Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-18 of 18
- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Allison Janney is an award-winning actress who has earned a solid reputation in stage productions and in many supporting roles on screen, and who more recently has become prominent by portraying one of the major characters in the popular TV series The West Wing (1999).
Entertainment Weekly magazine describes Janney's screen presence as "uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive." As an actor, the magazine deems her to be "one to watch."
Janney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Macy Brooks (Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. While studying at Kenyon College, Janney answered a casting call for an on-campus play that was to be directed by Kenyon's most famous alumnus, the legendary actor Paul Newman. During her audition/interview, Janney played upon Newman's known passion for race car driving - she explained how she cut thirty minutes off of the 130 mile journey from her home town to the college. She got chosen for the play's cast.
After earning her degree in drama, Janney took Joanne Woodward's suggestion to do further study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Early in her career Janney got comedic roles in the soap operas As the World Turns (1956) and Guiding Light (1952). Later, she gave memorable movie performances in supporting roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), American Beauty (1999) and Nurse Betty (2000), and in the made-for-TV movie ...First Do No Harm (1997), among others.
Among her stage work, Janney has played in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" on Broadway opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which earned her a Tony Award nomination, and a Drama League Award for outstanding artist for the 1997-98 season. She played in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" opposite Frank Langella, which earned her the Outer Critics Circle Award and an Actors' Equity award. Janney also appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Taming of the Shrew."
In 1999 Janney became part of the original cast of the acclaimed TV series The West Wing (1999) where she played the President's press secretary who eventually gets promoted to the White House Chief of Staff. Her impressive work during the seven seasons of that renowned series earned her four Emmys and two SAG Awards.
With her reputation becoming more broadly established during her work on "The West Wing" Janney won more substantive roles in feature films, in the acclaimed The Hours (2002) where she was Meryl Streep's lesbian lover, and in How to Deal (2003) where she played Mandy Moore's mother.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Andrea Jane Corr is a member of the Irish pop/rock/Celtic musical group The Corrs. In her younger years, Andrea was the best student among all her siblings, Sharon Corr, Caroline Corr and Jim Corr. She began her life with the band as soon as she graduated from secondary school. The Corrs' parents Gerry Corr and Jean Corr were musicians who strongly encouraged each of their children to pursue music. Andrea learned the piano, as did all of her siblings. In the Corrs' band, Andrea is the lead singer and is their main lyricist when the group writes songs. Andrea also plays the tin whistle, which when combined with her sister Sharon's fiddle playing gives the group its distinctively Irish sound. The Corrs music shows strong influences from traditional Celtic but also modern pop such as the Eagles and the Carpenters.
The Corrs first performed as a band when they auditioned to play in the musical film The Commitments (1991). Andrea landed a speaking role in the film. The movie's musical director John Hughes saw potential in the band and became their manager. In 1994 The Corrs landed a recording contract with producer David Foster of Atlantic Records (USA). Their debut album was "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" (1995), followed by "Talk on Corners" (1997), "In Blue" (2000) and "Borrowed Heaven" (2004). To date they have sold some 30 million albums. The Corrs have performed on tour with musical acts U2, Celine Dion, and the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has commented "They blew us, the Stones, off our own stage". The Corrs have also appeared on Sunday Night Live, 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno', and have made an MTV-sponsored "Unplugged" video. Andrea is also an aspiring actress, and in addition to being featured in "The Commitments" she also played opposite Madonna in a singing role in Evita (1996).- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Andrew Young is a prominent civil rights leader and politician. He first became a minister within the United Churches of Christ in the 1950s. Early in his career he studied Gandhi's methods of nonviolent resistance. Young became involved in voter registration drives within the civil rights movement. He became an assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King early in King's career. Young gained a reputation as a negotiator and a strategist. At the time of King's death in 1968, Young had become the executive director of King's organization (the SCLC).
In the early 1970s Young was elected to Congress, representing the region of Atlanta, Georgia. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s, Young was appointed to be the U.S Ambassador to the United Nations. In the 1980s he was elected to two terms as Mayor of Atlanta. In the 1990s Young was instrumental in bringing the Olympic Games to Atlanta. In the 2000s Young served as the president of the National Council of Churches, and as co-chair of GoodWorks International.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Andy Griffith is best known for his starring roles in two very popular television series, The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Matlock (1986). Griffith earned a degree in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the 1950s, he became a regular on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) and The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956). He was featured in the Broadway play "No Time for Sergeants" (1955) for which he received a Tony nomination, and he later appeared in the film version. His film debut was in the provocative and prophetic A Face in the Crowd (1957), in which Griffith gave a performance that has been described as stunning.
On The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Griffith portrayed a folksy small-town sheriff who shared simple heartfelt wisdom. The series was one of the most popular television series in history. It generated some successful spin-offs, and the original is still seen in reruns to this day. Griffith created his own production company in 1972, which produced several movies and television series. In 1981, he was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal in Murder in Texas (1981). In 1983, Griffith was stricken with Guillain-Barre syndrome, but he recovered after rehabilitation. In 1986, he produced and starred in the very successful television series Matlock (1986). The series spawned numerous television movies as well. When he accepted the People's Choice Award for this series, he said this was his favorite role. Andy Griffith died at age 86 of a heart attack in his home in Dare County, North Carolina on July 3, 2012.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press.
Jolie was born Angelina Jolie Voight in Los Angeles, California. In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her actor parents, Jon Voight, an Oscar-winner, and Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. Her good looks may derive from her ancestry, which is German and Slovak on her father's side, and French-Canadian, Dutch, Polish, and remote Huron, on her mother's side. At age eleven, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she was seen in several stage productions. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos.
In the mid-1990s, Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Hackers (1995) and Foxfire (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997), and in George Wallace (1997) which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998). This was the true life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, a sensitive wild child who was both brazen and needy and who had a difficult time handling professional success and the deaths of people who were close to her. Carangi became involved with drugs and because of her needle-using habits she became, at the tender age of 26, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS. Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) again garnered a Golden Globe Award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award.
Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature The Bone Collector (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar. Unlike "Cuckoo", "Girl" was a small film that received mixed reviews and barely made money at the box office. But when it came time to give out awards, Jolie won the triple crown -- "Girl" propelled her to win the Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for best leading actress in a supporting role.
With her newfound prominence, Jolie began to get in-depth attention from the press. Numerous aspects of her controversial personal life became news. At her wedding to her Hackers (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. Jolie and Miller divorced, and in 2000, she married her Pushing Tin (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Jolie had become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. That marriage came apart in 2002 and ended in divorce. In addition, Jolie was estranged from her famous father, Jon Voight.
In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest, but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The eponymous character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the movie was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in the movie, and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter.
One of the Lara Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. While there, Jolie witnessed the natural beauty, culture and poverty of that country. She considered this an eye opening experience, and so began the humanitarian chapter of her life. Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world and came to be formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of her experiences were written and published in her popular book "Notes from My Travels" whose profits go to UNHCR.
Jolie has stated that she now plans to spend most of her time in humanitarian efforts, to be financed by her actress salary. She devotes one third of her income to savings, one third to living expenses and one third to charity. In 2002, Angelina adopted a Cambodian refugee boy named Maddox, and in 2005, adopted an Ethiopian refugee girl named Zahara. Jolie's dramatic feature film Beyond Borders (2003) parallels some of her real life humanitarian experiences although, despite the inclusion of a romance between two westerners, many of the movie's images were too depressingly realistic -- the movie was not popular among critics or at the box office.
In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The movie became a major box office success. There were rumors that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005.
Jolie and Pitt announced in early 2006 that they would have a child together, and Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh that May. They also adopted a three-year-old Vietnamese boy named Pax. The couple, who married in 2014 and divorced in 2019, continue to pursue movie and humanitarian projects, and now have a total of six children. She was appointed Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George at the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to United Kingdom foreign policy and the campaign to end warzone sexual violence.- Actress
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Caroline Georgine Corr is a member of the Irish pop/rock/Celtic musical group The Corrs. The other band members are her brother Jim and her sisters Andrea Corr and Sharon. The Corrs' parents Gerry Corr and Jean Corr were musicians who strongly encouraged each of their children to pursue music. Caroline was taught the piano by her father from a very early age. She also learned the bodhran while very young. Although she is now the drummer for the Corrs, she did not take up that instrument until she was 18. By all accounts, she has done well with it. She also play piano and contributes back-up vocals for the group.
The siblings first performed as a band when they auditioned to play in the musical film The Commitments (1991). The movie's musical director John Hughes saw potential in the band and became their manager. The band's music shows strong influences from traditional Celtic but also modern pop such as the Eagles and the Carpenters. In 1994 The Corrs landed a recording contract with producer David Foster of Atlantic Records (USA). Their debut album was "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" (1995), followed by "Talk on Corners" (1997), "In Blue" (2000) and "Borowed Heaven (2004)". To date they have sold some 30 million albums. The Corrs have performed on tour with musical acts U2, Celine Dion, and the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has commented "They blew us, the Stones, off our own stage". The Corrs have also appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and have made an MTV-sponsored "Unplugged" video.
Caroline married Frank Woods in 2002 and they now have three children.- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
James Lipton was an actor, academic, author, choreographer, interviewer, scriptwriter, and producer for stage and television projects. He was known for creating and hosting the noted and popular TV series Inside the Actors Studio (1994), where successful and prominent actors discussed their craft for the benefit of acting students.
James Lipton was born Louis James Lipton in Detroit, Michigan, to Betty (Weinberg), a teacher and librarian, and Lawrence Lipton (originally Israel Lipschitz), a writer and beatnik poet. His father was a Polish Jewish emigrant, from Lodz, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. Lipton's parents divorced when he was quite young. As a reaction against his beatnik father's anarchic and chaotic lifestyle, Lipton at first chose to pursue a stable and staid career as a lawyer. He originally took up acting as a sideline to finance his law studies but eventually he shifted the focus of his career to acting.
Lipton moved to New York City and undertook twelve years of intensive studies in the performing arts. He studied acting and directing under Stella Adler, widely regarded as the most respected acting teacher in the history of American dramatic arts. Adler's other students at various times have included Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. Lipton also studied with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis. He studied movie/TV production and directing at New York University and at The New School. He also studied voice, modern dance, classical ballet, and jazz technique.
Lipton performed in the play "The Autumn Garden" on Broadway in 1951. He became active in several TV soap operas, joining the cast of Guiding Light (1952) where he acted and wrote scripts for several years and later became head writer, all while undertaking his formal acting studies. He was a scriptwriter for The Edge of Night (1956) and he became head writer for Another World (1964), The Best of Everything (1970), Return to Peyton Place (1972) and Capitol (1982).
Lipton wrote the book and the lyrics for the Broadway flop "Nowhere to Go But Up" (1962), and he did the same for "Sherry!" which was produced on stage in 1967 and released as an audio CD in 2004. Also for Broadway, he produced "The Mighty Gents" (1978), "Monteith & Rand" (1979) and co-produced the Tony award-winning "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1978). He choreographed "Charlot" for ballet theater, and for Moliere's play "The Doctor In Spite of Himself" he translated from the original French, adapted it as a musical version, wrote the lyrics, directed and choreographed.
A lover of words, Lipton has made a study of group terms, sometimes called nouns of multitude (examples: a gaggle of geese, a host of angels, etc.). He has published the definitive work on the subject in a best-selling book titled "An Exaltation of Larks". It has been in print continuously since its first edition in 1968. The latest edition, now expanded, contains over 1,100 such phrases. In the book Lipton himself jumps into the lexical fray by offering many new terms of his own invention, including: a score of bachelors, an unction of undertakers, a shrivel of critics, and a queue of actors. Other writings of his have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine and The Paris Review.
In 1983 Lipton published his novel "Mirrors" which is about the lives of dancers. He later wrote and produced it as a TV movie. In television, Lipton has produced some two dozen specials including: twelve Bob Hope Birthday Specials; Bob Hope on the Road to China (1979) , an NBC entertainment special produced in China; and the first time ever televised presidential inaugural gala, for Jimmy Carter.
In the mid-1990s Lipton sought to create a three year educational program for actors that would be a distillation of what he had learned in the twelve years of his own intensive studies. In 1994 he arranged for the Actors Studio -- the home base of "method acting" in the USA for some sixty years now -- to join with New York City's New School University, to form the Actors Studio Drama School, a formal degree-granting program at the graduate level.
At the same time, Lipton created a sub-project within the drama school: a non-credit class called Inside the Actors Studio (1994) where successful and accomplished actors, directors and writers would be interviewed and would answer questions from acting students. These sessions were also taped and broadcast on television for the general public to see. Lipton himself hosts the show and conducts the main interview.
The TV show Inside the Actors Studio (1994) has become a substantial success. In the more than 12 years that it has been on the air, the craft of acting has been discussed by the show's over 200 guests who have included Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Kate Winslet, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Charlize Theron, Robin Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman. The show is viewed in 80 million homes in the USA on the Bravo cable channel and is seen in 125 countries. It has been nominated for 12 Emmy awards. The Actors Studio Drama School performed very well also. During Lipton's term as dean, the school became the largest graduate-level drama school in the United States.
Important changes began in 2004 for both the TV show and the drama school. The New School underwent a major reorganization and seriously cut back its support for drama education. The Actors Studio's collaboration with the New School came to an end and a new drama school as well as a new venue for the TV show were both set up at Pace University, also in New York City.
Lipton's TV show made him so famous that he was frequently parodied on Saturday Night Live (1975) by comic Will Ferrell. Lipton continued to host and produce Inside the Actors Studio (1994), and served as a vice president of the Actors Studio. He held the lifelong title of Dean Emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama Program. In 2007, he wrote a book about the TV show and his life, which was titled "Inside Inside."
The last episode of Inside he hosted aired on January 11, 2018, with Ted Danson as guest. The show began rotating hosts in its 2019 season. James Lipton died on March 2, 2020, in Manhattan. He was survived by wife Kedaki Turner.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Jena Malone was born in Reno, Nevada, raised in Sparks, Nevada; two cities that have merged together over time, to Deborah Malone and Edward Berge. Her grandfather owned a casino, Karl's Silver Club, in Reno. She was raised by her mother and her mother's partner. Beginning as a child actress, and then stepping up to roles as a young adult, Malone's career path has been compared to that of Jodie Foster, herself a former child actress and who has co-starred with Malone in two movies. Jena is often described as having a maturity beyond her years and, in her career thus far, she has often tackled roles that are difficult and are not standard fare for actors her age.
Malone's first claim to fame was in performing the title role in Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) for which she won the Young Artist Award, and which she filmed when she was merely ten years old. This movie dealt with issues of child abuse, violence and sex. Jena has said in later interviews that this movie and her participation in it continue to influence her life substantially.
Showing self-assurance and a clear vision of personal goals from an early age, Jena, at age 14, was encouraged to try out for Air Force One (1997), a movie that was virtually guaranteed to be a success since box-office king Harrison Ford was cast in the lead, but Jena said she'd prefer to seek other roles that were of more interest to her.
In the following years, Malone appeared in several made-for-TV movies for which she won or was nominated for many awards. In 1997, she lucked in to being cast in the blockbuster Contact (1997) where she portrayed the child version of Jodie Foster's lead character. Foster stated that she built her character by mimicking Jena. And, in 1998, Jena was cast in the major film Stepmom (1998) where she co-starred with Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris. Jena was given what was likely the best line in that movie where her character, bitter over her parents' divorce, confronts her father who has returned home briefly; at a moment of crisis, her dad tells her "You do NOT run out on your mother", and the rueful Malone exclaims "No -- that's YOUR job".
Also, in 1998, Malone appeared in a two-part episode of the critically acclaimed TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). Contrary to what might usually be expected of a teenage actress, in this episode, Jena played the complex role of the perpetrator of a crime, which she portrayed with subtlety.
At age 15, Jena was legally emancipated and thus took direct control of her finances and her career. Malone began getting more attention and acclaim in her next set of films: the artistic cult film Donnie Darko (2001); the teenage journey The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) where she again co-starred with Jodie Foster; and the satirical Saved! (2004) which debuted Jena as the lead in a movie.
Jena has expressed an interest in directing some day, and so she is preparing for roles behind the camera as well as in front. In 2002, she co-produced American Girl (2002) while also starring in it. And, in 2003, she undertook a formal study of photography.
In early 2006, Malone debuted on the Broadway stage in the play "Doubt". A review by Broadway.com characterized her performance as "astonishing".
Many people in Hollywood have jobs as actors. Watch for Jena Malone. She is an artist.- Actor
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Jim Corr is a member of the Irish pop/rock/Celtic musical group The Corrs. The other band members are his sisters Sharon Corr, Caroline Corr and Andrea Corr. The Corrs' parents Gerry Corr and Jean Corr were musicians who strongly encouraged each of their children to pursue music. Jim learned the piano and the guitar from an early age. By age 15, he began performing with his parents in Dundalk's bars and clubs, and he later played with the Irish traditional singer Dolores Keane. Jim briefly attended music college. Commenting on his early life growing up with his sisters, Sky Magazine has written that Jim has "the saintly resignation of a man who's experienced two decades' worth of never being able to get into the bathroom."
In The Corrs band, Jim plays electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, the accordion, and sings backing vocals. He also has a hand in producing, mixing, and editing in the studio when the band makes their albums. The Corrs first performed as a band when they auditioned to play in the musical film The Commitments (1991). The movie's musical director John Hughes saw potential in the band and became their manager. The band's music shows strong influences from traditional Celtic but also modern pop such as the Eagles and the Carpenters. In 1994 The Corrs landed a recording contract with producer David Foster of Atlantic Records (USA). Their debut album was "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" (1995), followed by "Talk on Corners" (1997), "In Blue" (2000) and "Borrowed Heaven" (2004)". To date they have sold some 30 million albums. The Corrs have performed on tour with musical acts U2, Celine Dion, and the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has commented "They blew us, the Stones, off our own stage". The Corrs have also appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and have made an MTV-sponsored "Unplugged" video.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Producer
John Hughes is an Irish musician and a manager of musical performers. He began his music career by playing in the Dublin band "Ned Spoon" in the 1980s. He then joined with his brother Willie to form "Minor Detail" which became the first Irish band to secure a recording contract with an American label. The band's sole album made it to the top 75 on the Billboard charts. His next venture was to form "The Hughes Version" which included a young Jim Corr as a keyboardist.
Hughes was hired to be the musical director for Alan Parker's film The Commitments (1991). It was during the creation of this film that Jim Corr's siblings came together to form the band The Corrs and Hughes became the group's manager. By dint of talent, experience, perseverance and luck Hughes was able to secure a recording contract for the band with Atlantic Records in New York, which is only the second time that an Irish band has signed a deal with an American label (and in both instances arranged by Hughes). Under Hughes' management The Corrs have gone on to be one of the most successful bands in the world, although ironically they never fully caught on in the USA.
In 2004 Hughes issued his own music album called Wild Ocean which garnered much critical acclaim. In 2005 he managed a new musical act, singer-songwriter Tara Blaise whose debut album was a significant success.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Joni Mitchell is one of the most highly regarded and influential songwriters of the 20th century. Her melodious tunes support her poetic and often very personal lyrics to make her one of the most authentic artists of her time. As a performer she is widely hailed for her unique style of playing guitar. Mitchell's unflinching struggle for her own artistic independence has made her a role model for many other musicians, and somewhat of a bane to music industry executives. She is critical of the industry and of the shallowness that she sees in much of today's popular music. Mitchell is also a noted painter and has created the beautiful artwork that appears on the packaging of her music albums.
Joni Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, to Myrtle Marguerite (McKee), a teacher, and William Andrew Anderson, a RCAF flight lieutenant and grocer. Her father was of Norwegian descent, and her mother had Irish and Scottish ancestry. Mitchell first became famous for penning "Both Sides Now", a song that helped launch the career of pop/folk singer Judy Collins. When Mitchell began as a songwriter many of her lyrics displayed a wisdom that was precocious for someone who was in her early twenties. Mitchell was first noticed as a performer in New York City's music scene. Her first album appeared in 1968, which featured her voice and her acoustic guitar with virtually no other accompaniment on most songs.
She became romantically involved with David Crosby and later Graham Nash, both of the majorly successful West Coast rock group Crosy, Stills and Nash. Mitchell literally wrote the theme song for the historic mega-concert Woodstock. Arguably her most popular song from this era may be "Big Yellow Taxi" with its well-known lyrics: "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot".
Mitchell's music was originally considered to be folk, but after her initial success she began to grow in a jazz direction. Her collaboration with saxophonist and band leader Tom Scott produced the album "Court and Spark", one of the most popular and influential albums of all time. As her music style veered increasingly towards jazz, Mitchell sadly observed that her pop/folk fans did not follow her to the new musical place she was going to. The sales of her later albums declined. Nonetheless her work was still followed by many within the music industry.
Mitchell worked closely with jazz great Charles Mingus on his last project. She did several albums with jazz bass player Jaco Pastorius, and several more with her second husband, musician and sound engineer Larry Klein. The most popular songs in her career include Big Yellow Taxi, Both Sides Now, Help Me, River, and A Case of You. Her most popular albums include Court and Spark, Hejira, Turbulent Indigo, and Blue.
Joni Mitchell's influence on other musicians has been so broad that it is difficult to summarize. She has been a notable influence on Prince, Elvis Costello, George Michael, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Morissey, Marillion, Seal, Beck, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall and a great many of other women songwriters that are too numerous to mention. Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" is an homage to Mitchell. Mitchell's songs have been covered by the likes of Bob Dylan, Mandy Moore, Minnie Riperton, Frank Sinatra, the Counting Crows, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond, Tori Amos, the Spin Doctors, Nazareth, the Indigo Girls, and many more.
Mitchell's music made an appearance in the movie Love Actually (2003). In this mostly comedic film, actress Emma Thompson's character is a fan of Joni Mitchell's music. At one point in the movie, Thompson's character discovers that she has been betrayed by her husband for a much younger woman. She puts on a brave face for the kids, but her moment of private, painful revelation is shown on screen accompanied by an audio track that is silent except for an overdub of Joni Mitchell singing "Both Sides Now", not the original upbeat recording from the 1960s when Mitchell was a 23-year-old ingénue, but rather the recent re-recording, a somber sentimental performance by the now husky-voiced middle-aged Mitchell, backed by a lush orchestra -- a performance akin to an older, wiser Frank Sinatra singing the retrospective "It Was A Very Good Year" when he was sixty. This poignant scene is the dramatic pinnacle of the film.
Joni Mitchell remains a role model to artists everywhere. Her paintings are being shown in various galleries and on tours, and she is releasing an album of new music in 2007.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jorja Fox has become a familiar face by playing major roles in three of the most successful television dramas in history: ER (1994), The West Wing (1999) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000).
As a teenager, Fox had a career as a fashion model. She then turned to formal study of the acting craft at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, as well as under the tutelage of veteran actor William Hickey at HB Studios.
After appearing in several films and TV series, Fox got her big break in 1996 by landing a role in the immensely successful ER (1994) TV series. She appeared in 33 episodes as "Dr. Maggie Doyle", a lesbian, vegetarian, ER Resident from Chicago's south side. Fox then got a recurring role in the renowned The West Wing (1999) TV series where she portrayed Gina Toscano, a Secret Service agent who was in charge of protecting the President's college-age daughter.
Fox appeared as part of the regular cast of the TV series mega-hit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), where she portrayed one of the crime scene investigators as a regular until 2008. She was a guest star of the show in 2009, recurred in 2010, and returned as a regular from 2011 to the present. Fox shared in CSI's 2005 Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series, the show's 300th episode, and the CSI finale which aired in September of 2015.
In addition to her TV and movie roles, Fox is the co-founder of a production company called Seafox productions. So far the company has co-produced a musical about Dusty Springfield in Los Angeles and New York City called "Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield" and four feature documentaries.
Fox is also a long-time environmental and animal welfare advocate.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Sharon Helga Corr is a member of the Irish pop/rock/Celtic musical group The Corrs. The other band members are her brother Jim and her sisters Andrea and Caroline. The Corrs' parents were musicians who strongly encouraged each of their children to pursue music. Sharon began learning violin at age six. Between the ages of 7 and 14 she played in the Redeemer Youth Orchestra of Country Louth.
The siblings first performed as a band when they auditioned to play in the musical film The Commitments (1991). The movie's musical director John Hughes saw potential in the band and became their manager. Sharon plays violin in the band and provides harmonizing vocals, backing up her sister, lead singer Andrea Corr. Sharon often takes the lead in press interviews with the band. The band's music shows strong influences from traditional Celtic but also modern pop such as the Eagles and the Carpenters.
In 1994 The Corrs landed a recording contract with producer David Foster of Atlantic Records (USA). Their debut album was "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" (1995), followed by "Talk on Corners" (1997), "In Blue" (2000) and "Borrowed Heaven" (2004). To date they have sold some 30 million albums. The Corrs have performed on tour with musical acts U2, Celine Dion, and the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has commented "They blew us, the Stones, off our own stage". The Corrs have also appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and have made an MTV-sponsored "Unplugged" video.
Sharon put out her third studio album, The Fool and the Scorpion, produced by Larry Klein. Released 24th September 2021.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Producer
The Dixie Chicks are a popular trio of women country-and-western musicians who hail from Texas. Their public comments have increasingly made them controversial, even among their own fans.
The group began in 1989 singing on a Dallas street corner. Their music initially stayed largely within the bounds of traditional bluegrass. Their major success occurred after 1995 when they changed their line-up, hired Natalie Maines as their lead singer and broadened their musical focus. The group's sound still bears the mark of bluegrass, since they often play songs that are up-tempo and that emphasize the fiddle and the banjo.
The other members of the trio are sisters Martie Maguire, known as a virtuoso on the fiddle and the mandolin, and Emily Strayer, who is a master of the banjo, the Dobro, the guitar and the accordion. They are recognized as being among the best musicians in country music. The group's songs are often about freedom from a woman's point of view.
In 1998 the Dixie Chicks sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined. In the years that followed they won numerous awards, including five Grammys and the Country Music Association's Album of the Year in 2000 and their Vocal Group of the Year award in 2002. The Chicks' various albums and concert tours have met with great commercial success.
In 2001 the Dixie Chicks sued their record company, Sony, for underpayment of royalties. In the following year the suit was settled privately and a new arrangement was made which included the Dixie Chicks creating their own label, with their albums would be distributed by Sony. The Chicks later said that Sony should be praised for standing by them during their political controversies.
The Dixie Chicks are no stranger to controversy. As they came to express more of their progressive social and political views over time, they found themselves increasingly out of step with many in their country and western fan base, most of whom are culturally and politically conservative. Their 1999 song "Goodbye Earl" was a humorously rendered story about dealing with an abusive husband by literally eliminating him. That, and their lusty song "Sin Wagon", were banned from a number of country radio stations. In turn, the group's 2002 song "Long Time Gone" criticized many country stations for failing to play country classics.
In March 2003 Maines made a fateful remark in public that made news around the world. On the eve of the invasion of Iraq, many Americans were gearing up to support the impending war while many others were opposed to it. In contrast, most Europeans thought the war was ill-conceived, and assumed that all Americans were united in supporting their President's war policy. While in London, Maines commented on the approaching war and the man who was leading it: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."
Many country music fans were upset, and considered this remark, its timing and its venue, to be virtually treasonous. Natalie tried apologizing for her comment but to no avail. Many country music stations banned all Dixie Chick music. Fans joined together to ceremoniously burn or crush their CDs. One conservative radio station sponsored an event where Dixie Chick CDs were by a bulldozer. Other country musicians stepped up to criticize the Chicks, notably Toby Keith and Reba McEntire. The Chicks received numerous death threats, and the front gate of Emily Robison's home was smashed in. Although the Chicks' ongoing concert tour proceeded without trouble, some music critics predicted the end of the Dixie Chicks' career.
In 2006 the Chicks began promoting their new album. By this time most Americans now had doubts about the wisdom of the Iraq War. Maines withdrew her previous public apology. The album's first single included the defiant lyrics "I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down". There were further public exchanges between the Chicks and their critics. Despite very limited play on country radio, the new album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Country and overall Top 200 charts. Their concert was sold out in Europe, and in Toronto 20,000 tickets were sold in eight minutes. However, large venues in the American South and in the Chicks' native Texas had to be re-scheduled apparently due to lagging ticket sales in the region that was once their home base. The Dixie Chicks retain much popularity but it seems their underlying fan base has shifted.
The group can be seen in performance in the concert movie An Evening with the Dixie Chicks (2002) which is available on video.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
"The Corrs" is a prominent pop/rock musical group from Ireland. They have sold over 30 million albums and are popular throughout most of the world. The band is basically comprised of three sisters and their brother. The Corrs music often shows strong influences from traditional Celtic music but also from modern pop such as Eagles and The Carpenters.
In their early years The Corrs had performed on tour with musical acts U2, Celine Dion, and the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has commented "They blew us, the Stones, off our own stage". The band has given command performances before the Queen of England, the Pope and the Nobel Committee, and they were chosen to play at the Live 8 concert in July 2005. Lead singer Andrea occasionally performs duets with U2s Bono . The band's popular concert DVD _Corrs: 'Live at the Royal Albert Hall' - St. Patrick's Day March 17, 1998, The (1998) (TV)_ featured guest performer Mick Fleetwood. The Corrs' songs have contributed to several movie soundtracks.
The group's basic lineup is:
Andrea Corr -- lead vocals, tin whistle, main lyricist
Caroline Corr -- drums, bodhrán, piano, vocals
Sharon Corr -- violin, vocals
Jim Corr -- guitars, keyboards, vocals
When performing, the siblings are assisted by: Anthony Drennan, lead guitar, and Keith Duffy, bass guitar.
Their music manager is John Hughes, a musician in his own right who is sometimes referred to as the "fifth Corr".
Hailing from Dundalk, Ireland, the Corrs' parents were musicians who strongly encouraged each of their children to pursue music. The group first performed as a band when they auditioned to play in the musical film 'Commitments, The (1991)'. That movie's musical director, John Hughes, saw potential in the group and became their manager. The Corrs' debut album was "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" (1995), followed by "Talk on Corners" (1997), "In Blue" (2000), "Borrowed Heaven" (2004) and "Home" (2005). Their 1998 cover of Fleetwood Mac's song 'Dreams' was a big hit, and their single 'Breathless' was very popular in 2000.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
U2 has been perhaps the biggest music act in the world since the late 1980s to the current day. They take prominent stands on human rights issues, expressed through their lyrics and other public statements and actions. The band's lead singer, Bono, has become quite prominent in charity movements and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The band consists of Bono, lead singer and songwriter; The Edge, lead guitar, keyboards, vocals; Adam Clayton, bass guitar; Larry Mullen Jr., drums. Their manager is Paul McGuinness (1978-2013).
The band formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1976. The three members who strongly identified themselves as Christians (all except Clayton) decided to pursue and promote the band's career in a manner that would be consistent with their religious beliefs, which are heavy on social action. Theology professor Eugene Peterson says the band has "little patience with media-driven aspects of the Christian religion and a church and culture that shows little concern for justice and poverty and sickness".
The band's popular 1983 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" commemorated the slaughter of innocent civilians during the Irish troubles. It called for a renunciation of violence, a sentiment that resonated greatly with the people of Ireland. Throughout the 1980s, the band used this song to campaign against the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) efforts to raise money to fuel continued armed conflict. The IRA sent a threat to U2 that if they continued their campaign, they would be kidnapped. The band continued anyway. The band's 1984 album "Unforgettable Fire" was named after paintings made by the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. The album's songs "Pride" and "MLK" were both tributes to the modern-day leader they most admire, Martin Luther King. Another song, "Bad", was about heroin addiction, which was a serious problem in their hometown of Dublin at that time.
U2 were major participants in the historic and seminal "Live Aid" concert of 1985, which raised funds for relief from a severe drought in Ethiopia. The band was seen by many of the 1.5 billion people who viewed the concert on live television, and Bono's unscripted leap into the crowd captured the imagination of all. The more than 75 performing groups raised some $250 million for the charity. In the months following the concert, U2's record sales skyrocketed and have never come back down. In 1986, the band headlined a promotional tour to support Amnesty International, and the effort reportedly tripled the organization's membership.
In the 1990s, the band's music and concerts mocked the excesses of commercialism. Some critics failed to understand that Bono's exaggerated on-stage personas during the "Zoo TV" tour were parodies, and thus concluded that the band had given in to what they in fact were criticizing. In the early 2000s, U2 shifted from stadium extravaganzas to performing in smaller arenas where they were closer to their audiences. In 2004, the band teamed up with iPod for an innovative promotional campaign.
U2 continues their work for charity and social action. They promoted the Northern Ireland Peace Accords, raised money for the survivors of the Omagh bombing, played in devastated Sarajevo following the war there, helped bolster the shaky economy of New York City by playing there following the September 11 terrorist attacks, participated in the Live 8 series of concerts to relieve Third World debt, and continue to promote the Make Poverty History campaign. Bono has become prominent in efforts to end poverty and seek relief from AIDS and promote trade for Africa. He has become quite celebrated for these efforts apart from his music and he often finds himself publicly hobnobbing with presidents and finance ministers to promote these charitable ends.
U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. By that year, they had won 22 Grammy awards, a historic record surpassed only by Stevie Wonder.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, to Phyllis, a restaurant manager and server, and Gene D'Onofrio, a theatre production assistant and interior designer. He is of Italian descent and has two older sisters. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American Stanislavski Theatre. Vincent D'Onofrio is known as an "actor's actor". The wide variety of roles he has played and the quality of his work have earned him a reputation as a versatile talent.
His first paid role was in Off-Broadway's "This Property Is Condemned". He continued appearing in plays and worked as a bouncer, a bodyguard and a delivery man. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in "Open Admissions", followed by work in numerous other stage plays. In 2012, D'Onofrio returned to teach at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute. As a film actor, D'Onofrio's career break came when he played a mentally unbalanced recruit in Full Metal Jacket (1987), directed by the renowned Stanley Kubrick. For this role D'Onofrio gained nearly 70 pounds. He had a major role in Dying Young (1991), and appeared prominently in the box-office smash Men in Black (1997) as the bad guy (Edgar "The Bug").
Other films of note in which he has appeared are Mystic Pizza (1988), JFK (1991), The Player (1992), Ed Wood (1994), The Cell (2000), The Break-Up (2006) and Jurassic World (2015). In 1996, D'Onofrio garnered critical acclaim along with co-star Renée Zellweger for The Whole Wide World (1996), which he helped produce. He also made a guest appearance in The Subway (1997), where he played an accident victim who could not be rescued and was destined to die. For this performance he won an Emmy nomination. In 2000, he both produced and starred in Steal This Movie (2000), a biopic of radical leader Abbie Hoffman.
In 2001, D'Onofrio took the role which has likely given him his greatest public recognition: Det. Robert Goren, the lead character in the TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). Goren is based on Sherlock Holmes but, instead of relying upon physical evidence like Holmes, D'Onofrio's character focuses on psychology to identify the perpetrators, whom he often draws into confessing or yielding condemning evidence. He played the part for 10 years.
In his career D'Onofrio's various film characters have included a priest, a bisexual former porn star, a hijacker, a serial killer, Orson Welles, a space alien, a 1960s radical leader, a pulp fiction writer, an ingenious police investigator and Stuart Smalley's dope-head brother. His on-screen love interests have included Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Renée Zellweger, Marisa Tomei, Tracey Ullman, Rebecca De Mornay and Lili Taylor. One of his latest roles is in Marvel's Daredevil (2015) as Daredevil's nemesis, Wilson Fisk. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Wynton Marsalis is widely recognized as the pre-eminent jazz artist of our time. He is hailed not only as a performer on the trumpet, but also as a music educator and a promoter of the history and culture of jazz. Marsalis is also an established artist in performing trumpet in works of classical music, and he is a leader in civic matters.
Wynton Marsalis was born into a musical family in the city of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Marsalis's father was a pianist and music teacher. Some of Wynton's brothers have become notable musicians in their own right, specifically Branford Marsalis on saxophone, Delfeayo Marsalis on trombone, and Jason Marsalis on drums. Wynton was a precocious student of music in his youth. He eventually attended the Juilliard School. Later he joined the band of the renowned jazz artist Art Blakey.
Marsalis spent ten years touring continuously with his band. He has virtually single-handedly revived the public's interest in jazz, which to many had become a lost art form. In addition to performing, Marsalis also focuses strongly on education by giving lectures and workshops to students on musicianship.
Wynton Marsalis created the PBS TV series Marsalis on Music (1995), as well as the National Public Radio 26-week series "Making the Music" in that same year. Marsalis played a major role in developing Ken Burns's TV mini-series Jazz (2001). These efforts played a significant role in helping to bring jazz forward in the public's mind.
Marsalis has been criticized by some for discounting the value of jazz forms that have emerged after 1965. Marsalis has countered by stating that attempts at a musical fusion of jazz with other pop forms yields a mixture of sounds that are simply not true jazz.
Wynton Marsalis has made major efforts to help revive and restore his home city of New Orleans following the disaster of hurricane Katrina, including organizing the benefit concert "Higher Ground" at Lincoln Center in New York City. Marsalis has promoted human rights for the people of Burma and their imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has declared Marsalis to be a U.N. Messenger of Peace.
Marsalis has won numerous awards including nine Grammys, two of them for his recordings of classical works for trumpet by Haydn, Mozart and Handel. He is the first jazz artist to win a Pulitzer Prize, given for composing his oratorio "Blood on the Fields". Wynton Marsalis now serves as the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall in New York City.