Acters biography

Unfortunately, he was also clueless. This bracingly honest memoir covers the highs, lows and pratfalls of a career in comedy, as Michael climbs the greasy pole of success and desperately attempts to stay up there. Perhaps the most inspiring celebrity autobiography on this list, Too Many Reasons to Live follows rugby league legend Rob Burrow on his acters biography, his friendship with fellow Rhino Kevin Sinfield, and his battle with motor neurone disease.

As a boy, Rob was told he was too small to play the sport. Even when he made his debut for Leeds Rhinos, people wrote him off as a novelty. But Rob never stopped proving people wrong. And then in DecemberRob was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given a couple of years to live. Far more than a sports memoir, Too Many Reasons to Live is a remarkable story of boundless courage and infinite kindness.

When Michael K. Williams died in Septemberhe left behind a career as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation. At the time of his death, Williams had nearly finished his memoir, which traces his life from his childhood and his early years as a dancer to his battles with addiction. Alongside his achievements on screen he was a committed activist who dedicated his life to helping at-risk young people find their voice and carve out their future.

Imbued with poignance and raw honesty, Scenes from My Life is the story of a performer who gave his all to everything he did — in his own voice, in his own words. Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. Before the world premiere of Juno Elliot was on the edge self-discovery. But with Juno 's massive success and his dreams coming true, Elliot found himself trapped by the spotlight and the pressure to perform was suffocating him.

Until enough was enough. From chasing down secret love affairs to battling body image and working through his difficult childhood, Pageboy is a beautiful, intimate book about searching for ourselves and our place in the world. I'm also a singer and a songwriter. I have loved and been let acters biography. I've been stalked and assaulted. I am a success and a failure.

I've been broken and full of hope. I am all these things and more. Share this article. News 2nd January News 19th December News 5th December News 21st November News 7th November News 24th October News 10th October News 26th September News 12th September News 29th August News 15th August They divorced when he was young. His mother moved them into his grandparents' home in the South Bronx.

Pacino found himself often repeating the plots and voices of characters he had seen in the movies. Bored and unmotivated in school, he found a haven in school plays, and his interest soon blossomed into a full-time career. Starting onstage, he went through a period of depression and poverty, sometimes having to borrow bus fare to succeed to auditions.

He made it into the prestigious Actors Studio instudying under Lee Strasbergcreator of the Method Approach that would become the trademark of many s-era actors. After appearing in a string of plays in supporting roles, Pacino finally attained success off-Broadway with Israel Horovitz 's "The Indian Wants the Bronx", winning an Obie Award for the season.

Coppola was successful but Pacino was reportedly in constant fear of being fired during the very difficult shoot. However, instead of taking on easier projects for the big money he could now command, Pacino threw his support behind what he considered tough but important films, such as the true-life crime drama Serpico and the tragic real-life bank robbery film Dog Day Afternoon He was nominated three consecutive years for the "Best Actor" Academy Award.

He faltered slightly with Bobby Deerfieldbut regained his stride with And Justice for Allfor which he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Unfortunately, this acters biography signal the beginning of a decline in his career, which produced flops like Cruising and Author! Pacino took on another vicious gangster role and cemented his legendary status in the ultra-violent cult film Scarfacebut a monumental mistake was about to follow.

Revolution endured an endless and seemingly cursed shoot in which equipment was destroyed, weather was terrible, and Pacino fell ill with pneumonia. Constant changes in the script further derailed the project. The Revolutionary War-themed film, considered among the worst films ever made, resulted in awful reviews and kept him off the screen for the next four years.

Returning to the stage, Pacino did much to give back and contribute to the theatre, which he considers his acters biography love. He directed a film, The Local Stigmaticbut it remains unreleased. He lifted his self-imposed exile with the striking Sea of Love as a hard-drinking policeman. This marked the second phase of Pacino's career, being the first to feature his now famous dark, owl eyes and hoarse, gravelly voice.

He went into romantic mode for Frankie and Johnny A mixture of technical perfection he plays a blind man and charisma, the role was tailor-made for him, and remains a classic. The next few years would see Pacino becoming more comfortable with acting and movies as a business, turning out great roles in great films with more frequency and less of the demanding personal involvement of his wilder days.

Carlito's Way proved another gangster classic, as did the epic crime drama Heat directed by Michael Mann and co-starring Robert De Niro. He directed the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Looking for Richard In the s, Pacino starred in a number of theatrical blockbusters, including Ocean's Thirteenbut his choice in television roles the vicious, closeted Roy Cohn in the HBO miniseries Angels in America and his sensitive portrayal of Jack Kevorkian, in the television movie You Don't Know Jack are reminiscent of the bolder choices of his early career.

As ofPacino is years-old. He has never retired from acting, and continues to appear regularly in film. Tom Hanks. Producer Actor Writer Cast Away His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has called a "fractured" family. He moved around a great deal after his parents' divorce, living with a succession of step-families.

No problems, no alcoholism - just a confused childhood. He has no acting experience in college and credits the fact that he could not get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, and auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started.

Ron Howard was working on Splasha fantasy-comedy about a mermaid who falls in love with a business executive. Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, which eventually went to John Candy. After several flops and a moderate success with the comedy DragnetHanks' stature in the film industry rose. The broad success with the fantasy-comedy Big established him as a major Hollywood talent, both as a box office draw and within the film industry as an actor.

Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball legend turned manager in A League of Their Own Hanks has stated that his acting in earlier roles was not great, but that he subsequently improved. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks noted his "modern era of movie making My work has become less pretentiously fake and over the top".

This "modern era" began for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia The former was a blockbuster success about a widower who finds true love over the radio airwaves. Richard Schickel of Time magazine called his performance "charming", and most critics agreed that Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.

Hanks lost 35 pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role. In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated, "Above all, credit for Philadelphia's success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar.

During his acceptance speech, he revealed that his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, two people with whom he was close, were gay. Hanks remarked: "When I read the script for Gump, I saw it as one of those kind of grand, hopeful movies that the audience can go to and feel I got that from the movies a hundred million times when I was a kid.

I still do. Hanks' next role - astronaut and commander Jim Lovell, in the docudrama Apollo 13 - reunited him with Ron Howard. The movie also earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning two. A year later, he made his directing debut with the musical comedy That Thing You Do! As ofHanks is years-old. He has never retired from acting, and has remained active in the film industry for more than four decades.

Cate Blanchett. Actress Producer Writer Carol She has an older brother and a younger sister. When she was ten years old, her year-old father died of a sudden heart attack. Her mother never remarried, and her grandmother moved in to help her mother. Cate graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim.

She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama Heartlandagain winning critical acclaim. She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road Cate married writer Andrew Upton in She had met him a year earlier on a movie set, and they didn't like each other at first. He thought she was aloof, and she thought he was arrogant, but then they connected over a poker game at a party, and she went home with him that night.

Three weeks later he proposed marriage and they quickly married before she went off to England to play her breakthrough role in films: the title character in Elizabeth for which she won numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow.

She also gave birth to her first child, son Dashiell, in Inshe gave birth to her second son Roman.

Acters biography

Two years later, she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for playing a teacher having an affair with an underage student in Notes on a Scandal Inshe returned to the role that made her a star in Elizabeth: The Golden Age It earned her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. Inshe gave birth to her third child, son Ignatius.

She and her husband became artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company, choosing to spend more time in Australia raising their three sons. She also purchased a multi-million dollar home in Sydney, Australia and named it Bulwarra and made extensive renovations to it. Because of her life in Australia, her film work became sporadic, until Woody Allen cast her in the title role in Blue Jasminewhich won her the Academy Award as Best Actress.

She ended her job as artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, while her husband continued there for two more years before he too resigned. Inshe adopted her daughter Edith in her father's homeland of the United States. That same year, she and her husband sold their multi-million dollar home in Australia at a profit and moved to America.

Reasons varied from her wanting to work more in America to wanting to familiarize herself with her late father's American heritage. She played the title role of Carola s American housewife in a lesbian affair with a younger woman, for which she received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. While most actresses might slow down in their forties, Blanchett did the opposite by stretching her boundaries even further, such as when she played 13 different characters in Manifesto and then making her Broadway debut in in "The Present", which is her husband's adaptation of Chekhov's play "Platonov" for which she earned a Tony nomination as Best Actress in a Play.

Also inshe was selected for the highest honor in her birth country: the Companion of the Order of Australia AC. Audrey Hepburn. Actress Soundtrack Breakfast at Tiffany's After her parents' divorce, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school. Later, when her mother moved back to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well.

While she vacationed with her mother in Arnhem, Netherlands, Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, she went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model, she was graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life--until the film producers came calling.

Inafter being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film Nederlands in zeven lessen The part still wasn't much, so she headed to America to try her luck there. Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday This film turned out to be a smashing success, and she won an Oscar as Best Actress.

On September 25,she married actor Mel Ferrer. She also starred in Sabrinafor which she received another Academy Award nomination. She starred in the films Funny Face and Love in the Afternoon On July 17,she gave birth to her first son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she played Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany'sfor which she received another Oscar nomination.

She scored commercial success again playing Regina Lampert in the espionage caper Charade One of Audrey's most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady After a couple of other movies, most notably Two for the Roadshe hit pay dirt and another nomination in Wait Until Dark InAudrey decided to retire from acting while she was on top. She divorced from Mel Ferrer in On January 19,she married Dr.

Andrea Dotti. From time to time, she would appear on the silver screen. She was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always Audrey Hepburn died, aged 63, on January 20, in Tolochnaz, Vaud, Switzerland, from appendicular cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named in Empire magazine's "The Top Movie Stars of All Time".

Kate Winslet. Ask Kate Winslet what she likes about any of her characters, and the word "ballsy" is bound to pop up at least once. The British actress has made a point of eschewing straightforward pretty-girl parts in favor of more devilish damsels; as a result, she's built an eclectic resume that runs the gamut from Shakespearean tragedy to modern-day mysticism and erotica.

Kate came into her talent at an early age. She scored her first professional gig at eleven, dancing opposite the Honey Monster in a commercial for a kids' cereal. She started acting lessons around the same time, which led to formal training at a performing arts high school. Over the next few years, she appeared on stage regularly and landed a few bit parts in sitcoms.

Her first big break came at age 17, when she was cast as an obsessive adolescent in Heavenly Creatures The film, based on the true story of two fantasy-gripped girls who commit a brutal murder, received modest distribution but was roundly praised by critics. Still a relative unknown, Winslet attended a cattle call audition the next year for Ang Lee 's Sense and Sensibility She made an immediate impression on the film's star, Emma Thompsonand beat out more than a hundred other hopefuls for the part of plucky Marianne Dashwood.

Winslet followed up with two more period pieces, playing the rebellious heroine in Jude and Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh 's Hamlet The role that transformed Winslet from art house attraction to international star was Rose DeWitt Bukater, the passionate, rosy-cheeked aristocrat in James Cameron 's Titanic Young girls the world over both idolized and identified with Winslet, swooning over all that face time opposite heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and noting her refreshingly healthy, unemaciated physique.

Winslet's performance also garnered a Best Actress nomination, making her the youngest actress to ever receive two Academy Award nominations. After the swell of unexpected attention surrounding TitanicWinslet was eager to retreat into independent projects. Rumor has it that she turned down the lead roles in both Shakespeare in Love and Anna and the King in order to play adventurous soul searchers in Hideous Kinky and Holy Smoke The former cast her as a young single mother traveling through s Morocco with her daughters in tow; the latter, as a zealous follower of a guru tricked into a "deprogramming" session in the Australian outback.

The next year found her back in period dress as the Marquis de Sade's chambermaid and accomplice in Quills Kate holds the distinction of being the youngest actor ever honored with four Academy Award nominations she received her fourth at age As ofshe has been nominated for an Oscar seven times, winning one of them: she received the Best Actress Oscar for the drama The Readerplaying a former concentration camp guard.

Off camera, Winslet is known for her mischievous pranks and familial devotion. Inshe married assistant director Jim Threapleton. They had a daughter, Mia Honey Threapleton, in October They divorced in After seven years of marriage, in February they announced that they had amicably separated, and divorced in October InKate married Ned Rocknroll, with whom she has a son.

Viola Davis. Actress Producer Soundtrack Fences Viola Davis is a critically revered actress of film, television, and theater and has won rave reviews for her multitude of substantial and intriguingly diverse roles. Audiences across the United States and internationally have admired her for her work- including her celebrated, Oscar-nominated performances in The HelpDoubtand her Oscar winning performance in Fences In addition to acting, Viola currently produces alongside her husband and producing partner, Julius Tennon, through their JuVee Productions banner.

Together they have produced award-garnering productions across theater, television, and film. Cary Grant. Actor Producer Soundtrack Charade His early years in Bristol would have been an ordinary lower-middle-class childhood, except for one extraordinary event. At age nine, he came home from school one day and was told his mother had gone off to a seaside resort.

However, the real truth was that she had been placed in a mental institution, where she would remain for years, and he was never told about it he would not see his mother again until he was in his late 20s. He left school at age 14, lying about his age and forging his father's signature on a letter to join Bob Pender 's troupe of knockabout comedians.

He learned pantomime as well as acrobatics as he toured with the Pender troupe in the English provinces, picked up a Cockney accent in the music halls in London, and then in Julywas one of the eight Pender boys selected to go to the United States. Their show on Broadway, "Good Times", ran for performances, giving Grant time to acclimatize.

He would stay in America. Mae West wanted Grant for She Done Him Wrong because she saw his combination of virility, sexuality and the aura and bearing of a gentleman. Grant was young enough to begin the new career of fatherhood when he stopped making movies at age One biographer said Grant was alienated by the new realism in the film industry. In the s and early s, he had invented a man-of-the-world persona and a style - "high comedy with polished words".

They knew what the director, Alfred Hitchcockwanted to do with a scene, they rehearsed it, put in some clever double entendres that got past the censors, and then the scene was filmed. Although Grant retired from the acters biography, he remained active. He accepted a position on the board of directors at Faberge. By all accounts this position was not honorary, as some had assumed.

Grant regularly attended meetings and traveled internationally to support them. The position also permitted use of a private plane, which Grant could use to fly to see his daughter wherever her mother Dyan Cannonwas working. Grant expressed no interest in making a career comeback. He was in good health until almost the end of his life, when he suffered a mild stroke in October In his last years, he undertook tours of the United States in a one-man-show, "A Conversation with Cary Grant", in which he would show clips from his films and answer audience questions.

Morgan Freeman. Actor Producer Director Se7en With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. His first dramatic arts exposure was on the stage including appearing in an all-African American production of the exuberant musical Hello, Dolly!.

Throughout the s, he continued his work on stage, winning Drama Desk and Clarence Derwent Awards and receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance in The Mighty Gents in Next, there was a small role in the thriller Blade ; then he played Casca in Julius Caesar and the title role in Coriolanus Regular work was coming in for the talented Freeman and he appeared in the prison dramas Attica and BrubakerEyewitnessand portrayed the final 24 hours of slain Malcolm X in Death of a Prophet For most of the s, Freeman continued to contribute decent enough performances in films that fluctuated in their quality.

However, he really stood out, scoring an Oscar nomination as a merciless hoodlum in Street Smart and, then, he dazzled audiences and pulled a second Oscar nomination in the film version of Driving Miss Daisy opposite Jessica Tandy. The same year, Freeman teamed up with youthful Matthew Broderick and fiery Denzel Washington in the epic Civil War drama Glory about freed slaves being recruited to form the first all-African American fighting brigade.

Freeman's next role was as gunman Ned Logan, wooed out of retirement by friend William Munny to avenge several prostitutes in the wild west town of Big Whiskey in Clint Eastwood 's de-mythologized western Unforgiven The film was a sh and scored an acting Oscar for Gene Hackmana directing Oscar for Eastwood, and the Oscar for best picture. InFreeman made his directorial debut on Bopha!

More strong scripts came in, and Freeman was acters biography behind bars depicting a knowledgeable inmate and obtaining his third Oscar nominationbefriending falsely accused banker Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption He was then back out hunting a religious serial killer in Se7enstarred alongside Keanu Reeves in Chain Reactionand was pursuing another acters biography murderer in Kiss the Girls Now highly popular, he was much in demand with cinema audiences, and he co-starred in the terrorist drama The Sum of All Fearswas a military officer in the Stephen King -inspired Dreamcatchergave divine guidance as God to Jim Carrey in Bruce Almightyand played a minor role in the comedy The Big Bounce First, he he teamed up with good friend Clint Eastwood to appear in the drama, Million Dollar Baby Freeman's on-screen performance is simply world-class as ex-prize fighter Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris, who works in a run-down boxing gym alongside grizzled trainer Frankie Dunn, as the two work together to hone the skills of never-say-die female boxer Hilary Swank.

Freeman received his fourth Oscar nomination and, finally, impressed the Academy's judges enough to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. Freeman would reprise his role in the two sequels of the record-breaking, genre-redefining trilogy. Roles in tentpoles and indies followed; highlights include his role as a crime boss in Lucky Number Slevina second go-round as God in Evan Almighty with Steve Carell taking over for Jim Carreyand a supporting role in Ben Affleck 's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone He co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the breakout hit The Bucket List inand followed that up with another box-office success, Wantedthen segued into the second Batman film, The Dark Knight Inhe reunited with Eastwood to star in the director's true-life drama Invictuson which Freeman also served as an executive producer.

As a director, he won two Academy Awards for the film Gandhi Richard Burton — Welsh actor. Michael Caine — English actor. Caine was raised in London, and his hallmark was a strong Cockney accent. Charlie Chaplin — English actor. Chaplin was an iconic film actor whose career spanned the birth of movies in the silent era to mainstream colour films.

Born into a Jewish family, Day-Lewis is one of the most successful and selective actors of his generation. Alec Guinness — English actor. Guinness is considered one of the greatest actors of his generation.