Bio,Pictures,Gossip At SuperStarsAll.com

Brad Pitt Profile

With looks that have inspired countless People magazine covers, Internet shrines, and paparazzi blitzkreigs, Brad Pitt is an actor whose very name inspires drooling platitudes, more about male beauty than about acting. Following his breakthrough as the wickedly charming drifter who seduces Geena Davis and then robs her blind in Thelma & Louise (1991), Pitt became one of Hollywood’s hottest properties and spent most of the 1990s being lauded as everything from Robert Redford’s heir apparent to the Sexiest Man Alive.

Pitt’s ascension to his celluloid throne was a long and sometimes frustrating one, however. The son of a trucking company manager, Pitt was born December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, OK. Raised in Missouri as the oldest of three children, and brought up in a strict Baptist household, Pitt enrolled at the University of Missouri, following high school graduation, studying journalism and advertising. However, after discovering his love of acting, he dropped out of college two credit hours before he could graduate and moved to Hollywood. Fearful of his parents’ reaction, he told them he was going to Pasadena to study at the Art Center College of Design. Once in California, Pitt took acting classes and supported himself with a variety of odd jobs that included chauffeuring strippers to private parties, waiting tables, and wearing a giant chicken suit for a local restaurant chain. His first break came when he landed a small recurring role on Dallas, and a part in a teenage-slasher movie, Cutting Class (1989) (opposite Roddy McDowall), marked his inauspicious entrance into the world of feature films. The previous year, Pitt’s acting experience had been limited to the TV movie A Stoning in Fulgham County (1988).

1991 marked the end of Pitt’s obscurity, as it was the year he made his appearance in Thelma & Louise. After becoming famous practically overnight, Pitt unfortunately chose to channel his newfound celebrity into Ralph Bakshi’s disastrous animation/live action combo Cool World (1992). Following this misstep, Pitt took a starring role in director Tom Di Cillo’s independent film Johnny Suede. The film failed to score with critics or at the box office and Pitt’s documented clashes with the director allegedly inspired Di Cillo to pattern the character of the vain and egotistical Chad Palomino, in his 1995 Living in Oblivion, after the actor. Pitt’s next venture, Robert Redford’s lyrical fly-fishing drama A River Runs Through It (2002), gave the actor a much-needed chance to prove that he had talent in addition to physical appeal, and doubtless drew on Pitt’s religious upbringing (casting, as it did, the fair-haired actor as a minister’s son),

Following his performance in Redford’s film, Pitt appeared in Kalifornia and True Romance (both 1993), two road movies featuring fallen women and violent sociopaths. Pitt’s next major role did not arrive until early 1994, when he was cast as the lead of the gorgeously photographed Legends of the Fall. As he did in A River Runs Through It, Pitt portrayed a free-spirited, strong-willed brother, but this time had greater opportunity to further develop his enigmatic character. Following the film’s release, People magazine dubbed him the Sexiest Man Alive. Later that same year, fans watched in anticipation as Pitt exchanged his outdoorsy persona for the brooding, gothic posturing of Anne Rice’s tortured vampire Louis in the film adaptation of -Interview With the Vampire. Starring opposite Tom Cruise, Pitt enjoyed the fame generated by the film’s success.

Pitt next starred in the forgettable romantic comedy The Favor (1994) before going on to play a rookie detective investigating a series of gruesome crimes opposite Morgan Freeman in Seven (1995). In 1997, Pitt received a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a visionary mental patient in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys; the same year, Pitt attempted an Austrian accent and put on a backpack to play mountaineer Heinrich Harrar in Seven Years in Tibet. The film met with mixed reviews and generated a fair amount of controversy, thanks in part to the revelation that the real-life Harrar had in fact been a Nazi. Furthermore, due to its pro-Tibetan stance, the film also resulted in Pitt’s permanent banishment from China. Following Tibet, Pitt traveled in a less inflammatory direction with Alan J. Pakula’s The Devil’s Own, in which he starred with fellow screen icon Harrison Ford. Despite this seemingly faultless pairing, the film was a relative critical and box-office failure. In 1998, Pitt tried his hand at romantic drama, portraying Death in Meet Joe Black, the most expensive non-special effects film ever made. The film, which weighed in at three hours in length, met with excessively mixed reviews, although more than one critic remarked that Pitt certainly made a very appealing representative of the afterlife.

Pitt’s penchant for quirk was prevalent with his cameo in the surreal comic fantasy Being John Malkovich (1999) and carried over into his role as Tyler Durden, the mysterious and anti-materialistic soap salesman in David Fincher’s controversial Fight Club the same year. The odd characterizations didn’t let up with his appearance as the audibly indecipherable pugilist in Guy Ritchie’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch (2000).

In July of 2000, the man voted “Most Sexy Actor Alive” by virtually every entertainment publication currently in circulation crushed the hearts of millions of adoring female fans when he wed popular film and television actress Jennifer Aniston in a relatively modest (at least by Hollywood standards) and intimate service.

Pitt’s next turn on the big screen found him re-teamed with Robert Redford, this time sharing the screen with the A River Runs Through It director in the espionage thriller Spy Game (2001). A fairly retro-straight-laced role for an actor who had become identified with his increasingly eccentric roles, he was soon cast in Steven Soderbergh’s remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean’s 11 (2001), the tale of a group of criminals who plot to rob a string of casinos.

Following a decidedly busy 2001 that also included a lead role opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic crime-comedy The Mexican, Pitt was virtually absent from the big-screen over the next three years. After walking away from the ambitious and troubled Darren Aronofsky production The Fountain, he popped up for a very brief cameo in pal George Clooney’s 2002 directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and lent his voice to the animated adventure Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, but spent the majority of his time working on the historical epic Troy (2004). Directed by Wolfgang Peterson, the film employed a huge cast, crew and budget.

The media engulfed Pitt’s next screen role with tabloid fervor, as it cast him opposite bombshell Angelina Jolie. While the comedic actioner Mr. and Mrs. Smith grossed dollar one at the box office, the stars’ off-camera relationship that made some of 2005’s biggest headlines. Before long, Pitt had split from his wife Jennifer Aniston and adopted Jolie’s two children. The family expanded to five in 2006 - with the birth of the couple’s first child - and six in 2007, with the adoption of a Vietnamese boy.

In addition to increasing his family in 2006, Pitt began expanding his career by acting as producer on a number of high profile films including Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, the Best Picture Winner for 2006. He also acted opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s drama Babel. Interestingly, that film hit theaters the same year as The Fountain, a film that was originally set to star the duo. Pitt also stayed busy as an actor, reteaming with many familiar on-screen pals for Ocean’s Thirteen. At about the same time, Pitt teamed up with Ridley Scott to co-produce a period western, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Pitt also stars in the film, as James.

The year 2007 found Pitt involved, simultaneously, in a number of increasingly intelligent and distinguished projects. He signed on to reteam with David Fincher for the first occasion since Fight Club, with -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - a bittersweet fantasy, adapted by Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, about a man who falls in love while he is aging in reverse. Pitt also partnered up with director Kevin MacDonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland) to star in State of Play, an American cinematization of the British miniseries of the same name, about a journalist torn between his loyalty to a congressional friend and his professional need to solve a related homicide.

On the development end, Pitt’s production shingle, -Plan B, oversaw several projects through the end of 2008. These included a two-picture deal with director Ryan Murphy (Running with Scissors): a biopic of Watergate whistleblower Martha Mitchell starring Meryl Streep (as Mitchell) and Jill Clayburgh (as Pat Nixon) and entitled Dirty Tricks; and a hotly-anticipated cinematization of the Elizabeth Gilbert memoir -Eat, Pray, Love regarding the author’s (Julia Roberts) attempts to find herself after an ugly divorce.

Most hotly anticipated, however, was the Pitt produced, Michael Winterbottom-directed Jolie-starrer A Mighty Heart - the tale of Mariane Pearl (wife of the ill-fated New York Times correspondent Daniel Pearl) and her diligent search for her husband in Pakistan - little realizing that he had been kidnapped and executed. Paramount and Plan B slated the film to debut in late June 2007.

Shia LaBeouf Profile

Shia LaBeouf decided, during his preteen years, to launch himself as an actor, and stories abound concerning how far he carried his own drive to establish himself. According to People Weekly magazine, LaBeouf auditioned for Even Stevens (2000), the Disney Channel series that delivered him into the spotlight, and subsequently told each of the youngsters who were waiting to audition that he had the part — thus eliminating the competition. Such determination, coupled with raw ability and charisma, doubtless helped propel LaBeouf straight to the head of Hollywood’s young stars.

Born on June 11, 1986, in Los Angeles, LaBeouf grew up in the neighborhood of Echo Park, and was raised in a decidedly colorful family of mixed ethnicity. His Cajun father, Jeffrey LaBeouf, was a Vietnam vet who held a series of odd jobs as a circus clown, a sno-cone salesman, and a stand-up comic. Shia’s Jewish mother, Shayna, worked as a clothier and jewelry craftswoman. Upset about his mother’s financial struggles after his parents split, Shia observed another boy of about the same age (a cast member of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) whose financial returns from Quinn gave him a posh lifestyle. LaBeouf suddenly understood the financial benefits of before-the-camera work, and — though he had no formal dramatic training — foresaw himself breaking into acting via comedy. He used a phone book to find an agent, then honed a stand-up comedy act over the course of two years, that found him (at age 12) delivering “blue” routines to adult audiences at a Pasadena comedy club, The Ice House. By his own admission, LaBeouf was booted out of every school he attended (for his notoriously profane mouth and for other reasons), but he more than compensated for this with his professional drive. By 2000, he auditioned for the Even Stevens series on Disney, and landed the part.

That sitcom concerned the relationship between Louis Stevens (LaBeouf), a silly and goofy teen, and his older sister, Ren (Christy Carlson Romano). The program quickly found an audience on Disney and lasted for several seasons; its popularity spawned a small-screen feature, The Even Stevens Movie, in 2003. The time span of 2002 to 2003 was a busy one for LaBeouf — arguably his breakthrough period. In addition to The Even Stevens Movie, the actor signed on to participate in season two of the controversial Project Greenlight, the Damon and Affleck-created national contest for aspiring indie filmmakers, with its attached HBO reality series of the same name. Thus, at-home viewers had the opportunity to watch LaBeouf, Elden Hensen, Kathleen Quinlan, Amy Smart, and other actors endure the tumultuous production of Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin’s quirky comedy drama The Battle of Shaker Heights, months prior to that film’s release. When the finished film debuted in August of 2003, it did so to generally terrible reviews, but a number of journalists (Roger Ebert among them) singled out LaBeouf’s lead performance as something special amid a decidedly flawed film.

That same year, LaBeouf starred in the Andrew Davis-directed Disney fantasy Holes, as a youngster sent to an oddball Texas detention center and forced to dig a series of 5-foot-deep pits in the desert sun for mysterious reasons; it scored with the public and press and became one of the sleeper hits of 2003. And indeed, its success doubtless spurred LaBeouf on to even greater heights, his dramatic ability honed even more sharply by his interaction with co-star Jon Voight (Coming Home), whom LaBeouf would later list as a key professional influence. In late 2004, LaBeouf signed on for the lead in another Disney film, The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) — a biopic of golfer Francis Ouimet directed by Bill Paxton; the film itself divided critics rather sharply but provided an outstanding showcase for LaBeouf’s talents.

The next several years found LaBeouf signing on for several of the most sought-after A-list roles in Hollywood — from director Francis Lawrence’s apocalyptic fantasy Constantine (2005), as a demon-slayer fighting alongside Keanu Reeves; to Dito Montiel’s A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, as a young man struggling to find a different road out of the ghetto than crime and prison. In 2007, the actor voiced a surfing penguin in the CG-animated comedy Surf’s Up, and geared up for his role as Sam Witwicky in one of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year, the Michael Bay-directed Transformers — based on the action figures that were rabidly popular in the mid-’80s. At the same time, audiences could catch LaBeouf in Salton Sea-director D.J. Caruso’s thriller Disturbia — the tale of a deeply depressed, homebound teen who teams up with a local girl to prove that their next door neighbor is a much sought-after serial killer.

Zac Efron Profile

Teenage heartthrob Zac Efron was born October 18, 1987, in San Luis Obispo, California. When he was just 11 years old, Efron began taking singing lessons, which led to roles in several theater productions. He later guest starred in television series such as Firefly, ER, and CSI: Miami and landed a recurring role on Summerland.

In 2006, Efron starred in the hugely popular Disney Channel movie High School Musical. He plays a guy named Troy who falls for a girl named Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) when they meet at a karoke contest.

The well-rounded actor’s hobbies include golf, skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding, and playing the piano and guitar. He has two Australian Shepherds and a Siamese cat.
Actor Zac Efron’s career began when he was just 11 years old, and his parents took note of his tremendous singing talent. They let him audition for a production of +Gypsy, and he won a small roll. The show ran for 90 performances, and Efron took to the stage like a fish to water. He graduated to larger roles in other plays like +Auntie Mame, +The Music Man, and +Little Shop of Horrors, before eventually making the transition to TV. Before long, he’d scored a recurring role on the hit series Summerland in 2004. This would seem like his big break, but an even bigger role would come the next year, in the hugely popular Disney feature High School Musical. Efron immediately earned a strong, loyal fan base, and by 2007, he was appearing in the highly anticipated remake of the John Waters musical Hairspray.

Denzel Washington Profile

One of Hollywood’s sexiest and most magnetic leading men, Denzel Washington’s poise and radiantly sane intelligence permeate whatever film he is in, be it a socially conscious drama, biopic, or suspense thriller. More importantly, Washington’s efforts, alongside those of director Spike Lee, have done much to dramatically expand the range of dramatic roles given to African-American actors and actresses.

The son of a Pentecostal minister and a hairdresser, Washington was born in Mount Vernon, NY, on December 28, 1954. His parents’ professions shaped Washington’s early ambition to launch himself into show business: from his minister father he learned the power of performance, while hours in his mother’s salon (listening to stories) gave him a love of storytelling. Unfortunately, when Washington was 14, his folks’ marriage took a turn for the worse, and he and his older sister were sent away to boarding school so that they would not be exposed to their parents’ eventual divorce.

Washington later attended Fordham University, where he attained a B.A. in Journalism in 1977. He still found time to pursue his interest in acting, however, and after graduation he moved to San Francisco, where he won a scholarship to the American Conservatory Theatre. Washington stayed with the ACT for a year, and, after his time there, he began acting in various television movies and made his film debut in the 1981 Carbon Copy. Although he had a starring role (as the illegitimate son of a rich white man), Washington didn’t find real recognition until he joined the cast of John Falsey and Joshua Brand’s long-running TV series St. Elsewhere in 1982. He won critical raves and audience adoration for his portrayal of Dr. Phillip Chandler, and he began to attract Hollywood notice. In 1987, he starred as anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom alongside Kevin Kline, and though the film itself alienated some critics (Pauline Kael called it “dumbfounding”), Washington’s powerful performance earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

Two years later, Washington netted another Best Supporting Actor nod — and won the award — for his turn as an embittered yet courageous runaway slave in the Civil War drama Glory. The honor effectively put him on the Hollywood A-List. Some of his more notable work came from his collaboration with director Spike Lee; over the course of the 1990s, Washington starred in three of his films, playing a jazz trumpeter in Mo’ Better Blues (1990), the title role in Lee’s epic 1992 biopic Malcolm X (for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination), and the convict father of a high-school basketball star in He Got Game (1998).

Washington also turned in powerful performances in a number of other films, such as Mississippi Masala (1991), as a man in love with an Indian woman; Philadelphia (1993), as a slightly homophobic lawyer who takes on the cause of an AIDS-stricken litigator (Tom Hanks); and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), as a 1940s private detective, Easy Rawlins. Washington also reeled in large audiences in action roles, with the top box-office draw of such thrillers as The Pelican Brief (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), and The Siege (1998) attesting to his capabilities. In 1999, Washington starred in another thriller, The Bone Collector, playing a paralyzed forensics expert who joins forces with a young policewoman (Angelina Jolie) to track down a serial killer. That same year, he starred in the title role of Norman Jewison’s The Hurricane. Based on the true story of a boxer wrongly accused of murdering three people in 1966, the film featured stellar work by Washington as the wronged man, further demonstrating his remarkable capacity for telling a good story. His performance earned him a number of honors, including a Best Actor Golden Globe and a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

After another strong performance as a high-school football coach in Boaz Yakin’s Remember the Titans, Washington cut dramatically against his “nice guy” typecast to play a corrupt policeman in Training Day, a gritty cop drama helmed by Antoine Fuqua. Washington surprised audiences and critics with his change of direction, but in the eyes of many, this change of direction made him a more compelling screen presence than ever before. (It also netted him an Oscar for Best Actor.)

2002 marked an uneven year for Washington. He joined the cast of Nick Cassavetes’ absurd melodrama John Q., as a father so desperate to get medical attention for his ailing son that he holds an entire hospital hostage and contemplates killing himself to donate his own heart to the boy. Critics didn’t buy the film; it struck all but the least-discriminating as a desperate attempt by Washington to bring credulity and respectability to a series of ludicrous, manipulative Hollywood contrivances. John Q. nonetheless performed healthily at the box (it grossed over a million dollars worldwide from a 36-million-dollar budget). That same fall, Washington received hearty praise for

his directorial and on-camera work in Antwone Fisher (2002), in which he played a concerned naval psychiatrist, and even more so for director Carl Franklin’s 2003 crime thriller Out of Time. Somewhat reminiscent of his role in 1991’s crime drama Ricochet, Out of Time casts Washington as an upstanding police officer framed for the murder of a prominent citizen.

In 2004, Washington teamed up with Jonathan Demme for the first occasion since 1993’s Philadelphia, to star in the controversial remake of 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate. Washington stars in the picture as soldier Bennett Marco (the role originally performed by Frank Sinatra), who, along with his platoon, is kidnapped and brainwashed during the first Gulf War. Later that year, Washington worked alongside Christopher Walken and Dakota Fanning in another hellraiser, director Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, as a bodyguard who carves a bloody swath of vengeance, attempting to rescue a little girl kidnapped under his watch.

Washington made no major onscreen appearances in 2005 — and indeed, kept his activity during 2006 and 2007 to an absolute minimum. In ‘06, he joined the cast of Spike Lee’s thriller Inside Man as a detective assigned to thwart the machinations of a psychotically cunning burglar (Clive Owen). The film opened to spectacular reviews and box-office grosses in March 2006, keeping Washington on top of his game and bringing Lee (whose last major feature was the disappointing 2004 comedy She Hate Me) back to the pinnacle of success. That same year, Washington joined forces once again with Tony Scott in the sci-fi action hybrid , as an ATF agent on the trail of a terrorist, who discovers a way to “bridge” the present to the past to view the details of a bomb plot that unfolded days earlier. The Scott film garnered a fair number of respectable reviews but ultimately divided critics. bowed in the U.S. in late November 2006. Meanwhile, Washington signed on for another action thriller, entitled American Gangster — this time under the aegis of Tony Scott’s brother Ridley — about a drug-dealing Mafioso who smuggles heroin into the U.S. in the corpses of deceased Vietnam veterans.

Johnny Depp Biography

Initially known as a teen idol thanks to his role on 21 Jump Street and tortured pretty-boy looks, Johnny Depp survived the perils of adolescent heartthrob status to earn a reputation as a respected adult actor. His numerous collaborations with director Tim Burton, as well as solid performances in a number of critically acclaimed films, have allowed Depp to carve a niche for himself as a serious, if idiosyncratic performer, a real-life role that has continuously surprised critics intent on writing him off as just another photogenic Tiger Beat casualty.

Born in Kentucky and raised in Florida,Depp had the kind of upbringing that would readily lend itself to his future portrayals of brooding lost boys. After his parents divorced when he was 16, he dropped out of school a year later in the hopes of making his way in the world as a musician. Depp fronted a series of garage bands; the most successful of these, the Kids, was once the opening act for Iggy Pop. During slack times in the music business, Depp sold pens by phone. He got introduced to acting after a visit to L.A. with his former wife, who introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage, who encouraged Depp to give it a try. The young actor made his film debut in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (years after attaining stardom, Depp sentimentally played a cameo in the last of the Elm Street series), and his climb to fame was accelerated in 1987, when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the Canadian-filmed TV series 21 Jump Street. Biding his time in “teen heartthrob” roles, Depp was first given a chance to exhibit his exhausting versatility in the title role of Tim Burton’s fantasy Edward Scissorhands (1990).

Following the success of Edward Scissorhands, the actor made a conscious and successful effort never to repeat himself in his subsequent characterizations. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increasing popularity for his work, most notably in Benny & Joon (1993), in which he played a troubled young man who fancies himself the reincarnation of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), which cast him as its title character, a young man dissatisfied with the confines of his small-town life. Following Gilbert Grape, Depp outdid himself in Burton’s Ed Wood (1994), with his outrageous but lovable portrayal of the angora-sweater-worshipping World’s Worst Film Director. The same year, he further exercised his versatility playing a 19th-century accountant in Dead Man, Jim Jarmusch’s otherworldly Western. With his excellent portrayal of the titular undercover FBI agent in Mike Newell’s 1997 Donnie Brasco, Depp continued to ascend the Hollywood ranks. After a starring turn as Hunter S. Thompson’s alter ego in Terry Gilliam’s trippy adaptation of -Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Depp tried his hand at sci-fi horror with The Astronaut’s Wife in 1999. That same year, he again collaborated with Burton on Sleepy Hollow, starring as a prim, driven Ichabod Crane in the remake of Washington Irving’s classic tale of gothic terror. Appearing the following year in the small but popular romantic drama Chocolat, Depp jumped back into the big time with his role as real-life cocaine kingpin George Jung in Blow (2001) before gearing up for roles in the Jack the Ripper thriller From Hell (2001) and Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).

In what was perhaps his most surprising departure since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Depp shed his oftentimes angst-ridden persona for a role as flamboyant pirate Jack Sparrow in 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Essaying the crusty role in the manner of a drunken, debauched rock star — Depp publicly admitted Keith Richards was his inspiration — the actor added a dose of off-kilter fun to an above-average summer thrill ride, and found himself with his biggest hit and first Oscar nomination ever.

By this point in his wildly varied career, even Depp’s most devoted fans would be hard pressed to speculate on the trajectory of his future, and the only certainty seemed to be that whatever role he accepted, it would be chosen on his own terms. Shortly after making his maiden voyage into the horrific world of Stephen King with an amusingly disheveled performance in Secret Window, Depp warmed to a wider audience with another Oscar-nominated performance, as author J.M. Barrie in the critically acclaimed Finding Neverland. A tale of wonder based on the friendship that inspired Barrie to pen the classic tale -Peter Pan, Finding Neverland earned wide praise from audiences and critics alike. After once again re-teaming with director Burton for both a vocal performance in the animated feature The Corpse Bride and a role as mysterious candy magnate Willy Wonka in 2005, Depp reprised his popular role as Jack Sparrow in the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which shattered box-office records. He also made plans to again work with Tim Burton, this time on an adaptation of Sweeney Todd, which was released in 2007 — a year that would also see the release of the third Pirates movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Around this time, Depp began flexing his producing muscles, lending his talent in that capacity to both a big-screen adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary and the sweeping historical drama Shantaram.

In addition to his acting, Depp has also gained a certain amount of fame for his romantic involvements with several starlets and celebrities, including Winona Ryder, Sherilyn Fenn, and Kate Moss. In 1999, he fathered a daughter with French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis, as well as a son in 2002. He was also the owner of the Viper Room, a popular L.A. nightspot which gained notoriety when actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on its doorstep in 1993.

Adam Sandler

Name : Adam Sandler

Birth Name : Adam Richard Sandler
Profession : Actor, comedian, producer, musician, writer
Date of Birth : September 09, 1966
Place of Birth : Brooklyn, New York
Height : 5′ 10%22
Claim to fame : Cast member of Saturday Night Live (1990-1995)
 
Biography 
 
 
One of the most endearing goofballs to ever grace the stages of Saturday Night Live, affectionately offensive funnyman Adam Sandler has often been cited as the writer/performer who almost single-handedly rescued the long-running late-night television staple when the chips were down and it appeared to have run its course. Though his polarizing antics have divided audiences and critics who often dismiss him as lowbrow and obnoxious, Sandler’s films, as well as the films of his Happy Madison production company, have performed consistently well at the box office despite harsh and frequent critical lashings.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, in September of 1966, it may come as no surprise that Sandler was a shameless class clown who left his classmates in stitches and his teachers with a handful. Never considering to utilize his gift of humor to pursue a career, Sandler eventually realized his potential when at the age of 17 his brother encouraged him to take the stage at an amateur comedy competition. A natural at making the audience laugh, the aspiring comedian nurtured his talents while attending New York University and studying for a Fine Arts Degree. With early appearances on The Cosby Show and the MTV game show Remote Control providing the increasingly busy Sandler with a growing fan base, an early feature role coincided with his %22discovery%22 by SNL cast member Dennis Miller at an L.A. comedy club. As the unfortunately named Shecky Moskowitz, his role as a struggling comedian in Going Overboard (1989) served as an interesting parallel to his actual career trajectory but did little to display his true comic talents.

It wasn’t until SNL producers took Miller’s praise to heart and hired the fledgling comic as writer on the program that Sandler’s talents were truly set to shine. Frequent appearances as Opera Man and Canteen Boy soon elevated him to player status, and it wasn’t long before Sandler was the toast of the SNL cast in the mid-’90s. While appearing in SNL and sharpening his feature skills in such efforts as Shakes the Clown (1991) and Coneheads (1993), Sandler signed a recording contract with Warner Bros., and the release of the Grammy-nominated They’re All Gonna Laugh at You proved the most appropriate title imaginable as his career began to soar. Striking an odd balance between tasteless vulgarity and innocent charm, the album found Sandler gaining footing as an artist independent of the SNL universe and fueled his desire — as numerous cast members had before him — to strike out on his own. Though those who had attempted a departure for feature fame in the past had met with decidedly mixed results, Sandler’s loyal and devoted fan base proved strong supporters of such early solo feature efforts as Billy Madison (1996) and, especially, Happy Gilmore (1996).

His mixture of grandma-loving sweetness and pure, unfiltered comedic rage continued with his role as a slow-witted backwoods mama’s boy turned football superstar in The Waterboy (1998), and that same year found Sandler expanding his persona to more sensitive territory in The Wedding Singer. Perhaps his most appealing character up to that point, The Wedding Singer’s combination of ’80s nostalgia and a warmer, more personable persona found increasing support among those who had previously distanced themselves from his polarizing performances. Continuing to expand his repertoire with the action-oriented Bulletproof (1996) and the even more affectionate Big Daddy (1999), Sandler’s Happy Madison production company scored big by producing such efforts as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo (1999), Little Nicky (2000), The Animal, and Joe Dirt (both 2001). In 2002, Sandler appeared busier than ever, and continued to surprise audiences with the announcement of the %22Hanukkah Musical%22 8 Crazy Nights, a re-imagining of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town titled simply Mr. Deeds, and a curious collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson entitled Punch-Drunk Love. In addition to his film work, Sandler’s innovative web page (/http://www.adamsandler.com/) provides fans with numerous fun distractions in the form of video and personal messages to his fans. Returning to the screen opposite Jack Nicholson for the following year’s Anger Management, the film seemed closer to Sandler’s unhinged persona than his previous few efforts, though it got only a lukewarm reception from critics.
 
 

Alec Baldwin

Name : Alec Baldwin

 
Birth Name : Alexander Rae Baldwin III
Profession : actor, producer
Date of Birth : April 3, 1958
Place of Birth : Massapequa, New York, USA
Height : 5′ 11”
Claim to fame : as Adam Maitland in Beetlejuice (1988)
Fan Mail : Ron Meyer C/O Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, Ca 190212
USA
Biography 
Alec Baldwin, was born in April 3, 1958, in Massapequa, Long Island into the home of Alexander and Carol Baldwin. Alec was the second of six children and grew up on Long Island with his two sisters and three brothers in a working-class family. He worked as a waiter, a driver and a shirt salesman, and he did voice-overs for women’s makeup. In 1979, after three years of study in political science at George Washington University in D.C., he decided to try acting. He opted for the stage and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. Early in his career, Baldwin simultaneously starred in the TV daytime drama The Doctors and performed in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on stage in the evenings. After two and a half years, he left the show and moved to L.A., where he promptly won a starring role in TV’s short-lived Cutter to Houston. That helped him land on Knots in 1984, on which he played the evangelist Joshua Rush. In 1989, Baldwin achieved big-budget success playing ace CIA agent Jack Ryan in the undersea thriller The Hunt for Red October. The film’s popularity won him acclaim. 

Amitabh Bachchan

Name : Amitabh Bachchan

Birth Name : Amit Shrivastava
Profession : Actor
Date of Birth : 11 October 1942
Place of Birth : Allahabad, India
Height : 6′ 3”
Nicknames : Aby Baby, Big A, BIG B, Munna, One Man Industry,
Angry Young Man, Bollywood’s Shahenshah
Biography 
The trademark deep baritone voice, the tall, brooding persona, and intense eyes, made Amitabh Bachchan the ideal ‘Angry Young Man’ in the 1970s, thereby changing the face of Hindi cinema. The son of the late poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan was born in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. After completing his education from Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, he moved to Calcutta to work for shipping firm Shaw and Wallace. Later, Amitabh Bachchan moved to Bombay and struggled for a while to get his foot in the door of the Hindi film industry. The lanky, dark, and intensely brooding persona did not go down well with directors who were looking for wise-cracking, fair, loverboys - the trademark of the Indian hero in the 1960s.
Starting with the low key Saat Hindustani, Amitabh Bachchan struggled through many roles and was relegated at times to doing voice-overs and in one instance playing a deaf-mute (his deep baritone voice might have overshadowed the other actors!). Amitabh Bachchan broke through with Zanjeer (the Chain) in 1973 playing opposite his real-life love interest and future wife Jaya Bhaduri. His persona seemed apt for the 1970s, capturing the resentment of underemployed youth and the increasing cult of violence. Amitabh Bachchan reworked the image of the Hindi film hero with major hits like Deewar, Sholay, Trishul, Don, Kala Patthar, and Shakti. Adapting former screen idol Dilip Kumar’s mannerisms and adding his own flamboyance, he popularized the violent melodrama. Amitabh Bachchan proved that he had an equal flair for tragedies (Deewar, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Shakti) and comedies (Chupke Chupke, Don, Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony) as well. His most memorable performance was as the renegade against a harsh society in Deewar. After Amar Akbar Anthony in which he reveled in the role of the Cathlolic bootlegger - he played similar ‘masala’ roles, movies that required action, comedy, tragedy, and romance in one character. This had disastrous consequences later with movies disintegrating into Amitabh Bachchan variety shows rather than plot-driven stories. Bachchan was dubbed the Superstar, taking over that title from Rajesh Khanna, something he hung on to until the mid 1980s when the floor widened after his temporary departure. At the height of his popularity he was injured in an accident while shooting for the film Coolie - long lines of people prayed for his recovery at the Breah Candy hospital, underscoring his megastar status.

Amitabh Bachchan left films in 1985 to become a Member of Parliament from Allahabad constituency as a Congress party candidate, as a favor to his family friend Rajiv Gandhi - the new Prime MInister of India. A report of involvement in financial irregularities (of which he was completely cleared later) made him decide to step down as MP. His return in 1987 was lukewarm as the Hindi film industry had moved on and newer, younger heroes essayed the part of Angry Young Man with more conviction. Amitabh Bachchan seemed to have lost his heart in making films as his later roles did not show the flicker of passion that had marked earlier efforts in the 1970s. In 1989, for the first time since 1976, three of his films were flops i.e. they could not recover their money (in the Hindi film industry a flop is a film that does not recover a distributor’s price, not the producer’s cost). A series of lackluster films in the 1990s pointed to a long overdue exit, common to many other stars. A seemingly well-thought out venture to start a production company ABCL landed him in immense debts. Astonishingly, Amitabh Bachchan burst back with a double act: one, playing the stern patriarch (the kind against which he had rebelled in the 1970s but which role was suited to his gravelly voice), and two, reinventing himself as a brand that in turn, could market anything. He began the latter by hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Kaun Banegaa Crorepati) and is now back in demand for endorsements, advertisements as well as many movie roles. At sixty plus, Amitabh Bachchan is a greater icon than he was at the height of his popularity three decades ago. His son, Abhishek is considered a talented actor who has not yet broken out as a star.
 

Antonio Banderas

Name : Antonio Banderas

Real Name : Jose Antonio Dominguez Bandera
Profession : Actor
Date of Birth : August 10, 1960
Place of Birth : Malaga, Spain
Sign : Sun in Leo, Moon in Aries
Wife : Wife: Melanie Griffith (actress)
ex-wife: Ana Leza
Fan Mail : C/O Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd,
Beverly Hills, CA 90212,
USA 
Biography 
Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas was born on August 10, 1960 in Malaga, Spain, during the height of the oppressive regime of tyrannical leader Francisco Franco. He was named after his father, Jose, and his mother?s beloved brother, Antonio. His mother, Ana, was a school teacher. The birth of his brother, Francisco Javier, better known as Chico, came just eighteen months later.
Antonio knew fairly early in life that he wanted to be an actorAntonio enrolled in drama classes - against his parents?wishes - and put together a group of other young thespians to form his own troupe. The crew traveled to little towns all over Spain performing on the streets. In 1981 he moved to Madrid and won a place as an ensemble member of the esteemed National Theater of Spain. Being a struggling young actor he also worked as a waiter and took small modeling jobs to provide for himself.After a performance at the theater, Antonio was introduced to Pedro Almod-var, a radical young film director. Pedro was one of the most outrageous and talented of an emerging breed of cinematic pioneers and wanted Antonio to help him forge a new film industry. They joined forces and made several respectable and controversial movies. It was the 1988 hit ?Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?that brought Banderas international attention

American director, Arne Glimcher, cast Antonio in ?The Mambo Kings?even though Banderas couldn?t speak English. Antonio was determined to conquer the language barrier and learned all his lines phonetically. He also took intensive English lessons at a Berlitz school. Motivated by a frantic desire to learn and to succeed, he delivered a stunningly deep rendering of his lines that won him high praise for his performance. His next flick was ?Philadelphia?and offered up a remarkably creditable performance as Tom Hanks understanding lover. He went on to play in a string of movies that brought out even more of his incredible talent such as ?The House of the Spirits?(1993), ?Interview With the Vampire?(1994), ?Desperado?(1995), and ?Assassins?(1995). He also showed his incredible talent for dance and singing in the musical ?Evita?with Madonna.In 1995 Antonio and Melanie Griffith stared in the flick ?Two Much?and became romantically linked. After a whirl wind romance, and to the surprise of many, were married in May of 1996. The couple welcomed the birth of their first child, Stella del Carmen, the following September. The family has two home bases and as he stated in one article ?Melanie and I have two lives, a professional one that we developed in Los Angeles?apart from which it?s the city where Melanie was raised, and the other, more familial, in our house in Spain where we live when we don?t work.?His wish is to impart the best of both worlds into his daughter. ?I wanted that she have a marked Spanish character and that she speak the two languages very well. And clearly that she will respect her Anglo-Saxon side?he has stated.
 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Name : Arnold Schwarzenegger

Birth Name : Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger
Profession : actor, author, director, restaurateur, fitness expert
Date of Birth : July 30, 1947
Place of Birth : Thal, Graz, Austria
Nationality : American
Height : 6′2′
Husband/Wife : Maria Shriver (TV journalist; married April 26, 1986 in Hyannis, Massachusetts) 
Fan Mail : c/o William Morris
Agency151 El Camino Dr.Beverly Hills
CA 90212
Biography 
Actor, former bodybuilder. Born July 30, 1947, in the sleepy town of Graz, Austria. As a teenager, Schwarzenegger was so determined to become the greatest bodybuilder in history that he would break into the gym to train on Sundays, pumping iron until he collapsed from exhaustion. His dream was realized in 1967, when the 20-year-old Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Universe contest. Several bodybuilding titles followed, which led many to credit Schwarzenegger with single-handedly popularizing the sport. In 1968, Schwarzenegger moved to the United States, where he studied business and economics at the University of Wisconsin. Upon his graduation, he invested his contest earnings in various real estate projects and a bodybuilding equipment company. Billed as Arnold Strong, Schwarzenegger tried his hand at acting, making his screen debut in the low-budget adventure Hercules in New York (1970). After a few years struggling to find suitable film work, he landed his first substantial acting role in the offbeat comedy Stay Hungry (1976), which starred Jeff Bridges and Sally Field. Other memorable projects followed shortly thereafter, including the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron (1977) and the TV biopic The Jane Mansfield Story (1980).
In the early 1980s, Schwarzenegger established himself as the leading figure in a new genre of herculean action films, beginning with Conan the Barbarian (1982) and its reliably vapid sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984). Later that year, he landed the role which catapulted him to superstardom?that of the indestructible cyborg in the post-apocalyptic blockbuster The Terminator. Over the next few years, Schwarzenegger?s films became increasingly technological and violent, including Commando (1985), Predator (1987), The Running Man (1987), and Total Recall (1990). A more humane side to Schwarzeneggar emerged in lighter films such as Twins (1988) and Kindergarten Cop (1990).

With state-of?the-art special effects and equally impressive action sequences, the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day featured Schwarzenegger as a kinder and gentler android. At the time of its release, the film held the notable distinction of being the most expensive movie ever produced. With over $200 million in box office sales, the returns were equally impressive, making Terminator 2: Judgement Day one of the 20 highest-grossing films of all time. Also in 1991, Schwarzenegger partnered with fellow action stars Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone to open the high-profile Planet Hollywood chain of celebrity-themed restaurants.

In 1993, Schwarzenegger was reportedly paid an unprecedented $15 million to star in Last Action Hero. Although the film disappointed critics and audiences, his next project True Lies (1994) triumphed at the box office. Directed by James Cameron (The Terminator and The Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and featuring notable performances by Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Paxton, and Tom Arnold, the action-laced comedy proved to be a summer crowd-pleaser. After a disappointing turn in uneven comedies like Junior (1994) and Jingle All the Way (1996), Schwarzenegger returned to action features with a no-holds-barred performance as Batman?s nemesis Mr. Freeze in 1997?s Batman and Robin, but even with this effort, he could not regain his earlier stronghold on the box office.

Although Schwarzenegger recently severed ties with Planet Hollywood, his film career shows no signs of slowing down. In the 1999 apocalyptic thriller, End of Days, he played a policeman-turned-bodyguard who protects the world from the evil reign of Satan. Most recently, Schwarzenegger took on the dual role of a cloned man in the science fiction feature The 6th Day (2000).

In early 2002, he starred in Collateral Damage (the action thriller’s release was pushed back after the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. in September 2001 made the film’s terrorism-centered story an all too timely one), followed by the third installment of The Terminator, which is scheduled for release in 2002.

In 1990, Schwarzenegger was named chairman of President George Bush?s Council on Physical Fitness. For many years, he has supported sports programs for underprivileged children, including the Inner-City Games and the Special Olympics.

At a 1977 tennis tournament, Schwarzenegger met television journalist Maria Shriver. (Shriver is the daughter of politician and diplomat Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy.) Following a long and storied courtship, the couple married in 1986. They have four children.