Saturday, January 24, 2009

Who is Alessandra Corine Ambrósio?

Who is Alessandra Corine Ambrósio? The Modeling world knows her as a Brazilian model. Her last name is spelled Ambrósio, but the diacritic mark is omitted in her modeling work. She was described by Tyra Banks as "The future of the modeling world".[4] She is best known for her work with Victoria's Secret and was chosen as their first spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret PINK line. She is currently one of Victoria's Secret Angels[5] and the former face for the UK company Next.[6] Aside from modeling work, she represents as the National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.[7] Ambrosio was also selected by AskMen.com as Number 2 out of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008.[8]


She was born in the small town of Erechim, Brazil on April 11, 1981 to petrol station-owner parents. She is of Italian and Polish descent.[9][4] She was just eight years old when she decided she wanted to be a model, after seeing a picture of top covergirl Karen Mulder in a magazine. "I wanted to be like her", she recalls.[4] However, she felt insecure about her appearance, particularly of her large, obvious ears. So at 11, she had cosmetic surgery done to get her ears pinned back. She had complications from the surgery for the two years following.[10] In 2006 on The Tyra Banks Show, she said that the surgery had been a bad experience for her and that she was discouraged from having plastic surgery again. She has a sister named Aline Ambrosio, a New York City-based lawyer.[11]


When Ambrosio was 12 years old, she enrolled in modeling classes then, began modeling for Dilson Stein at age 15.[12][4] Winning Brazil's Elite Model Look started her modeling career.[2] Her first big modeling job was the cover of the Brazilian Elle magazine.[1] Elite passed along some of her Polaroids to Guess which led her to do the Millennium GUESS? campaign along with her friend and fellow Brazilian Ana Beatriz Barros.[13] She has since been in huge demand, working with big-name brands including Revlon, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Rolex, Oscar de la Renta, Gucci, Escada, Rocco Barocco, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, as well as the famed Pirelli Calendar.[14][4] As for fashion shows, she has walked the catwalks for designers such as Laura Biagiotti, Christian Lacroix, Byblos, Fendi, Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Christian Dior, Nicole Miller, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Vivienne Westwood, Oscar de la Renta, among others.[12][4] She appeared in over 50 international magazine covers such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Ocean Drive, Vogue and the only model to appear on the cover of Glamour in the United States in 2006.[2][9]



In 2004, Ambrosio launched her line of swimwear called Alessandra Ambrosio by Sais, a division of Rosa Chá. It sold 10,000 units in only its first month on the market.[15][16][12]
Her best knowns collaboration is with American lingerie brand Victoria's Secret. She appeared in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the first time in 2000, and continues to be a participant in the subsequent shows. Her most notable walk down the runway was in 2005 wearing lingerie made entirely out of candy.[17] In 2004, she was selected as the first spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret PINK line.[9] She is currently a contract 'Angel' and spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret.[2] Her 'Angel' status has brought her to the public's attention being cited by the popular media as one of the world's sexiest women.[18] She was chosen as one of People magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World, in May 2007 along with fellow 'Angels'[19] Ambrosio is among the world's top-earning models.[20][21]



Ambrosio was the face for the UK company Next[6] and starred in their first television campaign in 12 years.[22] She is also signed to Storm Model Management in London.
Only three months after giving birth to her first child, Ambrosio appeared in this year's Victoria's Secret fashion show.


Ambrosio has made several television appearances, notably a cameo as herself on HBO's Entourage along with Izabel Goulart; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn; Late Night with Conan O’Brien; as guest judge on Project Runway season 2: Team Lingerie and The Tyra Banks Show where she was a guest twice. She appeared alongside TV personality, Regis Philbin in a worldwide commercial for Hummer H2. In 2006, she had a cameo on the box-office hit movie, Casino Royale appearing briefly as Tennis Girl #1.[2][23]
Ambrosio guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother (episode: "The Yips") on November 26, 2007 with her fellow Victoria's Secret Angels Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, Marisa Miller, Miranda Kerr, and Heidi Klum.


Ambrosio loves surfing, seeing bands, drinking caipirinha and eating chocolates, which she admits to indulging in every day. She is very conscious of her figure and works out with her Brazilian trainer doing the Brazilian Butt Lift, which is a mix of samba, capoeira and aerobics.
When Ambrosio first came to New York, Gisele Bündchen lent her apartment for two weeks and Adriana Lima helped her translate English. [24]
She described her typical week as jetsetting from one country to another for photo shoots and in between she has some phone interviews. She still visits her family in Brazil regularly and calls Erechim, Brazil her favorite place in the world and having traveled the world has not yet convinced her otherwise. These days, she shares a New York City apartment with her lawyer sister Aline.[4]
She is best friends with Ana Beatriz Barros.[25] On August 24, 2008, Alessandra and her fiancé, Jamie Mazur, welcomed their first child, daughter Anja Louise Ambrosio Mazur,[26] in Florianopolis, Brazil. She weighed 6.3 lbs.


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Friday, January 23, 2009

Who is Taraji P. Henson

Who is Taraji Penda Henson? She is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. She is best known for her roles as Yvette in Baby Boy (2001), Shug in Hustle and Flow (2005) and Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Henson was born September 11, 1970 in Southeast Washington, DC, the daughter of Bernice, a manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Henson, a janitor.[1] She attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, MD. Henson's first and middle name are of Swahili origin with her first name meaning "hope" and her middle name meaning "love."[2] She first attended NC A&T where she started a major in Electrical Engineering. She later transferred to Howard University.[3]

Henson worked two jobs—in the morning as a secretary at the Pentagon and in the night as a singing and dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship— to pay for Howard University. She graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. Her son Marcel was born in 1995; his father, M.J. was murdered in 2002. Taraji's father died in 2006.[4]
Taraji Henson is the great granddaughter of Matthew Henson, one of the explorers who discovered the Geographic North Pole.[5]
Henson has said in an interview that her philosophy in life is: "Love as often as you can. Dance like nobody's watching. Travel. Eat. Try new foods because, like my character says, you never know what's coming for you and when it's time to let go, you got to let go."[6]


Ms. Henson has appeared in the films Four Brothers (2005), Talk To Me (2007), Smokin' Aces (2007), Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (2008),[7] and Not Easily Broken (2009).[8] In late 2008, she starred opposite Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Henson plays the role of Queenie, Benjamin's mother, in a performance which has garnered critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[9] She noted in an interview that, "Queenie is the embodiment of unconditional love."[10]
Henson has also been a cast member on several television shows, including Lifetime Television's The Division and ABC's Boston Legal for one season.[11] Her recurring appearances in television include the character Angela Scott on the ABC television show "Eli Stone" in December 2008. She has guest-starred on several television shows, such as The WB show Smart Guy playing the role of Monique (1997–1998), the Fox Television show House in 2005 and the CBS Television show CSI in 2006.[12]

Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in the category. Henson performed the song at the Oscars on March 5, 2006 with the group.
Henson has made several appearances on music videos. Henson appeared in the rapper Common's music video called Testify in 2005 as the wife of a soon to be convicted murderer. On December 5, 2008, Jamie Foxx premiered his new music video "Just Like Me" on TBS featuring Henson and T.I.

She received these Awards and nominations

2009, Best Supporting Actress: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
Austin Film Critics
2008, Best Supporting Actress: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Winner)
BET Awards
2006, Best Actress (Winner)
Black Movie Awards
2005, Best Supporting Actress: Hustle & Flow (Winner)
Black Reel Awards
2008, Best Supporting Actress: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
2006, Best Ensemble: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
2006, Best Ensemble: Four Brothers (Nominated)
2006, Best Supporting Actress: Hustle & Flow (Winner)
2002, Best Actress: Baby Boy (Nominated)
Critics Choice Awards
2009, Best Supporting Actress: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
2009, Best Ensemble: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
Gotham Awards
2007, Best Ensemble: Talk to Me (Winner)
Image Awards
2009, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
2008, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Talk to Me (Nominated)
2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
MTV Movie Awards
2006, Best Breakthrough Performance: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
2006, Best Kiss: Hustle & Flow (Nominated) shared w/ Terence Howard
Satellite Awards
2008, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Talk to Me (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild
2008, Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
2008, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
2008, Outstanding Cast in a Television Drama: Boston Legal (Nominated)
2007, Outstanding Cast in a Television Drama: Boston Legal (Nominated)
2006, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
St. Louis Film Critics
2009, Best Supporting Actress in Motion Picture: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nominated)
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Who is Emilie de Ravin

Who is Emilie de Ravin? [1] [2] She is an Australian actress. She became famous by starring in the popular teen series Roswell, but gained even greater fame by starring in the hit ABC drama Lost as Claire Littleton.
Ravin's film credits include Santa's Slay, Ball Don't Lie and the box-office hit The Hills have Eyes. She is also known for her role as Brendan Frye's heroin-addicted ex-girlfriend Emily in the neo-noir film Brick. Ravin was included on Maxim's Hot 100 list three times, in 2005, on #47,[3] the next year on #65,[4] and in 2008 on #68.[5] She is set to appear with Johnny Depp in the upcoming film Public Enemies.[6]

Ravin was born 27 December 1981 in Mount Eliza, Victoria, Australia, a town to the south east of Melbourne.[7] She has French[8] and British ancestry, and de Ravin means from (the) ravie in French. Having studied ballet since the age of nine at Christa Cameron School of Ballet in Melbourne, and being home schooled by her mother, she was accepted into the Australian Ballet School at fifteen. There, she performed in productions with The Australian Ballet as well as Danceworld 301.[9] Ravin studied acting at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art,[2] and with the Prime Time Actors Studio in Los Angeles.[10]


Emilie de Ravin's first major role was a recurring part as Curupira in the TV series BeastMaster.[11] She went on to appear as alien/human hybrid Tess Harding in the teen television series, Roswell.[12] She landed this role one month after moving to Los Angeles at the age of 18.[9][13] In 2004, Ravin was cast to portray Claire Littleton on the hit ABC drama Lost. In answer to if she expected the success of Lost, Ravin said: "It's sort of hard to say. You read something and have a good feeling about it, it sounds great, ties nicely together and then shooting something, editing it, the music, the actors involved, everything sort of plays a huge part. Everyone involved had a great feeling towards it, but you never really know".[14] Ravin was a series regular for the first four seasons, but will not return as a series regular for the fifth season; although she will be on a "holding contract" and will return as a regular in the sixth season.[15] In 2005, Ravin was cast to portray Emily Kostich, the heroin-addicted ex-girlfriend of Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), in the neo-noir film Brick.




In an interview about the film, Ravin told that she was attracted by the script because it was original and the teens in the film are very deep and emotional for their age.[16] In 2006, she starred in the remake of the 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes as Brenda Carter. In 2007, Variety reported that she would be staring in the film Ball Don't Lie,[17][18] which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and will arrive at the cinemas early 2009. Ravin will appear in William Dear's The Perfect Game,[19] and in the 2009 film Public Enemies as a bank teller named Anna Patzke.[6] Ravin was cast in the movie adaption of the video game Onimusha, but due to producer Samuel Hadida's other project The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Heath Ledger's death, Hadida was forced to push back the release date of the film. Onimusha is postponed for an unknown amount of time and there is not any confirmation if Ravin will continue the project.[20]


After three years of dating, actor Josh Janowicz proposed to Ravin on New Year's Day in Melbourne, which she said "was very impromptu and very sweet".[12] Ravin became engaged to Janowicz on 1 January 2005, while visiting Ravin's family in Australia.[21] Ravin met Janowicz in Los Angeles, and said that "our life together always comes before work. You can't buy love or family."[11] While filming Lost, Ravin flew to and from Hawaii "once or twice a week" to return to her home in Burbank, California, which she shared with Janowicz and their poodle, Bella.[12] The couple married 19 June 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.[21] Ravin separated from Janowicz six months after their marriage, and currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her dog.[22]
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Who is Luigi "Geno" Auriemma?

W ho is  Luigi   " Geno "   Auriemma? The college basketball world recognizes him as the most successfull division 1  college bas...