Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Who is Sara Ramírez?

Who is Sara Ramírez?  The entertainment and acting world knows her as a Mexican-American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Callie Torres in Grey's Anatomy(2006–present) and as the original Lady of the Lake in the 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.


Early life

Ramírez was born August 31, 1975 in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, a beach resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Her father was Mexican and her mother was half Mexican and half Irish-American.[citation needed]Ramírez moved with her mother at age eight to Tierrasanta, in San Diego, California. After graduating from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in San Diego, California, she graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City, where she refined her skills as an actress.[1] Ramírez speaks both Spanish and English fluently.


  Career  
She debuted on Broadway playing Wahzinak in Paul Simon's The Capeman (1998). In 1999, she appeared in The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm (1999) and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her role. She has also appeared in A Class Act (2001) andDreamgirls (2001), and she performed in The Vagina Monologues with Tovah Feldshuh and Suzanne Bertish.

  In 1998, she played the voice of Lammy in the video game UmJammer Lammy, a spin-off of PaRappa the Rapper, both on Sony's PlayStationconsole. She later reprised her role as Lammy in the PlayStation 2 video game sequel PaRappa the Rapper 2, and has a smaller role, unlike the game that preceded it.
  
In 2004, Ramírez was cast as the Lady of the Lake in the Eric Idle/John Du Prez musical Spamalot, based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical opened on Broadway in 2005 to widespread acclaim, and Ramírez in particular was singled out for her performance, winning several awards including the 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.


Following her success on Broadway, Ramírez joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy in a recurring role as Dr. Calliope 'Callie' Torres in the show's second season. For the third season she became a series regular. On a special Grey's Anatomy-themed episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she revealed that top executives from ABC loved her performance in Spamalot so much that they offered her a role in any ABC show she wanted. She picked Grey's, of which she was a fan.[2] While Ramírez has never performed a musical number on the show, she did provide a cappella vocals in the song "Silent Night" for the soundtrack of the show's sixth season episode "Holidaze," airing November 19, 2009. On December 21, 2009, this version of the song was released as a single on iTunes. Her first solo release is an extended playscheduled for a March 27, 2011 release through the iTunes Store. It will reportedly include three original songs, as well as a recording of a song scheduled to be performed on Grey's Anatomy.[3]


  Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998You've Got MailRose
1999UmJammer LammyLammyvoice
2000Spin CityCarol1 episode
Third WatchGwen Girard1 episode
Welcome to New YorkLinda1 episode
Law & Order: Special Victims UnitMrs. Barrera1 episode
2001PaRappa the Rapper 2Lammyvoice
2002Spider-ManPolice officer at carjacking
Washington HeightsBelkis
Baseball WivesGabriella Martinez
Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLisa Perez1 episode
ChicagoFemale ensemble
2003As the World TurnsHannah1 episode
When Ocean Meets SkyPeggy Fearsvoice
2004NYPD BlueIrma Pacheco1 episode
2006–presentGrey's AnatomyDr. Callie Torres88 episodes

Stage productions

YearTitleRoleTheatre
1998The CapemanWahzinakMarquis Theatre
1999The Gershwins' Fascinating RhythmLongacre Theatre
The Vagina MonologuesWestside Theatre
2001A Class ActFeliciaAmbassador Theatre
DreamgirlsFord Center for the Performing Arts
2005SpamalotThe Lady of the LakeShubert Theatre

Discography

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryFilm or seriesResult
2005Tony AwardBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalMonty Python's SpamalotWon
2005Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding featured Actress in a MusicalMonty Python's SpamalotWon
2007Imagen Foundation AwardsBest Supporting Actress - TelevisionGrey's AnatomyNominated
2007Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesGrey's AnatomyWon
2007ALMA AwardsOutstanding Actress in a Drama Television SeriesGrey's AnatomyNominated
2008ALMA AwardsOutstanding Actress in a Drama Television SeriesGrey's AnatomyNominated
2008Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesGrey's AnatomyNominated
2011Image AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesGrey's AnatomyNominated







 

To see more of Who Is click here

Who is Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi?

Who is Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi? The entertainment and acting world knows her as Sarah Shahi, she is an American-born actress of Spanish and Iranian descent.[2] A former NFL Cheerleader, Shahi was named #90 on the Maxim magazine "Hot 100 of 2005" list; she moved up to #66 in 2006.[3] She also ranked Rank No. 5 on the AfterEllen.com hot list in 2007.[4] She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and Life as Detective Dani Reese. She is currently starring as Kate Reed in the 2011 legal drama Fairly Legal on the USA Network.

Early life

Sarah Shahi was born January 10, 1980, and grew up in Euless, Texas,[1] to an Iranian father, Abbas Shahi, and a Spanish mother, known as Mahmonir who was an interior designer.[5][6] She has an older brother, Cyrus, and a younger sister Samantha.[citation needed] She is a great-great-granddaughter of the 19th century Iranian king Fath Ali Shah Qajar. Sarah's family was forced to leave their homeland two years before the political and social unrest caused by the Islamic Revolution.[7][8] Her birthname, Aahoo, means "gazelle" in Persian.[9]

Shahi adopted Sarah as her name in second grade after hearing the song "Sarah" because "I got tormented" by other children,[1] but grew up speaking Persian as well as English at her father’s insistence. Shahi's parents began entering her in beauty pageants at the age of eight.[8]Her parents divorced when she was 10.[9] Shahi attended Trinity High School, where she was captain of the volleyball and basketball teams, and Dallas' Southern Methodist University, majoring in English and Theater. Shahi won the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant in 1997; hoping to become an actress, she joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 1999–2000 squad despite not having cheered before, and appeared on the cover of the squad's 2000 calendar before moving to Los Angeles.[1]

Acting career

While working as an extra on the set of Dr. T and the Women in Texas, Shahi met director Robert Altman, who encouraged her to move toHollywood,[1] where she received roles in several series, including Alias, Dawson's Creek, Reba, and Supernatural. She may be best-known for her role as DJ Carmen de la Pica Morales on The L Word, which she joined in its second season.[citation needed] Shahi did not renew her contract with the series for the fourth season, and consequently her character was written out.[10] She also played Farah in the second season of Sleeper Cell, and also appeared in HBO's The Sopranos, in the Season 6b episode "Kennedy and Heidi".

She co-starred in the short-lived NBC series Life as homicide detective Dani Reese.[1][11]

In October 2009, Shahi landed the lead role in the USA Network pilot, Facing Kate. Shahi began filming in November 2009.[12] On March 15, 2010, it was announced that USA Network had ordered eleven more episodes of the series. The show will follow the life of Kate Reed, a top litigator who is frustrated with the bureaucracy and injustice she witnesses in legal system. The series title was later changed to Fairly Legal.[13] The series began airing on USA in January 2011.[14]

On February 3, 2010, Shahi appeared on an episode ("Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers") of Psych,[15] playing Burton Guster's new girlfriend. Her husband Steve Howey also guest-starred in the same episode.

Shahi is currently working on Untitled Beatle Boyin Project as "Carla".[16] She also will be playing "Hattie Skunk/Hattie Rockworth", a leading role in the upcoming film East Fifth Bliss.[17]

Personal life

She lived with her mother after her parents divorced. She has a brown belt in karate. She is married to actor Steve Howey, whom she met when she guest starred on Reba. They were engaged in June 2007 while vacationing in Hawaii, and married on February 7, 2009 in Las Vegas. On July 9, 2009, their first child was born. They reside in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography     



Film
YearFilmRoleOther notes
2000Dr. T and the WomenCheerleaderUncredited
2003Old SchoolErica
2003Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & BlondeBecky, Delta Nu sisterUncredited
2005A Lot Like LoveStarlet
2006For Your ConsiderationSanchez
2006The Dog ProblemCandy
2007Rush Hour 3ZoeUncredited
2008Shades of RaySana Khaliq
2008AmericanEastSalwah
2009Crossing OverPooneh Baraheri
2011East Fifth BlissHattie Skunk / Hattie RockworthPost-production
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2000City GuysCheerleaderEpisode: "Shock Treatment"
2000Spin CityBacheloretteEpisode: "Blind Faith"
2001Boston PublicLauraEpisode: "Chapter Eleven"
2001Off CentreAngelicaEpisode: "A Cute Triangle"
2001Maybe It's MeRosaEpisode: "The Exchange-Student Episode"
2001–2002AliasJennyEpisodes: "So It Begins", "A Broken Heart", "Reckoning", "Color Blind", "Spirit", "The Box: Part 1", and "Page 47"
2002Class of ‘06MegTelevision movie
2002My Adventures in TelevisionTV DivaEpisode: "The Chinese Baby"
2003FrasierReservationistEpisode: "Door Jam"
2003Dawson's CreekSadie Shaw / Mystery GirlEpisodes: "Catch-22", "Sex and Violence", and "All the Right Moves"
2003ERTara KingEpisode: "The Greater Good"
2004Century CityMs. MorrisEpisode: "Sweet Child of Mine"
2004–2007RebaBridget / KateEpisodes: "Cheyenne‘s Rival" and "To Tell You the Truth"
2004The Jamie Kennedy ExperimentHerselfEpisode: "3.13"
2005Plan BBronwynTelevision movie
2005SupernaturalConstance Welch / The Woman in WhiteEpisode: "Pilot"
2005–2009The L WordCarmen de la Pica MoralesMain character
2005The DropHerselfEpisode: "2.49"
2006TeachersTina TorresTelevision movie
2006Sleeper CellFarrahEpisodes: "Faith" and "Torture"
2007The SopranosSonya AragonEpisode: "Kennedy and Heidi"
2007–2009LifeDani ReeseMain character
2007Last Call with Carson DalyHerselfEpisode: "September 14, 2007"
2007–2009Entertainment TonightHerselfEpisodes: "August 30, 2007" and "March 3, 2009"
2008The Late Late Show with Craig FergusonHerselfEpisode: "5.54"
2010PsychRubyEpisode: "Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers"
2011Fairly LegalKate ReedMain character
2011The Wendy Williams ShowHerselfEpisode: "January 20, 2011"

To see more of Who Is click here

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...