Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Who is Haley Joel Osment?

Who is Haley Joel Osment? The entertainment and acting world knows him as an American actor. After a series of roles in television and film during the 1990s, including a small part in Forrest Gump playing Tom Hanks' title character’s son, Osment rose to fame with his performance as Cole Sear in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller film The Sixth Sense that earned him a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He subsequently appeared in leading roles in several high-profile Hollywood films including Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Mimi Leder's Pay it Forward. He made his Broadway debut in 2008 in a revival of American Buffalo, co-starring with John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer.[1]

Early life

Osment was born April 10, 1988  in Los Angeles, California;[2] the son of Theresa Osment (née Seifert), a teacher, and Michael Eugene Osment,[3] a theater and film actor, both natives of Alabama. Osment was raised Roman Catholic.[4] He has one sister, four years younger, actress and singer-songwriter Emily Osment. Osment’s parents described his childhood as a “good old-fashioned Southern upbringing,” and his father said that when Osment was learning to speak, he deliberately avoided using baby talk when communicating with his son.[5]
Osment was a student at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada, California.[6] As a child, he was talented in many sports, including basketball, football, wrestling, and golf.[7]

Career

Osment's acting career began at the age of four, when his mother took him to a new Ikea store; a talent scout was there looking for new actors, and Osment put his name down. He got called back for an audition, and was asked to describe the biggest thing he had ever seen; Osment described an IMAX theater screen, and won the part in a Pizza Hut TV commercial, advertising their "Big Foot" pizza.[5] The commercial launched his career; later that year he starred in the ABC TV sitcom Thunder Alley, his first role in series television.[8] His first feature film role was as Forrest Gump's son, also named Forrest Gump, in the 1994 film of the same name.[9] He also had a small part in another 1994 film, Mixed Nuts. Throughout the rest of 1990s, Osment played regular and/or recurring roles in various TV series; including The Jeff Foxworthy Show and the final season of Murphy Brown, where he replaced Dylan Christopher as Murphy's son, Avery. In addition, he made numerous guest appearances on shows including The Larry Sanders Show, Walker, Texas Ranger (as a child dying from AIDS),[10] Touched by an Angel, Chicago Hope, The Pretender, and an emotional episode of Ally Mcbeal; "Angels and Blimps", in which he played a child dying from leukemia. He starred in the 1996 film Bogus, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Gérard Depardieu, and appeared in the 1998 made-for-TV movie The Lake, with Yasmine Bleeth, as well as I'll Remember April (1999), with future The Sixth Sense co-star Trevor Morgan.
Osment first achieved major stardom in 1999, when he appeared in the blockbuster film The Sixth Sense, co-starring Bruce Willis. For his portrayal of Cole Sear, a psychic child, Osment won Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second-youngest performer ever to receive an Academy nomination for a supporting role, but lost the final Oscar vote to Michael Caine (with whom he would later work, appearing together in Secondhand Lions). One of Osment's lines in The Sixth Sense, "I see dead people", became a popular catchphrase and is often repeated or parodied on television programs and in other media. He made three minor (voice-only) guest appearances on the animated TV series Family Guy in 2000.
The 2000 Academy Awards ceremony honored another future co-star, Kevin Spacey, who, along with Helen Hunt, appeared in Osment's next film, Pay It Forward (2000). The following year, he appeared in Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence: A.I., cementing his stature as one of the leading young actors in Hollywood. This role earned him his second Saturn Award for Best Younger Actor, and another critical acclaim. In reviewing the movie, critic Roger Ebert claimed that: "Osment, who is onscreen in almost every scene, is one of the best actors now working".[11] Also in 2001, Osment starred in the Polish film, Edges of the Lord, as Romek. The movie was never released theatrically in the United States.
Osment has lent his voice to animated films such as The Country Bears, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and The Jungle Book 2. He returned to live action with the 2003 film, Secondhand Lions.
Notably, Osment has also lent his voice to the video game series, Kingdom Hearts, providing the voice of Sora, the series' main character, and also Vanitas, a villain resembling Sora. Osment also voiced the character of Takeshi Jinno, in the English version of the Immortal Grand Prix anime TV series.
He next appeared in Home of the Giants, playing a high school journalist opposite Ryan Merriman and Danielle Panabaker. He subsequently worked on Montana Amazon as both an actor and executive producer. The film co-stars Olympia Dukakis and debuted at the Orlando and Big Apple Film Festivals in November 2010, winning Best Feature Film at the latter.[12]
Osment made his Broadway debut at the Belasco Theatre in November 2008, playing the role of "Bobby", a young heroin addict, in a revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo; co-starring with John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer.[13][14] The show opened to mixed reviews, and a provisional statement was made on November 20, 2008, that it would close after the first week.[15] Osment was given one sentence in the New York Times review of the production: "Mr. Osment’s facial stubble and slumping posture fail to override the impression that he’s giving a perfect School of Disney juvenile performance."[16] Newsday, however, said "Haley Joel Osment... has a sweet, haunting neediness as a slacker who appears to recognize a kind of death in himself."
In 2010, Osment signed for a leading role in the comedy film Sex Ed from MPCA; he's to play a college graduate who wants to teach algebra, but ends up as a sex education teacher while a virgin himself.[17] In January 2011, Entertainment Weekly reported that Osment had joined the cast of Sassy Pants, a comedy about a homeschooler with an over-bearing mother.[18] Variety reported on June 27, 2011 that Osment will star in Wake the Dead, a modern day retelling of the Frankenstein story, with production to begin the last quarter of 2011.[19]

Personal life

Osment follows a mostly meat-free diet, though he does eat chicken and fish.[20] Osment plays the guitar and piano.[21] As of 2007, he attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts,[22] from which he graduated in 2010.
Osment is an avid golfer who began playing at the age of 7.[23] He played for the U.S. team in the All Star Cup 2005, under team leader Mark O'Meara,[23] and has participated in the Annual Michael Douglas & Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament.

Osment was involved in a single-driver automobile accident on July 20, 2006, in which he struck a brick mailbox and overturned his car while driving near his home. The accident resulted in injuries including a broken rib, fractured right shoulder blade, cuts, and abrasions.[24][25] In connection with this incident, Osment pleaded no contest to one count each of misdemeanor, driving under the influence of alcohol, and drug possession on October 19, 2006.[25] He was sentenced to three years probation, 60 hours in an alcohol rehabilitation and education program, a fine of $1500, and a minimum requirement of 26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings over a six-month period.[25][26]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1994 Forrest Gump Forrest Gump, Jr. Young Artist Award for Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten in a Motion Picture
Mixed Nuts Little Boy
1995 For Better or Worse Danny
1995-98 The Jeff Foxworthy Show Matt Foxworthy
1996 Bogus Albert Franklin Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Actor Age Ten or Under
1997 Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas Chip Voice (direct-to-video)
1998 Ransom of Red Chief Andy Dorset (TV movie)
1999 The Sixth Sense Cole Sear Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Newcomer (Internet Only)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Youth in Film
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actor
MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Satellite Award for Outstanding New Talent
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Breakout Performance
Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
YoungStar Award for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (Shared with Bruce Willis)
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Debut
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
I'll Remember April Peewee Clayton
2000 Pay It Forward Trevor McKinney Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama/Romance
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
Discover Spot Spot the Dog Voice
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence David Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Youth Performance
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
Edges of the Lord Romek
2002 The Hunchback of Notre Dame II Zephyr Voice
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role
The Country Bears Beary Barrington Voice
Kingdom Hearts Sora Video game
2003 Secondhand Lions Walter Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
The Jungle Book 2 Mowgli Voice
Nominated — World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written for a Film (Shared with Paul Grabowsky, Lorraine Feather, Mae Whitman, and Connor Funk)
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actor
2004 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Sora Video game
2005 Immortal Grand Prix Takeshi Jinno Anime TV series; Voice (English-language)
2006 Kingdom Hearts II Sora Video game
2007 Home of the Giants Robert "Gar" Gartland
2008 Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories Sora Video game
2009 Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Sora Video game
2010 Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Vanitas/Sora Video game
Montana Amazon Womple
2011 Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Data-Sora Video game
Sassy Pants Chip Hardy Post-production
2012 Wake the Dead Victor Franklin Begins production last quarter 2011

 







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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Who is Joseph Rogan?

Who is Joseph Rogan? The entertainment and commentating world knows him as Joe Rogan  who is an American comedian, video blogger, actor, writer, martial artist, activist and color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Early life

Rogan was born on August 11, 1967, in Newark, NJ; he lived in several cities as a child (primarily Boston) and was prone to behavioral problems until discovering Tae Kwon Do in his early teens.[1][2]

Career

Acting

In 1994, Rogan co-starred on the Fox comedy Hardball as Frank Valente, the young, ego-centric star player on a fictional professional baseball team. [3] The show was cancelled after nine episodes.
From 1995-1999, Rogan co-starred on the critically acclaimed comedy NewsRadio. He portrayed Joe Garrelli, the electrician at WNYX, a news radio station in New York City. [4][5]
In 2002, he appeared on one episode of Just Shoot Me as Chris, Maya Gallo's boyfriend.

Martial arts

During high school, Rogan was a practitioner of Taekwondo and gained a black belt at age 15. He went on to become a four-time state champion in Massachusetts, and a U.S. Open Taekwondo champion. His record as a kickboxer is 2-1.
In 1996, Rogan began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Carlson Gracie at his school in Hollywood, California. After Gracie relocated to Chicago, Rogan later began training under Jean Jacques Machado, (a cousin of the Gracie family), eventually earning his brown belt under Machado.[6] In addition, Rogan holds a brown belt in 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo.

Commentating

Rogan began working for the UFC in 1997, making his debut interviewing fighters at UFC 12: Judgement Day in Dothan, Alabama, before eventually becoming a color commentator for the promotion.[7]

Hosting

Rogan worked on the TV series Fear Factor, as a host of the United States version of the show. He hosted from June 11, 2001 through September 12, 2006 before the show was canceled by NBC. Rogan will return as the host of Fear Factor in an upcoming rebooted edition of the show, which will air fall 2011 on NBC.[8]
In December 2009, Rogan began hosting a regular podcast with concurrent live Ustream availability.[9] Frequently co-hosted by his friend and the show's producer Brian "Redban" Reichle, the podcast features an array of guests from the pursuits of comedy, acting and Mixed Martial Arts. Now known as The Joe Rogan Experience, the show is regularly found in the Apple iTunes top 10 most downloaded comedy, and was named one of iTunes "Best of 2010" audio podcasts in its first year. He refers to himself as a werewolf commonly on the podcast, admittedly after the Twilight series.

Personal life

Family

Jerri Rogan
On May 21, 2008, Rogan announced on the Kevin and Bean radio show in Los Angeles that his girlfriend Jessica had a baby girl, and confirmed the news on his fan forum.[10] The couple married in 2009. On episode 22 of The Joe Rogan Experience (recorded May 25, 2010), Rogan announced that "baby Rogan number two was just born the other day".[11][12]

Religion

Although raised Roman Catholic,[13] Rogan stated in September 2010, during a guest appearance on the Alex Jones radio show, that he does not follow any organized religions because he feels it is all the work of man. Rogan also said that he is not completely opposed to the concept of a "higher power" such as a God, however views the concept of God as part of nature that exists in everything.

Psychedelics

One of the recurring themes in his stand-up comedy and life is the use and support of cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, and DMT. Rogan supports the medical and recreational use of cannabis.[14] He has also starred in the marijuana documentary The Union: The Business Behind Getting High. He has an isolation tank in his basement.[15] Rogan was featured in the 2010 History Channel documentary, Marijuana: A Chronic History, as an advocate of legalized medical use of marijuana. He is also the presenter of the 2010 documentary, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, released in October 2010.

Controversy

Carlos Mencia

On February 10, 2007, Rogan confronted comedian Carlos Mencia on stage at the Comedy Store on Sunset, accusing him of plagiarism. Rogan posted a video of the altercation with audio and video clips from other comedians, including George Lopez, Reverend Bob Levy, Bobby Lee and Ari Shaffir, among others.[16]

Comedy recordings

  • I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday (CD) (August 22, 2000)
  • Live from the Belly of the Beast (DVD) (May 4–5, 2001)
  • Joe Rogan: Live (DVD) (September 1, 2006)
  • Shiny Happy Jihad (CD) (April 10, 2007)
  • Talking Monkeys In Space (CD & DVD) (2010) Comedy Central Records

 










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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Who is Christopher Edward Hansen?

Who is Christopher Edward Hansen? The entertainment and new reporting world know Chris Hansen as an American television infotainment personality. He is known for his work on Dateline NBC, in particular the former segment known as To Catch a Predator, which revolved around catching potential Internet sex predators using a sting operation.


Hansen was born March 26, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan but grew up in northern Detroit suburbs of West Bloomfield and Birmingham. In an interview with the Lansing City Pulse, Hansen said that watching the FBI and police investigate the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa inspired him to become a journalist.[2] He graduated from Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications.[1][



Career

Hansen became a reporter for Lansing NBC affiliate WILX in 1981 during his senior year at Michigan State University.[1][2] He then reported for WFLA in Tampa, various radio stations and newspapers in Michigan, WXYZ in Detroit, and WDIV as an investigative reporter and anchor from 1988.[1] In May 1993, Hansen joined NBC News as a correspondent for the newsmagazine Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.[1]

Dateline NBC

Hansen's notable work for Dateline includes coverage of the Columbine massacre, the Oklahoma City terrorist attack, the Unabomber and the TWA Flight 800 disaster; as well as investigative reports on Indian child slave labor and on counterfeit prescription drug sales in China. Hansen was responsible for most of Dateline's coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as stories on terrorist groups and the operations of Al-Qaeda. He exposed how a group linked to Osama Bin Laden had tried to buy missiles and nuclear weapons components, and he also worked on an exclusive report detailing an attempted 1994 terrorist attack in France. His series on the lack of security at airports resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration opening an investigation and ultimately revising its policies.[1]

To Catch a Predator

In conjunction with the website Perverted-Justice, Hansen hosted a series of Dateline NBC reports under the title To Catch a Predator. Volunteers from Perverted-Justice impersonated teenagers online and arranged to meet with adults for sex. The meeting places were usually "sting houses", where camera crews from NBC and sometimes police awaited the would-be pedophile.[3]
Capitalizing on the success of Hansen and his Predator investigations, Dateline NBC created three Tuesday night spin-offs of its original concept; Hansen hosted To Catch a Con Man and To Catch an I.D. Thief.[1] In March 2007, Hansen's book, To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Kids from Online Enemies Already in Your Home, was released in the American market.

Louis Conradt, Jr. controversy

Louis William "Bill" Conradt, Jr. was a district attorney in Texas who became inextricably linked to To Catch a Predator after he committed suicide when the Kaufman County SWAT team entered his house, with Dateline cameras recording the action.
Conradt's death prompted criticism of the show, already attacked by some in the legal and journalistic profession for breaking down the walls between the press and the police. A year later, Rolling Stone and Esquire magazines published articles criticizing To Catch a Predator. Hansen was criticized for his predator series; among the accusations he faced was that he colluded with law enforcement authorities to conduct the stings. Hansen denied these accusations, claiming that he and law enforcement agencies conducted "parallel investigations" and that he barely talked to law enforcement during the cases. In the Esquire article, Luke Dittrich accused Hansen of deception.[4]
In September 2007, Esquire interviewed Hansen about the show and, in particular, the case of Conradt. In the interview, Hansen defended To Catch a Predator and its practices, but admitted he never saw the MySpace page that he mentioned in his own blog and on the show to incriminate Conradt.[5]
According to the Esquire interview, Murphy detective Sam Love claims that Hansen asked the Murphy Police Department to obtain a search warrant for Conradt, since Conradt had stopped communicating with the decoy.[5] Hansen denied doing so, and claimed no knowledge of anyone from NBC or Perverted-Justice making such a request. Hansen admitted to several other inconsistencies or gaps in his personal memory. He claimed that NBC cameramen were never on Conradt's property; footage obtained by Esquire showed a cameraman on the property even before Kaufman County, Texas SWAT team members had arrived. Hansen claimed that members from Perverted-Justice were never at the scene.[5]
In June 2008, NBC settled a lawsuit with Patricia Conradt, the sister of Louis Conradt. The amount of the settlement is not public.[6] The Los Angeles Times reported that To Catch a Predator was being dropped from regular production as a result of the controversies surrounding it.[7]
State investigators subsequently found three laptops, a cell phone and several computer disks in Conradt's home, all containing child pornography.[8]

Appearances

Hansen has appeared on such television programs as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Adam Carolla Show, Today, Scarborough Country, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rise Guys Morning Show, The Don and Mike Show, The Opie and Anthony Radio Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Glenn Beck Program, and Diggnation.
On January 9, 2007, Hansen appeared on the BET news series, American Gangster. The special, which was hosted by actor Ving Rhames, focused on Detroit drug lords, the Chambers Brothers gang. Hansen gave insight into the lives of the brothers based on the reporting he had done on them in the 1980s and 1990s as a reporter for ABC affiliate WXYZ (Channel 7) and NBC affiliate WDIV (Channel 4). On January 13, 2008 he attended the NBC Golden Globes Winners Special which was poorly attended by the nominees due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[9]

Awards

Hansen has received seven Emmy Awards, four Edward Murrow awards, three Clarion awards, the Overseas Press club award, an IRE, the National Press Club award, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Award; as well as awards for excellence from the Associated Press and United Press International.

Personal life



He is married to Mary Joan Hansen; the couple has two sons. The family resides in Connecticut.[1]

 

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Monday, July 18, 2011

Who is Christina Hambley Brown?


Who is Christina Hambley Brown? The entertainment and new world knows her as Tina Brown,(AKA)  Lady Evans,  is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born a British citizen, she took United States citizenship in 2005 after emigrating in 1984 to edit Vanity Fair. Having been editor-in-chief of Tatler magazine at only 25 years of age, she rose to prominence in the American media industry as the editor of Vanity Fair from 1984 to 1992 and of The New Yorker from 1992 to 1998. In 2000 she was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to overseas journalism,[1] and in 2007 was inducted into the Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame.[2] As an editor, she has also been honored with four George Polk Awards, five Overseas Press Club awards, and ten National Magazine Awards.[3] In October 2008 she partnered Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp to found and edit The Daily Beast. Two years later, in November 2010, The Daily Beast announced that it will merge with the American weekly news magazine Newsweek in a joint venture to form The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Brown will serve as Editor-in-Chief of both publications.[4]

Personal life

Early life

Tina Brown was November 21, 1953  in Maidenhead, and she and her elder brother, Christopher Hambley Brown (who became a movie producer) grew up in Little Marlow, in Buckinghamshire,[5] a Thames village in the countryside west of London. Her father, George Hambley Brown, was a prominent figure in the British film industry. He produced the first Agatha Christie films, starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. His other films included The Chiltern Hundreds (1949); Hotel Sahara (1951), starring Yvonne De Carlo; Guns at Batasi (1964), starring Richard Attenborough and Mia Farrow. In 1939, he had an early marriage to the actress Maureen O'Hara; according to O'Hara, it was never consummated owing to her parents' intervention, and it was annulled. George later met and married Brown's mother, (1948), Bettina Iris Mary Kohr, who was an assistant to Laurence Olivier. In her later years, Bettina wrote for an English-language magazine for expatriates in Spain where she and her husband lived in retirement until moving to New York in the early eighties to be with their daughter and grandchildren.

School

In Brown's own words she was considered "an extremely subversive influence"[6] as a child, resulting in her expulsion from three boarding schools. Offences included organising a demonstration to protest against the school's policy of allowing a change of underwear only three times a week, referring to her headmistress' bosoms as "unidentified flying objects" in a journal entry, and writing a play about her school being blown up and a public bathroom being erected in its place.[6]

University

Brown entered Oxford university at the age of 17.[7] She studied at St. Anne's College, and graduated with a BA in English Literature. As an undergraduate, she wrote for Isis, the university's literary magazine, to which she contributed interviews with the columnist Auberon Waugh and the actor Dudley Moore.[8] Brown's sharp, witty prose garnered her publication in the New Statesman while she was still an undergraduate at Oxford. Her friendship with Waugh served as a boost to her writing career, as he used his influence to get attention drawn to her ability. Later, she went on to date the writer Martin Amis.[9] While still at Oxford, she won the Sunday Times National Student Drama Award for her one-act play Under the Bamboo Tree. A subsequent play, Happy Yellow, in 1977 was mounted at the London fringe Bush Theatre and later performed at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Relationship

Harold Evans
In 1973, the literary agent Pat Kavanagh introduced Brown's writings to Harold Evans, editor of The Sunday Times, and in 1974 she was given freelance assignments in the UK by Ian Jack, the paper's features editor, and in the US by its color magazine edited by Godfrey Smith.[10] When a relationship developed between Brown and Evans, she resigned to write for the rival The Sunday Telegraph.[11] Evans divorced his wife in 1978 and on August 20, 1981 Evans and Brown were married at Grey Gardens, the East Hampton, New York home of then The Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn.[10] Brown lives in New York City with Sir Harold Evans and their two children, a son, George born in 1986 and a daughter, Isabel, born in 1990.[12]

Career

Early work

After graduating, while doing freelance reporting, Brown was invited to write a weekly column by the literary humour magazine, Punch. These articles and her freelance contributions to The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph earned her the Catherine Pakenham Award for the best journalist under 25.[5] Some of the writings from this era formed part of her first collection Loose Talk, published by Michael Joseph.
In 1979 at the age of 25 Brown was invited to edit the tiny, almost extinct society magazine Tatler by its new owner, the Australian real estate millionaire Gary Bogard and transformed it into a modern glossy magazine with covers by celebrated photographers like Norman Parkinson, Helmut Newton, and David Bailey, and fashion by Michael Roberts. Tatler featured writers from Brown's eclectic circle including Julian Barnes, Dennis Potter, Auberon Waugh, Georgina Howell and Nicholas Coleridge (who today is the managing director of Conde Nast UK). Brown herself wrote in every issue, contributing irreverent surveys of the upper classes. She travelled through Scotland to portray the owners' stately homes. She also wrote short satirical profiles of eligible London bachelors under the pen-name Rosie Boot. Tatler led the coverage of the rise of Lady Di and became the go-to magazine for information about Diana's world. She joined NBC's Tom Brokaw in running commentary for The Today Show on the royal wedding. Tatler increased its sale from 10,000 to 40,000[8] and was named magazine of the year in the industry awards of 1978. In 1982 when S. I. ("Si") Newhouse Jr., owner of Condé Nast Publications, bought Tatler Brown resigned to become a full-time writer again.[13] The break didn't last long and Tina was lured back to Conde Nast.

Vanity Fair

In 1983 Brown was brought to New York by Newhouse to advise on Vanity Fair, a title that he had resurrected earlier that year. (Vanity Fair had previously ceased publication in 1936) Edited first by Richard Locke and then by Leo Lerman, it was dying[14] with an unviable circulation of 200,000 and 12 pages of advertising. She stayed on as a contributing editor for a brief time, and then was named editor-in-chief on January 1, 1984. She recalls that upon taking over the magazine she found it to be "pretentious, humourless. It wasn't too clever, it was just dull."[15]
The first contract writer she hired was not a writer but a movie producer whom she met at a dinner party hosted by the writer Marie Brenner. The producer told her he was going to California for the trial of the strangler of his daughter. As solace, Brown suggested for him to keep a diary and his report (headlined Justice) proved the launch of the long magazine career of Dominick Dunne[16]
Early stories such as Justice and livelier covers brightened the prospects of the magazine. In addition, Brown signed up among others Marie Brenner, Gail Sheehy, Jesse Kornbluth, T.D. Allman, Lynn Herschberg, James Kaplan, Peter J. Boyer, John Richardson, James Atlas, Alex Shoumatoff and Ben Brantley. The magazine became a mix of celebrity and serious foreign and domestic reporting. Brown persuaded the novelist William Styron to write about his depression under the title Darkness Visible, which subsequently became a best-selling nonfiction book. At the same time Brown formed fruitful relationships with photographers Annie Leibovitz, Harry Benson, Herb Ritts, and Helmut Newton.[17] Annie Liebovitz's portrayal of Jerry Hall, Diane Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg and others came to define Vanity Fair. Its most famous cover was August 1991's of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore.
Three stories put Vanity Fair on the map: Harry Benson's cover shoot of Ronald and Nancy Reagan dancing in the White House; Helmut Newton's notorious portrait of accused murderer Claus von Bulow in his leathers with his mistress Andrea Reynolds with reporting by Dominick Dunne, and Brown's own cover story on Princess Diana in October 1985 entitled The Mouse that Roared. It broke the news of the fracture in the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales. These three stories from June to October 1985 saved the magazine after a year when rumors were rife that it was to be folded into The New Yorker[18] just acquired by S.I. Newhouse.
Thereafter Vanity Fair became a tremendous editorial and commercial success. Sales rose from 200,000 to 1.2 million. In 1988 she was named Magazine Editor of the Year by Advertising Age magazine.[19] Advertising topped 1,440 pages in 1991 and with circulation revenues, especially from profitable single copy sales at $20 million, selling some 55 percent of copies on the newsstand, well above the industry average sell through of 42 percent.[20] Despite this success, occasional references later appeared to Vanity Fair losing money. Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer who suggested as much in his book Power: Why Some People Have It - And Others Don’t was quickly rebutted by Bernard Leser, president of Conde Nast USA during Brown’s tenure. In a letter to the editor of the Evening Standard, Leser stated Pfeffer’s claim was “absolutely false” and affirmed that they had indeed earned “a very healthy profit.” [21] Leo Scullin, an independent magazine consultant, called it a "successful launch of a franchise."[20] Under Brown's editorship Vanity Fair won four National Magazine Awards, including a 1989 award for General Excellence.
One of her editorial decisions was in October 1990, two months after the first Gulf War had started, when she removed a picture of Marla Maples (a blonde) from the cover and replaced it with a photograph of Cher. The reason for her last minute decision, she told the Washington Post, was that "In light of the gulf crisis, we thought a brunette was more appropriate."

The New Yorker

In 1992, Brown accepted the company's invitation to become editor of The New Yorker, the fourth in its 73 year history and the first female to hold the position having been preceded by Harold Ross, William Shawn and Robert Gottlieb. She has related in speeches that before taking over, she immersed herself in vintage New Yorkers, reading the issues produced by founding editor Harold Ross. "There was an irreverence, a lightness of touch as well as a literary voice that had been obscured in later years when the magazine became more celebrated and stuffy." She added: "Rekindling that DNA became my passion."
Anxieties that Brown might change the identity of The New Yorker as a cultural institution prompted a number of resignations. Of them George Trow, who had been with the magazine for almost three decades, accused Brown of "kissing the ass of celebrity"[22] in his resignation letter. (To which Brown reportedly replied "I am distraught at your defection but since you never actually write anything I should say I am notionally distraught.") The departing Jamaica Kincaid described Brown as "a bully" and "Stalin in high heels."[22]
But Brown had the support of some New Yorker stalwarts including John Updike, Roger Angell, Brendan Gill, Lillian Ross, Calvin Tomkins, Janet Malcolm, Harold Brodkey and Philip Hamburger and newer staffers like Adam Gopnik and Nancy Franklin. During her editorship she let 79 go and engaged 50 new writers and editors including most of whom remain to this day: David Remnick (whom she nominated as her successor), Malcolm Gladwell, Anthony Lane, Jane Mayer, Jeffrey Toobin,[23] Hendrik Hertzberg, Simon Schama, Lawrence Wright, Connie Bruck, John Lahr and editors Pamela McCarthy and Dorothy Wickenden. Brown introduced the concept of special double issues such as New Yorker's first annual fiction issue and the Holiday Season cartoon issue. She also cooperated with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates to devote a whole issue to Black in America.[24]
Brown broke the magazine's long standing taboo against treating photography seriously when in 1992 she invited Richard Avedon to be its first staff photographer.[25] She also approved of controversial covers from a new crop of artists, including Edward Sorel's October 1992 cover that had people buzzing about the meaning of a punk rock passenger sprawled in the backseat of an elegant horse-drawn carriage: was it Brown's self mocking riposte to fears she would downgrade the magazine?[26] A year later a national controversy was provoked by her publication of Art Spiegelman's Valentine's Day cover of a Jewish man and a black woman in an embracing kiss, a comment on the mounting racial tensions between blacks and the ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York.
During Brown's tenure, the magazine was honored with 4 George Polk Awards, 5 Overseas Press Club Awards, and 10 National Magazine Awards, including a 1995 award for General Excellence, the first in the magazine's history. Newsstand sales rose 145 percent[27] The New Yorker's circulation increased to 807,935 for the second half of 1997 up from 658,916 during the corresponding period in 1992.[28] Critics maintained it was hemorrhaging money. Newhouse remained supportive. At the start he said, viewing the magazine under Brown as a start-up (which routinely lose money), "It was practically a new magazine. She added topicality, photography, color. She did what we would have done if we invented the New Yorker from scratch. To do all that was costly. We knew it would be."[28] Under Brown its economic fortunes improved every year. In 1995 losses were about $17 million, in 1996 $14 million, by 1997 they'd been cut back to $11 million.[28]
In 1998, Brown resigned from the New Yorker following an invitation from Harvey and Bob Weinstein of Miramax Films (then owned by the Disney Company) to be the chairman in a new multi-media company they intended to start with a new magazine, a book company and a television show. The Hearst company came in as partners with Miramax.
Tina Brown next created Talk magazine, a monthly glossy, and appointed Jonathan Burnham and Susan Mercandetti to manage Talk Books. The magazine was due to be launched during a party at the Brooklyn Navy yard in New York City but was banned by the mayor Rudy Giuliani, who did not feel it was an appropriate use of the site.[31] The star-studded event mixing political leaders, writers and Hollywood, was then moved to Liberty Island, where on August 2, 1999 more than 800 guests - including Madonna, Salman Rushdie, Demi Moore and George Plimpton- arrived by barge for a picnic dinner at the feet of the Statue of Liberty under thousands of Japanese lanterns and a Grucci fireworks display.[32] An interview with Hillary Clinton in its very first issue caused an immediate political sensation when she claimed that the abuse her husband suffered as a child led to his adult philandering.[33] Despite having achieved a circulation of 670,000[34] Talk magazine's publication was abruptly halted in January 2002 in the wake of the advertising recession following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center.[34] It was Brown's first very public failure but she had no regrets about embarking on the project. "My reputation rests on four magazines - three great successes, one that was a great experiment. I don't feel in any way let down. No big career doesn't have one flame out in it and there's nobody more boring than the undefeated."[35]
Talk Miramax Books flourished as a boutique publishing house until it was detached from Miramax in 2005 and made part of Hyperion at Disney. Out of 42 books published during Brown's time, 11 have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List including Leadership by Rudy Giuliani, Leap of Faith by Queen Noor of Jordan and Madam Secretary by Madeline Albright.

Topic A

Brown went on to host a series of specials for CNBC. The network followed up by signing her to host a weekly talk show of politics and culture titled Topic [A] With Tina Brown, which debuted on May 4, 2003. The program welcomed guests ranging from political figures, such as the then Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair, and Senator John McCain, to celebrities, such as George Clooney and Annette Bening. Topic A struggled to find an audience on Sunday nights airing after a day of infomercials.[36] It averaged 75,000 viewers in 2005, about the same as The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch (79,000) and John McEnroe's McEnroe (75,000.)[36] On being offered a lucrative deal with tight deadlines to write a book about Princess Diana, Brown resigned, airing her last Topic A interviews on May 29, 2005.[36]

The Diana Chronicles

Brown's biography of Princess Diana, was published just before the 10th anniversary of her death in June 2007. The Diana Chronicles went straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list for hardback nonfiction, with two weeks in the number one position.[37] It was received well: John Lanchester in The New Yorker wrote






The Daily Beast

On October 6, 2008 Brown had teamed up with Barry Diller to launch The Daily Beast, an online news magazine that mixes original journalism with news aggregation. The website's name comes from the fictional newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's 1938 novel Scoop.
The Daily Beast had an immediate impact with an early sensation when Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, Jr., chose The Daily Beast rather than the magazine his father founded (National Review), to announce he could not support the republican candidate in the 2008 presidential election: "Sorry, Dad, I'm voting for Obama."[39] Early recognition of The Daily Beast came in a series of awards: Online Journalism Award 2009 for Online Commentary/Blogging, Christopher Buckley;[40] OMMA Awards 2009 Winner - Politics; Winner - News;[41] MinOnline Top 21 Social Media Superstars 2009 for Tina Brown;[42] MinOnline 2010 Best of the Web Awards: New Site (co-winner);[43] Webby Award nominations for Best Practices and Best News 2009[44]
In August 2010, Time Magazine's review of the 50 Best Websites of 2010 named The Daily Beast among the top five news and information sites.[45] (The Onion at 16, The Guardian at 17, The Daily Beast at 18, National Geographic at 19, and WikiLeaks at 20)


The Daily Beast's writers include Christopher Buckley, Peter Beinhart, Les Gelb, Mart McKinnon, Meghan McCain, John Avlon, Lucinda Franks, Bruce Reidel, Lloyd Grove, Tunku Varadarajan and Resa Aslan.
In a joint venture with Perseus Book Group, The Daily Beast formed a new imprint, Beast Books, that focuses on publishing timely titles of no more than 50,000 words by Daily Beast writers - first as e-books, and then as paperbacks in as little as four months.[47] The first Beast Book was entitled Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America by John P. Avlon.
Partnering with Diane von Furstenberg, Vital Voices and the UN Foundation in 2010, The Daily Beast brought some of the world's most inspiring female leaders together at the Hudson Theatre in New York City for the first annual Women in the World Summit. The mission of the three-day summit was to focus on the global challenges facing women, from equal rights and education, to human slavery, literacy and the power of the media and technology to affect change in women's lives. Attendees included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Meryl Streep, Leymah Gbowee, Sunitha Krishnan, Madeleine Albright, Edna Adan Ismail, Queen Rania of Jordan, Cherie Blair and Valerie Jarrett.[48]
On November 12, 2010 The Daily Beast and Newsweek announced that they would merge their operations in a joint venture to be owned equally by Sidney Harman and IAC/InterActiveCorp. The new entity is to be called The Newsweek Daily Beast Company with Tina Brown as Editor-in-Chief and Stephen Colvin as CEO.[4]










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