiving the Elvira Notari Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and a sixth nomination for a Golden Globe award.

Pfeiffer's subsequent career choices have met with varying degrees of success. After The Age of Innocence, she played the role of Laura Alden opposite Jack Nicholson in Wolf (1994), a horror film that garnered a mixed critical reception.[25] Her next role was that of high school teacher and former US Marine LouAnne Johnson in the surprise box office hit Dangerous Minds (1995). She appeared as her character in the music video for the soundtrack's lead single, 'Gangsta's Paradise' by Coolio (featuring L.V.). The song won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance, and the video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video. She then took the role of Sally Atwater in the romantic drama Up Close & Personal (1996) opposite Robert Redford; the film's screenplay, co-written by husband and wife team John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion, was intended to be a biographical account of the career of news anchor Jessica Savitch, but the final version had almost nothing to do with Savitch's life, leading Dunne to write an exposé of his eight-year battle with the Hollywood producers, Monster: Living Off the Big Screen.

Subsequent performances included the title (but technically supporting) role of Gillian Lewis in To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday (1996) opposite Peter Gallagher and Claire Danes, Melanie Parker in One Fine Day (1996) opposite George Clooney, Rose Cook Lewis in the film adaptation of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Thousand Acres (1997) with Jessica Lange and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Beth Cappadora in The Deep End of the Ocean (1998) opposite Treat Williams, Titania the Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) with Kevin Kline, Rupert Everett and Stanley Tucci, and Katie Jordan in The Story of Us (1999) opposite Bruce Willis.

Her next film, the Hitchcockian thriller What Lies Beneath (2000) with Harrison Ford, was a commercial success, opening number one at the box office in July 2000. She then accepted the role of highly-strung lawyer Rita Harrison in I Am Sam (2001) opposite Sean Penn. For her performance as murderous artist Ingrid Magnussen in White Oleander (2002), alongside Alison Lohman in her film début, Renée Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn, Pfeiffer garnered a substantial amount of critical praise. Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote that "Ms. Pfeiffer, giving the most complex screen performance of her career, makes her Olympian seductress at once irresistible and diabolical." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described her as "incandescent," bringing "power and unshakable will to her role as mother-master manipulator" in a "riveting, impeccable performance."She earned Best Supporting Actress Awards from the San Diego Film Critics Society and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Pfeiffer also did voice work in two animated films during this period, voicing Tzipporah in The Prince of Egypt (1998), in which she introduced the Academy Award–winning song, 'When You Believe', and Eris in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003).

Return to films

After a four-year hiatus, during which she remained largely out of the public eye and devoted time to her husband and children,[30] Pfeiffer returned to the screen in 2007 with villainous roles in two major summer blockbusters, as Velma Von Tussle in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray (2007) with John Travolta and Christopher Walken, and as ancient witch Lamia in fantasy adventure Stardust (2007) opposite Claire Danes and Robert De Niro.

Pfeiffer then accepted the roles of Rosie in Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) with Paul Rudd and Saoirse Ronan, and Linda in Personal Effects (2009) opposite Ashton Kutcher. Her next film, an adaptation of Colette's Chéri (2009), reunited her with the director (Stephen Frears) and screenwriter (Christopher Hampton) of Dangerous Liaisons (1988), a film for which all three were nominees for (and, in Hampton's case, recipient of) an Academy Award. Pfeiffer played the role of Léa de Lonval opposite Rupert Friend in the title role, with Kathy Bates as his mother. Chéri premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2009, and received a nomination for the Golden Bear award. The Times of London reviewed the film favorably, describing Hampton's screenplay as a "steady flow of dry quips and acerbic one-liners" and Pfeiffer's performance as "magnetic and subtle, her worldly nonchalance a mask for vulnerability and heartache."[32] Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that it was "fascinating to observe how Pfeiffer controls her face and voice during times of painful hurt." Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times praised the "wordless scenes that catch Léa unawares, with the camera alone seeing the despair and regret that she hides from the world. It's the kind of refined, delicate acting Pfeiffer does so well, and it's a further reminder of how much we've missed her since she's been away."

Theatre

In 1989, Pfeiffer made her stage début in the role of Olivia in Twelfth Night, a New York Shakespeare Festival production staged in Central Park. Other film actors appearing in the play included Jeff Goldblum as Malvolio and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Viola. Frank Rich's review in the New York Times was extremely critical of the production, stating "Ms. Pfeiffer offers an object lesson in how gifted stars with young careers can be misused by those more interested in exploiting their celebrity status than in furthering their artistic development."[22] Rich praised Pfeiffer's performance in what was then her most recent film, the screwball comedy Married to the Mob, but stating it was "unfortunate that the actress has been asked to make both her stage and Shakespearean comic début in a role chained to melancholy and mourning."

Personal life

Marriages

At the start of her career, Pfeiffer met Peter Horton at an acting class taught by Milton Katselas in Los Angeles.They married in Santa Monica when Pfeiffer was 22, and it was on their honeymoon that she discovered she had won the lead role in Grease 2. Horton directed Pfeiffer in a 1985 ABC TV special, One Too Many, in which she played the high school girlfriend of an alcoholic student (Val Kilmer); and in 1987, the real-life couple then played an on-screen couple in the 'Hospital' segment of John Landis's comedy skit compilation, Amazon Women on the Moon. However, they decided to separate in 1988, and were divorced two years later; Horton later blamed the split on their devotion to their work rather than their marriage.

Pfeiffer and husband David E. Kelley at the 47th Emmy Awards, 1994

In 1993, Pfeiffer was set up on a blind date with television writer and producer David E. Kelley (creator of Chicago Hope, Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, The Practice and Boston Legal), but it became a group event and they barely spoke to each other.[40] The following week, Kelley took her to the movies to see Bram Stoker's Dracula, and they began dating seriously. They married on November 13, 1993. Since then, she has made an uncredited cameo appearance in one episode of Kelley's television series Picket Fences and played the title character in To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, for which Kelley wrote the screenplay.

Other relationships

In between her marriages to Horton and Kelley, Pfeiffer had a three-year relationship with Fisher Stevens (Early Edition, Hackers and Short Circuit). They met when Pfeiffer was starring in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Twelfth Night, in which Stevens had the part of Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Children

Pfeiffer and Kelley have two children, one adopted daughter and one biological son. Pfeiffer, who was by her own admission desperate to start a family, had entered into private adoption proceedings before she even met Kelley. The biracial baby girl she adopted had been born in March 1993, to a young nurse in New York who could not afford to support all of her children; she was christened Claudia Rose in November 1993, on the same day that Pfeiffer and Kelley were married. Pfeiffer soon became pregnant, and in August 1994, gave birth to a son, John Henry.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes

1980 The Hollywood Knights Suzie Q

Falling In Love Again Sue Wellington

1981 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen Cordelia Farenington

1982 Grease 2 Stephanie Zinone Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Young Motion Picture Actress

1983 Scarface Elvira Hancock

1985 Into the Night Diana

Ladyhawke Isabeau d'Anjou Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actress

1986 Sweet Liberty Faith Healy

1987 The Witches of Eastwick Sukie Ridgemont

Amazon Women on the Moon Brenda Landers

1988 Married to the Mob Angela de Marco Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Tequila Sunrise Jo Ann Vallenari

Dangerous Liaisons Madame Marie de Tourvel BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

1989 The Fabulous Baker Boys Susie Diamond Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

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 - Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

1990 The Russia House Katya Orlova Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

1991 Frankie and Johnny Frankie Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

1992 Batman Returns Catwoman/Selina Kyle Nominated - MTV Movie Awards - Most Desirable Female and Best Kiss (with Michael Keaton)

Love Field Lurene Hallett Berlin Film Festival - Silver Bear for Best Actress

Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

1993 The Age of Innocence Countess Ellen Olenska Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

1994 Wolf Laura Alden Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actress

1995 Dangerous Minds LouAnne Johnson Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress (Drama)

Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance and Most Desirable Female

1996 Up Close & Personal Sally/Tally Atwater

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday Gillian Lewis

One Fine Day Melanie Parker Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress (Comedy/Romance)

Executive producer

1997 A Thousand Acres Rose Cook Lewis Producer (uncredited)

1998 The Prince of Egypt Tzipporah Voice

1999 The Deep End of the Ocean Beth Cappadora

A Midsummer Night's Dream Titania

The Story of Us Katie Jordan

2000 What Lies Beneath Claire Spencer Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress (Suspense)

Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actress

2001 I Am Sam Rita Harrison Williams

2002 White Oleander Ingrid Magnussen Kansas City Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress

San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress

2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Eris Voice

2007 Stardust Lamia Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress

Hairspray Velma Von Tussle Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast

Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture

I Could Never Be Your Woman Rosie

2009 Personal Effects Linda

Cheri Lea de Lonval

Television work

Year Title Role Notes

1978 Fantasy Island Athena Episode - "The Island of Lost Women/The Flight of Great Yellow Bird"

1979 Delta House The Bombshell 2 episodes ("Hoover and the Bomb", "The Legacy")

The Solitary Man Tricia

CHiPs Jobina Episode - "The Watch Commander"

1980 Enos Joy 1 episode

B.A.D. Cats Samantha "Sunshine" Jensen

1981 Fantasy Island Deborah Dare Episode - "Elizabeth's Baby/The Artist and the Lady"

Callie & Son Sue Lynn Bordeaux credited as Michele Pfeiffer

Splendor in the Grass Ginny Stamper

The Children Nobody Wanted Jennifer Williams

1985 One Too Many Annie ABC Afterschool Special

1987 Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson Natica Jackson

1993 The Simpsons Mindy Simmons Episode "The Last Temptation of Homer"

Picket Fences Client Episode "Freezer Burn"

1996 Muppets Tonight Herself (1 episode)

(source:wikipedia)

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry, (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a French footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Barcelona and the French national team. Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £10.5 million in 1999.
It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was twice nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with the Catalan club came in 2009 when they won the league, cup and Champions League treble. Later he would go on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the Club World Cup. Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times.
Henry has enjoyed similar success with the French national squad, having won the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Off the pitch, as a result of his own experience, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. He married English model Nicole Merry in 2003 and had a daughter with her, but they divorced in 2007. Henry is also one of the top commercially marketed footballers; he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006.


Early years

Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis district of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football.He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.



Club career

Monaco (1992–1999) and Juventus (1999)
In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco and made his professional debut in 1994. Wenger put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full-backs than centre-backs. In his first season with Monaco, Henry scored three goals in 18 appearances.
Wenger continued to search for the perfect playing position for Henry, and suspected that he should be deployed as a striker instead, but he was unsure. Under the tutelage of his manager, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.
Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his friend and teammate David Trézéguet, and moved to Italian Serie A club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, but he was ineffective against the Serie A defensive discipline in a position uncharacteristic for him, and scored just three goals in 16 appearances.

Arsenal (1999–2007)

Henry was made captain following the departure of fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira to Juventus in 2005
Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus in August 1999 to Arsenal for £10 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger.It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games.After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the league behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup final against Turkish side Galatasaray.
Coming off the back of a victorious Euro 2000 campaign with the national side, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 campaign. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goal-scorer.Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal closed in quickly on perennial rivals Manchester United for the league title. Henry remained frustrated however by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.
Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the league title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goal-scorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.
2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph, although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League crown. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the latter edged Henry to the title by a goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award.



Henry in a game against Charlton Athletic in 2006

Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league campaign unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during Euro 2004.
This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although the club did win the FA Cup (the final of which Henry missed through injury).Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, and is currently the only player to have officially won the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist also had two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of compatriot Vieira in mid-2005 led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goal-scorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.


After the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp, Henry regularly partnered Robin van Persie up front in the Arsenal attack
The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goal-scorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. He completed the season as the league's top goal-scorer, and for the third time in his career, he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.
Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the league title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, and Arsenal's inability to win the Premier League for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialized, it would have surpassed the world record £47 million paid for Zinédine Zidane.
Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.



Barcelona (2007–present)

Henry greets the Camp Nou supporters at his introduction.
On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry admitted that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated: "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goal-scorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goal-scorer in Europe with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.


Henry takes on Rio Ferdinand inside the Manchester United penalty area during the 2009 UEFA Champions

League Final.
At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon,and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a league match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press". However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.
Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, winning the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the league and Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season. Later in 2009, Henry started on the pitch as he helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the FIFA Club World Cup.



International career

Henry has had a successful career with the France national team. His international career began in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trézéguet.Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur, France's highest decoration.
Henry was a member of France's Euro 2000 championship squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equalizer against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinédine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man-of-the-match in three games, including the final against Italy.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost their first match in group play and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay.In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.
Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goal-scorer with four goals.In Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals.France beat England in the group stages but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil.However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shootout, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped.Henry was one of 10 nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.
On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goal-scorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goal-scorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for national team in match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.
Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being grouped together with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.
The French team struggled during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the playoffs against Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg in the game in the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him.The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.



Style of play

Henry was the first-choice free kick taker for Arsenal
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4-5-1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger once said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take ball in the middle of park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. This, combined with his exceptional pace, means that he can get in behind defenders regularly enough to score.When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, having scored regularly from those positions.



Awards and honours

Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.
In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005) and is the first ever player to retain the award. Henry has also been the top goal-scorer in the Premier League for four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006).In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). Henry is currently third in the list of all-time English Premier League goal-scorers, behind Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Given his accomplishments, France's all-time goal-scorer is today regarded by many coaches, footballers and pundits as one of the best footballers in the world.Rendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers". Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In another 2008 survey, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report.



Monaco
Ligue 1: 1996–97
French Super Cup: 1997
Arsenal
FA Premier League: 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10
Copa del Rey: 2008–09
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
Supercopa de España: 2009
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009
International
FIFA World Cup: 1998
UEFA European Football Championship: 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003
Individual
UEFA Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000
Confederations Cup top goalscorer: 2003
Confederations Cup Golden Ball: 2003
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2006
Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04
European Golden Boot: 2004, 2005
Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06.
Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006
PFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
FWA Footballer Of The Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06
World XI Striker: 2006
UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
English Football Hall of Fame: 2008
Goal of the Season (UK): 2003
Barclays Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004
FIFA 100
Time 100: 2007
Overseas Team of the Decade: Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02)
Orders
Légion d'Honneur: 1998
Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Monaco 1994–95 8 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 1
1995–96 18 3 5 3 0 1 1 0 0 22 3 6
1996–97 36 9 8 3 0 1 9 1 4 48 10 13
1997–98 30 4 9 5 0 2 9 7 1 44 11 12
1998–99 13 1 3 1 0 0 5 0 2 19 1 5
Total 105 20 26 12 0 4 24 8 7 141 28 37
Juventus 1998–99 18 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 20 3 2
Total 18 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 20 3 2
Arsenal 1999–00 31 17 9 5 1 0 11 8 2 47 26 11
2000–01 35 17 3 4 1 0 14 4 0 53 22 3
2001–02 33 24 5 5 1 2 11 7 0 49 32 7
2002–03 37 24 23 6 1 0 12 7 1 55 32 24
2003–04 37 30 9 4 4 2 10 5 3 51 39 14
2004–05 32 25 15 2 0 1 8 5 1 42 30 17
2005–06 32 27 7 2 1 0 11 5 2 45 33 9
2006–07 17 10 6 3 1 1 7 1 0 27 12 7
Total 254 174 77 31 10 6 84 42 9 369 226 92
Barcelona 2007–08 30 12 9 7 4 0 10 3 2 47 19 11
2008–09 29 19 8 1 1 0 12 6 4 42 26 12
2009–10 19 4 2 3 0 0 5 0 1 27 4 3
Total 78 35 19 11 5 0 27 9 7 116 49 26
International
(Correct as of 19 November 2009)[83]
National team Season Apps Goals Assists
France 1997–98 10 3 1
1998–99 1 0 0
1999–00 11 5 2
2000–01 8 2 1
2001–02 9 2 1
2002–03 13 10 7
2003–04 12 5 6
2004–05 7 2 1
2005–06 15 7 3
2006–07 6 3 3
2007–08 10 6 1
2008–09 9 3 1
2009–10 7 3 2
Total 118 51 29



Outside football

Personal and family life
Henry married English model Nicole Merry on 5 July 2003.The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal since Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million. Henry is now dating Bosnian model Andrea Rajačić.
As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals;[90] and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.
Social causes



UNICEF
Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.



Stand Up Speak Up
Having being subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit". The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked.Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on "The Time 100" list.



Other work
Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.


Endorsements

In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth most commercially marketable footballer in the world,as well as being the eighth richest Premier League player, with £21 million.


Renault
Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion". His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-wife, Claire "Nicole" Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.


Nike
In 2004, Henry signed with sneaker giant Nike. In one of the advertisements, Henry pits his wits against football stars such as Claude Makélélé, Edgar Davids and Freddie Ljungberg in locations such as his bedroom and living room. The advertisement was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. Henry was also featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement along with 24 superstar football players including Ljungberg, Ronaldinho, and Francesco Totti. In tandem with the 2006 World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "play beautifully".


Reebok
Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about Henry directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega.


Gillette
In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials, though Henry was later replaced by Derek Jeter in subsequent spots broadcast in the United States. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France-Ireland 2010 World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.
Pepsi
Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. In the 2008 version, Henry appeared in the Pepsi Universe advertisement along with Ljungberg, Beckham, Cesc Fàbregas, Steven Gerrard and Lionel Messi.
Source:wikipedia

Hollie Steel

Hollie Steel (born 1 July 1998) is a schoolgirl and performer from Huncoat, Lancashire, England. In 2009 at the age of ten she was one of ten finalists on the third series of the ITV reality show Britain's Got Talent.
Her first audition drew mostly positive comments from all of the show's judges. In her second appearance during the semi-finals Steel forgot the words of her song, broke down in tears and could not finish the song, but one of the programme's judges intervened and she was allowed to perform a second time.Steel advanced to the finals and finished in sixth place. She then toured the United Kingdom, making live performances with the series' other finalists in the summer of 2009.
In September 2009, Steel signed with a record label and began recording her debut album, which is due for release in May 2010.

Early life

Steel has been singing since the age of six when she showed interest in her brother Joshua's performances. She also attends the KLF Dance Academy in Burnley with him. Prior to Britain's Got Talent she performed in productions of Annie and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Steel's parents, Nina and Jason, who work as National Health Service audiologists, said that she was entered in Britain's Got Talent so she would not feel left out as they felt her older brother, Joshua, was more likely to progress.
Steel had serious pneumonia when she was four years old; fluid filled one of her lungs and surgeons considered removing the lung. She was instead hospitalised for three months at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and underwent several operations to drain her lungs.


Singing career

2009: Britain's Got Talent
Steel first auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in April 2009. In her first televised appearance, she began her number ballet dancing to "I Could Have Danced All Night" from the musical My Fair Lady, then, as judge Simon Cowell started to reach for the red rejection buzzer, she began singing the song with an unexpectedly powerful voice. She received a standing ovation from the audience and the approval of all four judges. Piers Morgan told Steel, "We have seen a lot of children on our show over the past three series and I have never heard any of them sing as well as you do". Kelly Brook was in tears and called her performance, "beautiful and lovely". Media reports at the time claimed that Steel had referred to Cowell as a bully for critical comments he made after her first appearance on the show; however, a blog at a Lancashire newspaper's web site that was attributed to Steel and her mother denied that she had ever made such a comment.
Commentators and mainstream media outlets speculated that she might defeat Susan Boyle, who had made an impression worldwide in the first show of the series. Over thirteen million viewers watched Steel's performance and, within one day of a video of her performance being posted on YouTube, over a million viewers had seen her worldwide. She was interviewed on US television via satellite link during NBC's Today show.
During her second appearance in Britain's Got Talent in May, Steel forgot her words and broke down mid-performance. After tearfully appealing for a second chance but being denied by the producers, Simon Cowell intervened saying, "I don't care how we do it but we will find the time somewhere to let you audition again", and she was allowed to perform a second time.Her second attempt at "Edelweiss" went well and she was praised by the judges for being accomplished and brave in the trying circumstances. Piers Morgan described it as "one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen in my life", and Steel was chosen by all three judges to progress to the final in preference to Greg Pritchard.The incident caused numerous commentators to debate whether children of this age should be allowed to compete in a TV show in which contestants are under such high pressure.
In the final, she performed the song Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom of the Opera.Her performance was trouble-free and well-received, and the viewer voting resulted in her finishing in sixth place, receiving 3.9% of the reported 4 million votes.

Since Britain's Got Talent
During June and July 2009, Steel appeared in Britain's Got Talent – The Live Tour 2009 with most of the other finalists from the third series. She was home tutored between rehearsals and the start of the tour. The rehearsals were held at the Apollo Theatre in Hammersmith. The tour opened at Birmingham, England on 12 June 2009, and finished on 5 July 2009 at Bournemouth. During the live stage shows, Steel performed solo and also in combination with other artists such as 2 Grand, with whom she performed "Edelweiss" in Newcastle.
The Daily Mirror on 28 July 2009 reported that veteran performer and singer Rolf Harris wished to record a song with Steel that he composed. However, the project with Harris fell through and so Steel took on her own Christmas project.
In September 2009, Steel signed with record label VVR2, owned by Dave D'Mello, with whom she began recording her debut single "Where Are You, Christmas?" from the American film How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The single was released on 14 December 2009. The single, however, did not not make it into the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart due to having very little air time.
Steel's debut album, Hollie, is due to be released on 19 May 2010. The album will be released on Steel's own label, BB5 Records Limited, named after the Accrington postcode, and will include the Pendle’s Arden Youth Choir on some of the classical pieces.It will be distributed into shops and download stores by Universal. Steel's second single will be Edelweiss from The Sound of Music, to be released on 29 March 2010.[citation needed] Steel recorded at the sound studio in the ACE Centre in Nelson, Lancashire.
Source:wikipedia

Bumm Bumm Bole

Bumm Bumm Bole,

Bumm Bumm Bole is a Hindi film by director Priyadarshan. The film stars Taare Zameen Par fame Darsheel Safary, Atul Kulkarni, Rituparna Sengupta and new comer Ziyah Vastani. The film is an authorized remake of the 1997 Iranian film Children of Heaven which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the same year.. Bumm Bumm Bole was released on May 14, 2010. The title of the movie is based on one of the songs of Taare Zameen Par

Plot

Khogiram (Atul Kulkarni), his wife (Rituparna Sengupta) and their kids Pinu (Darsheel) and Rimzim (Zia) belong to a terrorist dominated region. Khogiram and Ritu have a hand-to-mouth income working for a tea plantation and can barely manage things. The kids are affected by this as well. They go to a respectable school as it is Khogiram's ambition to give them the educational opportunities he missed. But the financial crunch makes it difficult for kids to match the standards of the school. They don't have enough money for uniform or shoes. Things become worse when Pinu misplaces Rimzim's only pair of shoes in the vegetable shop!

Rimzim can't go to school without her shoes. They work out a scheme where both of them share the same shoes. However, Pinu always gets into trouble at school waiting for Rimzim to give him the shoes. He comes to know of the Interschool Marathon where one of the prizes is a pair of shoes. Pinu plans to run for it and win the shoes for Rimzim.

Will Pinu be able to win the shoes for his kid sister and avert his fathers' anger? Will god smile at Pinu and bring an end to his troubles? How long will this dark stretch last for Khogiram's family?

Cast

Darsheel Safary...... Pinu

Atul Kulkarni...... Khogiram

Rituparna Sengupta...... Khogiram's Wife

Ziyah Vastani...... Rim Zim

Soundtrack

No. Title Lyrics Music Singers Length

1. "Bumm Bumm Bole" Irfan Siddiqui Azaan Sami Shaan 3:22

2. "Aashaon Ke Pankh" Satish Mutatkar Tapas Relia Rishikesh Kamerkar, Rajeev Sundaresan, Kshitij Wagh, Kirti Sagathia 4:42

3. "Mann Ki Asha" Sameer MG Sreekumar Malini Awasthi 4:09

4. "Rang De" Satish Mutatkar Tapas Relia Clinton Creejo, Shasha Tirupathi, Kirti Sagathia 5:03

(source:wikipedia)

Marisa Miller

Marisa Lee Miller, (born August 6, 1978) is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, and her work for lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret. After a stint shooting with photographer Mario Testino for fashion magazines like Vogue, Miller began working for both companies in 2002. In 2007, she became a Victoria's Secret Angel, and graced the cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to record-setting numbers. Her accomplishments have led to her being dubbed the "return of the great American supermodel."
She is also known for contracts with companies like Harley-Davidson and for ranking #1 on Maxim magazine's 2008 "Hot 100" list. Aside from modeling, she is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

Early life

Born Marisa Lee Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California, to parents Marc and Krista Bertetta. Miller attended high school at Aptos High and Monte Vista Christian School. She considered herself a tomboy growing up, with mostly male friends and little awareness of anything girly. Out of shyness, she often wore large t-shirts to hide her body and would get fully dressed just to go to the trash-can while at the beach.
Miller was first "discovered" at age sixteen walking through a San Francisco café by two Italian modeling agents.After talking to her mother, she was on a plane to Italy with her mother a few months later, despite her "shy and conservative" personality.Miller gained attention when 1997 she appeared in the first issue of Perfect 10 magazine. Although she came in third behind Ashley Degenford and Monica Hansen in Perfect 10 magazine's first annual model search, she was repeatedly showcased in following issues, including the covers of the Winter 1998 and August/September 1999 editions, as well as a reprint for the Fall 2004 edition cover.



Career

Miller moved from a start as an amateur magazine model to high profile mainstream work after an acquaintance showed a picture of her to famed fashion photographer Mario Testino in 2001. Testino asked to meet Miller, who was running a surf school at the time, and was invited to Manhattan Beach, California, where she would be surfing.
Noticing her, Testino snapped pictures of her and approached her with a job offer. It turned out to be editorials for both the American and Italian editions of Vogue. Within six months, Miller was working for Victoria's Secret and the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in which she appeared in every issue from 2002 to 2008. In particular, she famously posed wearing only an iPod in the 2007 issue.She has also appeared in a diverse range of magazines, many of them international editions, such as GQ, Maxim, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, and Vanity Fair,. She has featured in advertisements for Nordstrom, J.Crew, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepsi, Panasonic, Bath & Body Works, True Religion jeans, and motorcycle company Harley-Davidson.She first partnered with Harley-Davidson to launch the VRSCF V-Rod Muscle motorcycle in 2008 and rejoined in November 2009 to act as the face and spokesmodel of the company's first "Military Appreciation Month" campaign, featuring Miller as a classic pin-up in military-themed advertisements and online content.In July 2008, Miller took her first step beyond modeling when her shoe line with skateboarder/surfer-oriented company Vans launched.

Miller backstage at the Fashion for Relief show, a charity event in aid of victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Miller's first work in television was as a judge on the Bravo reality series Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model in 2004, the same year she appeared in Puddle of Mudd's "Spin You Around" music video. 2007 brought appearances in the pilot episode and finale of VH1's reality show The Shot and cameos in HBO's Entourage and the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, the latter with her fellow Victoria's Secret Angels. In 2009, she had a guest judge role on an episode of America's Next Top Model and a minor role in an episode of Gary Unmarried. It wasn't until 2007 that she filmed her first television commercial for Victoria's Secret, appearing alongside Heidi Klum for the It bra. Miller starred in a 2008 viral video on YouTube with All Star baseball player Ryan Braun for Remington's ShortCut hair clippersand has appeared in commercials for the NFL Network and the California Travel and Tourism Commission's "Visit California" campaign.
On December 4, 2007, Miller made her debut in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and opened a segment in the following year's edition. Other runway credits of Miller's include 2007's Fashion for Relief show, benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina,[2] as well as MTV's Fashionably Loud, Imitation of Christ, Inca, and Amir Slama's Rosa Cha, for which she was one of the most anticipated models.
On the February 12, 2008 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, it a three-story billboard in New York City was revealed to show that Miller would grace the cover of that year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The tandem online launch of the issue drew record page views to the SI website: 228 million, a 41% increase over 2007. In September 2008, Sports Illustrated released a "Best of Marisa Miller" swimsuit calendar for the 2009 year.
Victoria's Secret also put her to work in 2008, with a five-city tour to promote the 2008 Swim collection's release in stores; the April-May tour included stops in New York City, Miami, Chicago (where she threw the opening pitch at a Chicago Cubs baseball game), Boston, and Minneapolis. The relaunch of Victoria Secret's sports line, VSX, soon followed, along with her first official campaign as an Angel:promoting the company's fragrance Very Sexy Dare.
External images
Harlequin Bra Low Resolution
Harlequin Bra High Resolution
Images provided by Victoria's Secret Press room.
For the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Miller was chosen to wear the year's "Fantasy Bra," a harlequin design featuring 2,300 white, champagne, and cognac diamonds, and a 16-carat heart-shaped brown-yellow diamond pendant for a $3-million value and 150 total carats.
In response to claims that Miller had parted with Victoria's Secret in January 2010, the Chief Marketing Officer for Limited Brands responded, saying the claims were "unfounded and untrue" while adding "we adore Marisa and we will continue to work with her in the future."



Media recognition

The swell in publicity resulting from her 2008 work served to land Miller in the number one spot on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" rankings for 2008, beating out list regulars such as Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, and Eva Longoria-Parker. This marked the first time anyone has debuted on the list in the number one position. In her subsequent cover story for the July issue, Maxim proclaimed her as the "return of the great American supermodel." Of such acclaim, Miller admits, "I get a kick out of it, but it would be stupid to let it go to my head. It’s modeling—I didn’t find the cure for cancer." Miller continued to be highly rated and appeared on the list in 2009 in 18th place, and in 2010 in 10th place.
She also finished first place in The Best Damn Sports Show Period "Smokin' Sixteen" competition in 2008,[25] repeating her 2007 win over competitors such as Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima. Miller ranked second in AskMen.com's "Top 99" for 2010, after ranking third in 2009, ninth in 2008, twelfth in 2007, and fourteenth in 2006. She added to her popular accolades with the "Hot N' Fresh" award at the second annual Spike Guys' Choice Awards.
In 2010, Miller was ranked the third "Most Beautiful Woman" by British magazine FHM in the 16th of the annual poll. Miller came in behind actress Megan Fox in second place, and British singer Cheryl Cole in first place.



Personal life

She married Jim Miller, a Los Angeles surfing contest promoter and lifeguard from California in 2000. The couple separated in 2002, they divorced soon after. She married music producer Griffin Guess on April 15, 2006.
From an early age she loved surfing and her aunt was on the pro tour. In 2004, she placed second in the celebrity division of the Kelly Slater Surf Invitational and says of the sport, "I feel my absolute best—physically, mentally and spiritually—when I'm surfing every day." She also won the most valuable player award at the 4th annual Celebrity Beach Bowl. She was a standout volleyball player in high school and has taken up boxing. After signing with Harley Davidson, Miller received her motorcycle license and rides a Harley Nightster. She has said that she would like to be a sportscaster. Miller comes from a family of nurses, her mother went back to college late in life to become a pediatrics nurse and her sisters are also nurses, and she has previously expressed an interest in following the same career path if she stops modeling.
As of 2009, Miller is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society. Proceeds from her online store are donated to the charity. She also supports the Young Survival Coalition, which raises awareness of breast cancer in women under 40, as well as environmental organization the Surfrider Foundation, which aims to preserve the world's oceans and beaches. In October 2009, Miller hosted the Monte Foundation music festival, an annual fundraiser for schools in the Aptos area, where she and Guess own a home.
Source:wikipedia