Saturday, October 16, 2010

Who is Harley Leland Race?

        Who is Harley Leland Race?  The wrestling world knows him as Harley Race, he is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter. During his career as a wrestler, he amassed eight National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship reigns at a time when wrestlers rarely repeated as champion, and worked for all of the major wrestling promotions, including the NWA, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was the first NWA United States Heavyweight Champion. Race is regarded by wrestling purists as one of the greatest champions of all time.
Race was born April 11, 1943, he was an early fan of professional wrestling, watching programming from the nearby Chicago territory on the DuMont Network. After overcoming polio as a child, he began training as a professional wrestler as a teen under former world champions Stanislaus and Wladek Zbyszko, who operated a farm in his native Missouri. While in high school, an altercation with another classmate led to the principal kneeing Race in the back of the head as he tried to break up the fight. Enraged, Race attacked him, resulting in his expulsion. Already 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and 225 lb (102 kg), Race decided to get his start in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

 Early career

Race was recruited by St. Joseph wrestling promoter Gust Karras, who hired Race to do odd jobs for his promotion, including chauffeuring the 800 lb (360 kg) wrestler Happy Humphrey. Eventually, Race started wrestling on some of his shows, and some of Karras' veteran wrestlers helped further Race's training. At the age of 18, he moved to Nashville and began wrestling under the ring name of Jack Long, forming a tag team with storyline brother John Long. The duo quickly captured the Southern Tag Team Championship. Race was seen as a rising star in the business with a bright future, until a car accident put him out of action, with his leg coming close to being amputated. His pregnant first wife, Vivian Louise Jones, died instantly; they had been married for little over a month. Karras heard about his employee's condition, went rushing into the hospital, and blocked the planned amputation, declaring it "over my dead body". In doing so, he saved Race's leg. Although he recovered, doctors told Race that he might never walk again, and his wrestling career was over. Undaunted, Race endured grueling physical therapy for several months and made a full recovery.
He returned to the ring in 1964, wrestling for the Funks' Amarillo, Texas, territory. This time, he wrestled under his own name, after his father told him that he should not work to make anyone else's name famous. Race never again used a different ring name. In Amarillo, Race met fellow up-and-coming wrestler Larry Hennig (later Larry "The Axe" Hennig and father of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig). The two formed a tag team and moved to the American Wrestling Association.

American Wrestling Association

In the AWA, Race and Hennig branded themselves as "Handsome" Harley Race (which was actually a moniker given to him by fans in Japan) and "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig, a cocky heel tag team with a penchant for breaking the rules to win matches. They quickly became top contenders, and in January 1965, they defeated Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher to capture the AWA World Tag Team Titles. Race and Hennig continued to feud with the Bruiser and Crusher and other top teams for the next several years, amassing three title reigns. Verne Gagne, in particular, was a hated rival of the team, and recruited many different partners to try to defeat Race and Hennig during their AWA run. In October 1967, Gagne was credited with "breaking" one of Hennig's legs, thus giving him some much needed time off from the ring. Race (as the storyline went), was allowed to choose a new partner and retain the AWA tag belts. Harley's choice was Chris Markoff. The duo lost the title in their first defense of the belts to the babyface team of Wilbur Snyder and Pat O'Connor in November 1967. For the next several months, Race teamed with Hard Boiled Haggerty (Don Stansauk) who over the years presented Verne Gagne with some of his greatest matches. Together, Race and Haggerty often battled Gagne and "Cowboy" Bill Watts. In March 1968, after Hennig's return to the ring, he and Harley were back together, though the two never recaptured the AWA World Tag Team Title. Despite his tag team success, Race left the AWA after several years at the top of the division to pursue a singles career in the NWA.
Race returned to the AWA in 1984 to wrestle Curt Hennig. The confrontation was fueled by Larry Hennig confronting his former tag team partner at the end of the match. Race would also wrestle former AWA World Champion Rick Martel at part of WrestleRock '86. Toward the end of his in-ring career, he would challenge Larry Zbyszko for the AWA World title in October 1990, in the main event of an AWA broadcast on ESPN. However, all of these matches were basically just special appearances.

National Wrestling Alliance

Race jumped from territory to territory in the early 1970s, renewing his rivalry with Terry Funk in Amarillo and winning a regional title. He was seen as a gifted territorial wrestler, not quite ready for the worldwide spotlight, until 1973. In 1973, Race faced NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk, Jr. in Kansas City, Kansas. Race emerged from the battle as the new World Champion in what was perceived by fans a stunning upset. Though Race held the title for only a few months, losing it to Jack Brisco in Houston, Texas in July, he became a worldwide superstar and perennial championship contender. Race was determined to eventually regain the NWA World Championship, often moving between territories and collecting several regional titles, including eight Central States Titles, seven Missouri Titles, the Georgia Heavyweight Championship, the Stampede North American Title in Canada, the Japan-based NWA United National and PWF Titles, and becoming the first-ever holder of the Mid-Atlantic U.S. Title, still defended today as the WWE United States Championship. This kept Race in contention for the World Championship, and Race vowed that he would only need one chance against the champion to regain it.
Race finally got his wish in 1977, facing familiar rival Terry Funk, who had become the champion since their previous encounters, in Toronto. Race won the title by submission with the Indian Deathlock, a rarely used submission move but one that put great pressure on Funk's injured leg. The NWA World Champion once again, Race this time established his dominance, defending the title up to six times a week and holding it for four years (excluding extremely short reigns by Tommy Rich, Dusty Rhodes, and Giant Baba). At the time, the NWA, AWA and WWF were on good terms, and Race engaged in title versus title matches with WWF Champions "Superstar" Billy Graham and Bob Backlund, as well as AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel. Race toured extensively all over the country and the world, including many stints in Japan, where he was already well-known from his visits with Larry Hennig.

Race lost the title to Dusty Rhodes in 1981, and despite many matches, never regained it from the popular fan favorite. Rhodes lost the title to up-and-coming star Ric Flair, though Race was able to defeat Flair in St. Louis in 1983 for his seventh reign as champion, breaking the record previously held by Lou Thesz. What followed was one of the classic angles of the 1980s, which led to the first-ever NWA Starrcade event. Determined not to lose the title again, Race offered a $25,000 bounty to anyone who could eliminate Flair from the NWA. Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair, inflicting what appeared to be a career-ending neck injury, and collecting the bounty from Race after Flair announced his retirement. Flair's retirement was a ruse, however, and he eventually returned to action, much to Race's surprise. NWA officials set up a championship rematch, to be titled "NWA Starrcade: A Flare for the Gold". The match was to be held in Flair's backyard, Greensboro, North Carolina, which enraged Race. Race lost the title to Flair in the bloody and memorable Starrcade cage match (with Gene Kiniski as the special referee) in November, 1983. He would regain the NWA title for a short two-day reign in New Zealand in 1984 (a change not recognized by the NWA in the U.S. until 1996, making Race an eight-time champion), but his loss to Flair at Starrcade was largely seen as the torch-passing from Race to Flair. Flair would go on to an unparalleled 22 reigns as World Heavyweight Champion (10 of those reigns as NWA World champion) and largely credits Race for igniting his career.
Earlier in his career, Race became involved in the ownership side of wrestling, buying a portion of the Kansas City and later St. Louis territories. St. Louis was a stronghold of the NWA, and around this time in 1984, WWF owner Vincent K. McMahon began his invasion of NWA territories, including St. Louis, in his ambition to build a truly national wrestling promotion. Race was enraged, famously confronting Hulk Hogan at a WWF event in Kansas City. (In his autobiography, Hogan claims Race tried burning down the ring; Race denies it in his). Race lost over $500,000 as an owner of the Kansas City territory, and despite his championship years being at an end and wishing to retire from active competition, was forced to rely on continuing to wrestle to make a living. He continued to travel in the US and abroad, and signed with McMahon's WWF in 1986.

World Wrestling Federation

In May 1986, Race entered the WWF managed by longtime friend Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, bleaching his hair blond and billing himself again as "Handsome" Harley Race. During a time when the WWF did not recognize the existence of other promotions and the accomplishments a wrestler made there, WWF officials came up with a solution to recognize his wrestling pedigree by having him win the King of the Ring tournament. After this, he referred to himself as "King" Harley Race, coming to the ring in a royal crown and cape, to the ceremonial accompaniment of the tenth movement (known as "The Great Gates of Kiev") of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. After winning a match, Harley would make his defeated opponent "bow and kneel" before him. Usually Bobby Heenan would assist the defeated opponent to "bow and kneel" by grabbing their hair and forcing them to bow before King Harley Race.
He participated in a notable feud with the Junkyard Dog, culminating in a match at WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome, in which Race cleanly pinned The Junkyard Dog. Race would spend 1987 feuding with Hulk Hogan and Jim Duggan, the latter of which was highlighted by an extended brawl at the 1987 Slammy Awards. In early 1988, he suffered an abdominal injury in a match against Hogan in which he tried to hit Hogan, prone on a table at ringside, with a swandive headbutt. Hogan moved out of the way and Race impacted the table inwards. The metal edge forced its way up into Race's abdomen giving him a hernia. Following this incident and during his recovery, the WWF ran an angle where they acknowledged his injury, and his manager Bobby Heenan vowed to crown a new king. He left the WWF in early 1989, following a brief comeback from hernia surgery and a failed attempt to regain his crown from the new King, Haku, at the Royal Rumble). He had many backstage roles during the 90's, including at Over the Edge 1999 the night of Owen Hart's Death. This is states in the documentary, "The Life and Death of Owen Hart" in which Race states that he bumped into Owen, and that Owen told him he was uncomfortable with his new equipment for the stunt. While Race never won the WWF Championship, his career was notable enough to earn him an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

 Post-WWF wrestling career


After leaving the WWF, Harley continued to wrestle until the spring of 1991, most notably with World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico, the NWA, and the AWA. Race defeated former NWA World Champion Tommy Rich at the Great American Bash in July 1990. He also received several US Title shots against then champion Lex Luger during his brief stint. Race then received one last shot at a recognized World Title when he faced Larry Zbyszko at the final AWA television taping in August 1990. The match ended in a double countout. After retiring from active competition, Race joined the NWA (WCW) in July 1991 as an adviser/manager to Lex Luger.

 World Championship Wrestling

Race excelled as a manager as he had as a wrestler, immediately leading Lex Luger to the WCW World Championship. Later, he led Vader to win the title, as well. During his managership of Vader, Race met with racial controversy when Vader was feuding with WCW wrestler Ron Simmons when saying during a promo, "When I was World Champion, I had a boy like you to carry my bags!" This was actually part of the booking strategy of then-WCW head Bill Watts to build support for Simmons, who he would eventually make champion. The wily veteran was popular among the young WCW talent, and developed close friendships with Mick Foley and Steve Austin, among others. As his early wrestling career had been nearly derailed due to a car accident, another car accident forced Race out of the wrestling business altogether. Race required hip replacement surgery, which, along with injuries accumulated after years in the ring, prevented him from even being a manager. He would make one last return to WCW television in 1999 as the ring announcer for the Bret Hart VS. Chris Benoit tribute to Owen Hart match in his hometown of Kansas City.

World League Wrestling

Race spent several years away from the business, working briefly as a process server before retiring with his wife in small-town Missouri. In 1999, he started World League Wrestling (originally called World Legion Wrestling, but changed a year later), an independent promotion which runs shows near Race's hometown of Eldon, Missouri and other cities in Missouri including Kansas City. A year later, he started Harley Race's Wrestling Academy, which seeks to train up-and-coming wrestlers who will benefit from Race's unique experience and perspective on the wrestling business. Race's events are family oriented, and usually raise funds for local charities. As well as featuring his students, legends like Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Bret Hart, and even Mitsuharu Misawa make guest appearances. WLW has a working agreement with Misawa's Japanese promotion, Pro Wrestling Noah and have Noah star Takeshi Morishima as a former heavyweight champion. He is credited with training WWE world tag team champion Trevor Murdoch who was then known as Trevor Rhodes and Pro-Wrestling Noah veterans Superstar Steve, Wade Chism, Matt Murphy and Daniel Cross.

 Special appearances

Race returned to WWE television as a fan favorite in 2004 shortly after being inducted into their Hall of Fame. On an episode of Raw, Randy Orton confronted Race and spat in his face, to go with Orton's "Legend Killer" persona . Race returned again for Raw's WWE Homecoming episode in October 2005, marking the show's return to the USA Network. Race, along with the other legends who were in the ring, gave Rob Conway a lesson in respect.
In 2004, Harley Race was recruited to be a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a member of their NWA Championship Committee. Despite reportedly being an authority figure as a member of the committee, he never made any official decisions and only made the occasional on-screen appearance for the company.
At the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2007, Race and Dusty Rhodes were "inducted" into the Four Horsemen by Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. On the August 8, 2008 episode of Monday Night Raw, Race sat in the front row and was acknowledged by commentators Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Before the show, Race accompanied then GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima to the ring for a dark match against Charlie Haas.
Race also made an appearance at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Lockdown pay-per-view in 2007 as the special guest gatekeeper for the main event. Race made a special guest appearance at the second night of Glory by Honor VI: Night Two at the Manhattan Center on November 3, 2007 in New York City.
Race made a special appearance on the March 31, 2008 episode of Raw as part of Ric Flair's retirement ceremony. He was the fourth person introduced to congratulate Flair after the Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and James J. Dillon), Batista and Ricky Steamboat.

 Other media

Harley participated in the 1999 NBC special, Exposed! Pro Wrestling's Greatest Secrets. His face was covered to conceal his identity as he broke kayfabe and discussed the inner workings of the business. Harley's autobiography, King of the Ring: the Harley Race Story (ISBN 1-58261-818-6), became available in 2004. Along with Ricky Steamboat and Les Thatcher, Race is author of The Professional Wrestler's Workout and Instructional Guide.
Harley Race played himself as the distinguished ring announcer for a tag-team match involving Mil Mascaras and El Hijo del Santo in the 2007 film Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy. In wrestling.

  • Nicknames
    • "Handsome"
    • "Mad Dog"
    • "The King of Wrestling"

 Championships and accomplishments

  • All Star Pro-Wrestling (New Zealand)
  • Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2006)
1Though this championship was almost always used and defended in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion, there were times when it was won and defended through arrangements with other promotions. Race was awarded the title with the explanation that he defeated Johnny Weaver in a tournament final while wrestling on a card for Championship Wrestling from Florida.

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Who is Orlando Jones?

Who is Orlando Jones? The entertainment world knows him as an American comedian and film and television actor. He is notable for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series MADtv and for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999-2002.

Early life

Jones was born April 10, 1968 in Mobile, Alabama. His father was a former professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He moved to Mauldin, South Carolina, when he was a teen and graduated from Mauldin High School in 1985. One of his early acting experiences involved playing a werewolf in a haunted house to help raise money for the junior/senior prom. Jones enrolled in the College of Charleston, South Carolina. He left in 1990 without finishing his degree.
To pursue his interest in the entertainment industry, Jones, together with comedian Michael Fechter, formed a production company, Homeboy's Productions and Advertising. Together Jones and Fechter worked on several projects including a McDonald's commercial with basketball superstar Michael Jordan for the McDonald's specialty sandwich the "McJordan".
He scored his first Hollywood job in 1987, writing for the NBC comedy A Different World, on which he had a small guest role in the season five finale. During 1991-92, Jones penned the Fox series Roc and, in 1993, he co-produced The Sinbad Show. He also made a brief appearance on the FOX sitcom Herman's Head in 1992.

Career

 MADtv

After hosting Fox's music series Sound FX, in 1994, Jones became one of the original nine cast members of MADtv. Unlike some of his fellow original repertory performers on MADtv, Jones came to the show with limited sketch comedy experience. However, his comedy writing and television producing skills proved to be valuable to the early success of the show.
Throughout Seasons One and Two of MADtv, Jones produced characters like the Cabana Chat band leader Dexter St. Croix and Reverend LaMont Nixon Fatback, the vocal follower of Louis Farrakhan. He was also noted for his impressions of Andre 3000, Bill Cosby, Dennis Rodman, O.J. Simpson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Snoop Dogg.
Characters
  • Dexter St. Croix (Cabana Chat)
  • Reverend LaMont Nixon Fatback
After two seasons on MADtv, Jones left the show at the end of its second season to pursue a movie career. However, Jones returned to MADtv in 2004 to celebrate its 200th episode. Jones appeared in the opening video "Hey MAD!" where he lampooned Andre 3000. With his guest appearance, Jones became the third (out of five) original cast member to return as a guest on the show. The other original cast members who have returned are Nicole Sullivan, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange, and Debra Wilson.
During his time at MADtv, he roomed with Artie Lange, now a co-host on The Howard Stern Show. Orlando wouldn't allow Artie into the apartment if Artie had cocaine on his person. He was, however, according to Artie, very supportive and influential in helping to save Artie's life. Nicole Sullivan and David Herman of MADtv were also involved in the intervention (informing police and the show of his cocaine problem) of Artie Lange. This information was revealed on the June 12, 2006 episode of The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio by Artie Lange. Christa Miller, of The Drew Carey Show, was a roommate of Nicole Sullivan's at the time. Her appearance on The Howard Stern Show prompted Artie to reveal this information.
On July 28, 2008, Steve Langford of Howard 100 News reported that during the taping of the MADTV famous Babe Watch skit, Orlando claimed that when he awoke one morning, there was a horrible stench in the room and Artie was missing. Orlando said the bed was loaded with excrement. When house keeping came to clean the room he grabbed his stuff and jumped out the window to avoid being blamed. Artie Lange did confirm the incident.

 Other television projects


Aside from MADtv, Jones made many other television appearances. Perhaps his most popular and enduring television appearance was not in the form of a sitcom or television drama, but rather in a series of humorous commercials for a soda company. In 2000, Jones became the spokesperson for 7 Up and he gained wide recognition.This exposure led to a plethora of opportunities for Jones. First, he hosted an HBO First Look special in 2000 and then, in 2003, Jones was given his own late night talk show on FX called The Orlando Jones Show. Although his talk show was short lived, Jones continued to make additional television appearances. In 2003, he appeared on the The Bernie Mac Show and on Girlfriends. In 2006, Jones decided to return to television as one of the lead characters of ABC's crime drama The Evidence, as Cayman Bishop. He has also appeared in 2 episodes of Everybody Hates Chris, the first in 2007 as Chris's substitute teacher and the second in 2008 as Clint Huckstable, an allusion to the character Cliff Huxtable played by Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show.
In 2008, he appeared as Harold Wilcox, a violent veteran with PTSD, on New Amsterdam.
In the first season of the show, Jones also starred on Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. Jones was the first guest star on the show.
Jones is currently the co-host of ABC's Crash Course.
On November 16, 2009, it was announced that Orlando has been cast as Foreman's brother on House, TVGuide.com has confirmed. He will play Marcus, Foreman's incarcerated brother. In an already shot episode that is slated to air in February, the brothers will reunite just before Marcus' parole hearing.

Film project

After leaving MADtv, Jones expanded his cinema resume. He appeared in a bit part in his first big screen film, In Harm's Way (1997), Jones then joined Larry David in the feature Sour Grapes (1998), playing the character of an itinerant man. Subsequently, he appeared in Woo (1998), Mike Judge's first film Office Space (1999), alongside fellow MADtv alumnus David Herman, and in Barry Levinson's praised drama, Liberty Heights (1999). Since then, Jones has appeared in Magnolia (1999), New Jersey Turnpikes (1999) and in Harold Ramis' Bedazzled (2000).
During the 2000s, Jones' career began to branch out. In addition to his witty appearances in the 7-Up campaigns, Jones played the role of Clifford Franklin in The Replacements (2000) and he appeared in the comedy Chain of Fools (2000) and the horror film From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000). In 2001, Jones landed the role of Daryl Chase in the action-comedy Double Take (2001) alongside Eddie Griffin and worked with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore in Ivan Reitman's sci-fi comedy, Evolution (2001). Jones was also in the 2002 film Drumline alongside Nick Cannon and Zoe Saldana and he appeared as the computer Vox in The Time Machine (2002). His other more recent films includes Biker Boyz (2003), Runaway Jury (2003) and House of D (2004). Jones recently had a cameo in the Chris Rock Film I Think I Love My Wife (2007).

Voice acting

Jones has been featured in many voice acting projects over the years. In 1993, Jones appeared in Yuletide in the 'hood and in 1998, he made a guest appearance in the animated comedy TV Series, King of the Hill. More recently, he lent his voice to the TV series Father of the Pride and the video games Halo 2 as the marine Sergeant Banks as well as other black marines and L.A. Rush. Jones is recently reported to be starring in the ABC's crime-drama Evidence with Oscar winner Martin Landau. In 2006, he co-created, produced and voice acted for the MTV2 animated series The Adventures of Chico and Guapo.
Jones is one of eight original MADtv cast members to engage in some form of voice work after leaving the show. Only Bryan Callen has not appeared in voice acting projects. He appeared on the very first episode of Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out.

Filmography

Year Title Role
2009 The Vampire's Assistant Alexander Ribs
2007 Primeval Steve Johnson
I Think I Love My Wife Nelson (Not Credited)
2006 Looking for Sunday Einstein Steinberg
2004 House of D Superfly
2003 Runaway Jury Russell
Biker Boyz Soul Train
2002 Drumline Dr. Lee
The Time Machine Vox
2001 Evolution Prof. Harry Phineas Block
Say It Isn't So Dig McCaffrey
Double Take Daryl Chase
2000 Bedazzled Daniel/Dan/Danny, Esteban, Beach Jock, Lamar Garrett, Dr.
Chain of Fools Miss Cocoa
The Replacements Clifford Franklin
From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter Ezra Traylor
1999 Magnolia Worm
Liberty Heights Little Melvin
Office Space Steve, Magazine Salesman
New Jersey Turnpikes

1998 Woo Sticky Fingas
1997 In Harm's Way Andre
Sour Grapes Bum

 Television

Year Title Role Notes
2010 House M.D. Marcus Foreman Eric Foreman's brother
2009 Crash Course Himself Host
2008 Pushing Daisies Magnus Olsdatter
New Amsterdam Harold Wilcox
Everybody Hates Chris Clint Huckstable
2007 Men in Trees George Washington
Everybody Hates Chris Mr. Newton
2006 The Evidence Cayman Bishop
2005 Ghost Whisperer Kaysey
2003 The Bernie Mac Show Party Planner
The Orlando Jones Show Himself Host
Girlfriends Dr. Darren Lucas
2000 HBO First Look Himself Host
1995–1997 MADtv Various Characters Sketch Comedy
1994–1995 Sound fX Himself Host
1992 A Different World Troy Douglas
Herman's Head Cop

 Voice acting and video game appearances

Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Adventures of Chico and Guapo Chico, Guapo Animated Comedy TV Series
2005 L.A. Rush Ty Malix Video Game
2004 Father of the Pride Snack TV Series
Halo 2 Marine Sergeant Banks Video Game
1997 King of the Hill Kidd Mookie Animated Comedy TV Series
1993 Yuletide in the 'hood
TV Series

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Who is Sharisse Jackson?

Who is Sharisse Jackson? The entertainment world knows her as "Shar"Jackson, she is an American television and film actress, reality television personality and rapper/singer best known for her portrayal of Niecy Jackson on the UPN show Moesha.


 Early life and career

Jackson was born August 31, 1976 in Boston, Jackson's mother is African American and Native American descent, and her father is of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent.
Jackson had a large role in the television show, Moesha where she played Moesha's best friend, Niecy Jackson. She has also appeared in The Bernie Mac Show. She co-starred in the Nickelodeon movie Good Burger, with Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson. Jackson was also featured on the ABC reality series The Ex-Wives Club with Marla Maples and Angie Everhart. The show aimed to aid men and women who have recently gone through separation or divorce. In 2009 Jackson appeared in the film I Do... I Did!

 Music and reality television


Jackson was a singer in the pop group "Mpulz" and was included on The Princess Diaries soundtrack. The group released one album before disbanding.

She won first place on the MTV reality show Celebrity Rap Superstar on October 18, 2007, beating runner-up Kendra Wilkinson. She also appeared on the seventh season of Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, which premiered in February 2010.

Personal life

Jackson has two children with her former high school boyfriend – a son, Donnie and a daughter, Cassie.
She was in a relationship with dancer Kevin Federline, who later married and divorced pop singer Britney Spears. She has two children with Federline – a daughter, Kori, born July 31, 2002, and a son, Kaleb, born July 20, 2004. Jackson was pregnant with Kaleb when Federline met Spears, and Kaleb was born while Federline was engaged to Spears.

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Who is Annette Denise Stamatelatos?

Who is Annette Denise Stamatelatos? The entertainment world knows her as Annet Artani. She is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for representing Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Why Angels Cry", as well as co-writing worldwide hit "Everytime" with Britney Spears.
Artani is currently signed to Ultra Records and is pursuing a career in the American music industry. Her debut single "Alive" was released in March 2009 and is a precursor to a full length studio album.

 Early life

Artani was born September 6 Annette Denise Stamatelatos in New York. Her family originates from the village of Karavados on the island of Kefalonia, Greece. She is named after her maternal grandmother, Anneta, and she chose to use her paternal grandmother’s first name, Artani, in her stage name, as a dedication to both of them for guiding and inspiring her both during their lives and after their deaths.Artani chose to use "Annet" rather than her original "Annette" because of the pronunciation problems that Greeks experienced when saying her name.
Artani and her older sister Diana, who also sings, formed a rock band named Nootropia (A state of mind), singing in Greek, and promoted on National Greek TV (NGTV) and Aktina FM, with a fast-growing New York following. The group sang Greek rock songs which were fused with classical elements.

 Musical career

 1994–2003: Beginnings

Artani expressed her interest and love for music at a young age, particularly in offerings of such greats as Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. After her early days singing with her sister, Artani decided that a solo career would suit her best. She received a scholarship from BMG for writing and performing her original song titled "Summer Days", and has also won several talent titles in America’s Favorite Pageants, the New York Star Pageant, the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection, and has been featuring in both Pageantry and Billboard Magazine.
Over the years, Artani incorporated influences of singing in her college Gospel choir, as well as listening to R&B, pop and rock music. She started off her singing career as an opening act for Mando, a Greek pop star, and was featured in her own summer concert in 1995.
She collaborated with several accomplished writers in New York such as Jeff Franzel, who's written for NSYNC and played with Frank Sinatra, and Alex Forbes who has written for Taylor Dayne and Cyndi Lauper, among others. While singing as a singer-songwriter in clubs all over New York City, Artani received a phone call from a friend saying that she should audition to be a backing vocalist for Britney Spears. She was called back and informed that she would be on The Rosie O'Donnell Show with Spears would subsequently be a part of the Dream Within a Dream Tour. She then collaborated with Spears, co-writing the single Everytime which was released in 2004 and became an international top ten hit, as well as being on Spears' 2003 studio album In The Zone, her greatest hits compilations Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004) and The Singles Collection (2009), and her 2005 compilation of remixes entitled B In The Mix: The Remixes.

 2004–2006: Start of solo career and Eurovision 2006

In 2004, Artani entered the third edition of the Greek reality singing show Fame Story. She was brought in along with three others after the show had already started in order to increase ratings. A month into her participation, Artani "walked off the show" after refusing to sign a multi-year contract which she was being pressured into signing during her time on the show. She stated that her departure was a "huge scandal at the time in Greece". Although she didn't win, she had established a large fan base and signed a record deal with Virus Music, which led to the release of the single "Goodbye Amor", which quickly became popular.
In 2006, she was invited by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation to take part in the Cypriot selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. On February 22, the public selected its entry from 20 songs during the final round of a show entitled "A Song For Europe" where Artani won the majority of the votes for her ballad "Why Angels Cry", even though she was suffering from laryngitis. After the show, the song was tweaked a bit for Eurovision by adding the Russian philharmonic in its orchestration. She represented Cyprus in Athens at the Contest's semi-final. She later released her first studio album Mia Foni, which featured songs in both Greek and English; the album reached the top ten on the Greek Albums Chart.

 2007–present: "Alive" and new album

In December 2007, Artani was approached by Greece's Hellenic Radio and Television to be considered as one of the possible entrants to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. She wrote three candidate songs, however, she never submitted them after talking it over with the network and realizing the strings attached. She had already left her Greek record label Virus Music and had signed to a label in the United States, but by submitting the songs, she would have to be signed to a Greek label once again, which would have meant unsigning in the US. Artani felt that it would be better to be obligated to her US label instead as it could do more for her career.

Artani signed with Ultra Records in the United States, and is currently recording her first English language album. The first single is "Alive" which she performed at club Duvet on December 19 for her management company SWAP's holiday party. "Alive" was released as an eight-track digital download on March 31, 2009 through iTunes and was accompanied by a music video in the months succeeding. It was then licensed by Ultra Records worldwide and became available in all iTunes music stores.
In an interview with Radio International on November 18, 2009, Artani announced that she was working on her second single which was produced by Swedish producer Ishi Mughal and is a "sort of" remake of The Supremes 1966 hit "You Keep Me Hangin' On". During the interview, she played an exclusive clip of the unfinalized song as well as the previously unheard song "Nothing Lasts". She ended the interview by playing a new version of her song "Too Late" which was remixed by her friend Greg Christos.

 Discography

 Albums

  • 2006: Mia Foni
  • 2010: Upcoming English Album (US Release)

 Maxi singles


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