My Celebrity Guide

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was Born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Elias Disney and mother Flora Call Disney Walter E. The Disney family moved to Marceline, MO after his birth where he was brought up in a farm. Drawing caught his imagination ever since he was seven years old and he would sell his sketches to neighbors. The family moved to Chicago again where Disney concentrated both on Drawing and Photography while in high school. He also attended the Academy of Fine Arts at night.

Walt Disney was also attracted to the beauty of nature as he grew up and he began to love and appreciate it. Though his father was particularly opposed to his plans her mother and elder brother Roy encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Disney even tried to get into military service but was rejected because he was only 16 years of age and thus was underage to join military. But he joined Red Cross where he was sent to France and he spent a year there driving ambulance.

After returning from France he pursued a career in commercial art and even started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams which went bankrupt soon. This prompted him to go to Hollywood. It is said he had only one suitcase and $20 with him when he went to Hollywood. His elder brother Roy was living in California, he pooled in $250 and they borrowed another $500 and constructed a camera stand. It didn’t take a long wait before they received an order from New York to make the first Alice Comedy and they started producing cartoons in the rear of a real estate office in Hollywood.  After successfully making Alice Comedies Walt became a famous figure in Hollywood.

Walt married one of his employees Lillian Bounds and they had two daughters. The cartoon film Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 and his talents were exposed to the world in a silent cartoon called Plane Crazy. The year coincided with the introduction of sound in movies just before the release of the cartoon. The cartoon character Mickey made its screen debut in Steamboat Willie which was the world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon. The cartoon premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on Nov. 18, 1928.

Walt was never content with his work and in his quest for excellence he discovered and introduced Technicolor in his cartoons in 1932. He used multiplane camera technique in 1937. On December 21, 1937 Walt released the first full length animated musical film called “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” made at a whopping cost of $1.5 million. The animated film is still regarded as one of the rare feats of the motion picture industry.

Walt had a studio in Burbank constructed which was ready in 1940 and the employee count went up to 1,000 which comprised of artists, animators, story men and technicians. Disney used combine live action with the cartoon medium in 1945 in the musical “The Three Caballeros”. Walt went to make many award winning cartoon films such as “True Life Adventure” series, “The Living Desert” and many more. Disneyland was launched in 1955 with a capital of $17 million and the investment increased by 10 fold within a few years. Walt turned to social causes in 1965 and directed a film on Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow to improve the quality of urban life in America. But Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966 leaving many achievements and unfulfilled dreams behind him.

Walt Disney envisioned and had directed to purchase about forty three square miles of land, double the size of Manhattan Island in central Florida. It took about fifty months to complete the planning and construction of the Walt Disney World which was eventually opened to public on October 1, 1971. Walk Disney was truly a pioneer and visionary of many modern days’ technologies. No wonder why he has received more than 950 honors and 48 Oscar awards and 7 Emmy awards. Walt Disney stands alone for his outstanding contribution to the improvement of art of cartoon making.

Cary Grant

One of the greatest actors that Hollywood has ever seen Cary Grant was born on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, U.K. His original birth name was Archibald Alexander Leach. Cary Grant was a tall, handsome and Charismatic person. No wonder why everyone during that era wanted to be like him. The actors had an average lower middle class childhood. It got even tougher after his mother was sent to a mental institution after she fell mentally ill when he was only 9 years old. But this fact had not been told to him until he reached his late twenties. He dropped out from school at the age of fourteen to join Bob Pender’s troupe of comedians by lying about his age and forging the signature of his father on the letter he submitted to join the troupe.

The troupe enabled him to learn many skills including pantomime and acrobatics. He toured many English counties with the Pender Troupe. The destiny beckoned him and he was selected to go to the U.S. along with seven other Pender Troupe boys. Cary performed in the show called Good Times on Broadway, which ran for good 456 performances. This gave him enough opportunity to show his talent and to get used to the country. Then he left the Troupe and gave a screen test at Paramount Pictures in 1931. This is when he changed his name to Cary Grant from Archibald Alexander Leach.

Cary Grant debuted in Hollywood in “This is the Night” which was released in 1932. After this movie Cary Grant was the automatic choice for Mae West in her movies “I’m no Angel” and “She done him wrong”, both releasing in the year 1933. But the real break came to him in the movie “Sylvia Scarlett” in the year 1935 with the actress Katharine Hepburn, the actress who happened to be his co-star in many of his forthcoming movies. It is with the help of this movie that Grant proved his mettle and was looked at as an actor to look forward to and tipped as the next Hollywood star. After his contract with Paramount Pictures came to an end in 1937 he decided not to join any Studio, which was standard at that time, and work independently by choosing his own scripts to work for. The move resulted in Grant giving some of the finest and most memorable comedies ever. Some of his famous comedies include “Bringing up Baby” and “Holiday”, both released in the year 1938 with none other actress Katharine Hepburn; “My Favorite Wife” and “The Awful Truth” in the year 1940 with Iren Dunne; “Gunga Din in 1939 with Victor McLagen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; “His Girl Friday” in 1940 with Rosalind Russell and “The Philadelphia Story” in 1940 with Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn again.

Grant retired at the age of 62 from movies to take his new role of a father. Grant had a rocky married life. He was married five times. All his marriages ended in divorce except his last when he was survived by his wife after his death in 1986. He had only 1 child, a daughter from his fourth wife Dyan Cannon. He had a very close friendship with Randolph Scott for which many doubted him as a homosexual, which apparently he wasn’t. According to some of the people who were close to him say that he shared a brotherly relationship with him and thus should not be doubted as something sexual. Grant was nominated twice for the best actor in Oscar but never won any award. But he was honored with a special Oscar in 1969. Though Grant died due to a stroke in November 29, 1986 he left behind a legacy of comedy movies behind for generations to come. The Empire Magazine of U.K. ranked Cary Grant the 7th most popular movie stars of all time, which he truly deserves.

Michael Jackson

Born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson was the seventh child of the family of nine. They were six brothers and three sisters – Sigmund, Toriano, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, Steven, Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya. He started his career by becoming the lead singer of the band Jackson 5, at the age of five. Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon were the other band members.

They played at local parties and clubs and also entered competitions which allowed them to grow as a band. They got their big first big break in 1968 when Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers heard about the Jackson 5 and got them auditioned for Berry Gordy of Motown Records. They were signed immediately and they moved to California. “I want you back”, “The love you save” and “I’ll be there” were among their first few singles which became huge hits of America. They made fourteen albums with Motown till 1976 and Michael Jackson recorded four other albums. They later signed up with Epic and their group name was changed to The Jacksons, as Jackson 5 was the copyright of Motown. They made a total of six albums with Epic many of them being great hits until 1984.

Michael met Quincy Jones on the sets of “The Wiz”, which was also his film debut. He played the role of crow along with Diana Ross who played Dorothy. He made “Off The Wall” with Quincy, who was the producer. It was the first album whose all four songs were US #1 singles and was a hit all over the world. “Thriller” was the largest selling album of all time, which was released in 1982. Over fifty million copies of the album were sold worldwide and the album had seven hits.

Michael Jackson laid great emphasis on the videos. He called them as short films of his albums and chose the best producers and directors to work with. He even used special effects and the latest technologies, his hit song Billie Jean was a good example of this. Excellent choreography was combined with detailed make-up to make this fourteen minute long video. This short film boosted the sales of the album, Thriller and it became the world’s largest selling home video.

The trademark moonwalk was performed by Michael Jackson for the first time in the year 1984. He won eight Grammies in one night for the album “Thriller” and the narrative work on ET Storybook, breaking all records. He announced, on December 9, 1984 that he is splitting with The Jacksons on his last concert of The Jackson’s Victory tour. After that he released his next album in 1987 named “Bad”.  Michael also wrote his autobiography in 1987 which talked in detailed about his personal life and singing career. He was given the title of the Artist of the Decade for his albums “Thriller” and “Bad”. He released his fourth album “Dangerous” in collaboration with Sony Music in 1991. After his first solo world tour in 1987 he took off for another world tour in 1992. His song “Heal the World” was written on the pages of history and won the hearts of many. In the same year he started Heal the World Foundation for the homeless and orphan children of the world.

His marriage with Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the legendry Elvis Presley lasted for only one and a half year and they were divorced in 1996. During that period he released his fifth album “History” in 1995. To promote that album this time he took a world tour for two years. Debbie Rowe was his second wife and also his nurse when he was getting treatment for skin disorder. They had a child named Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. who was born on February 13, 1997. The next year they were gifted with a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson who was born on April 3, 1998.

“Blood on the Dance Floor” was his sixth solo album, which was released in 1997. He also made a thirty eight minute short film named Ghost to promote his album, in which he played five different characters. He reunited with his the Jacksons on his concert in New York to celebrate his thirteenth anniversary as a solo artist. Many other superstars shared the stage with him like Whitney Houston, Destiny’s Child, Shaggy and others.  He released” Invisible” and “You Rock My World in 2001″.
Jackson had his own share of controversies in recent years when he was accused of child abuse charges. After going through years of trauma he was finally found not guilty. Jackson now lives in a Middle Eastern country called Bahrain with his brother Jermaine far away from the shadow of the public and God only knows when he will return to the music again.

Michael passed away on June 25, 2009

Adam Lambert
26 years old
Los Angeles, CA

Adam Lambert is a contestant on the eighth season of American Idol. He makes it to at least the Hollywood round, which is more than most aspiring singers can say.

Adam Lambert got started at an early age. His father, a professional DJ, introduced him to many styles of music. He sang Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for his audition and is in a production of the play Wicked.

Adam Lambert certainly has a buzz going. Now in the top 50 list. He’s got power and flamboyance that’s for sure.

Think Freddie Mercury as lead singer of the Doors, but in the videos he’s a male Britney Spears.
- onmilwaukee.com

 

Adam Lambert - sunglasses

Adam Lambert - American Idol

Adam Lambert Kissing a Guy

Adam Lambert looking at you

Adam Lambert on stage

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is one of the gifted Hollywood stars with immense acting talent and perfection. Tom Hanks did not have the happiest of childhoods, as his parents got divorced when he was only 5 years old. Tom was third of four children born to Amos and Janet Hanks.  His parents were avant-gardes in the development of marriage dissolution law in California. He moved around with his father changing schools and changing stepmothers and he was just confused. After finally settling down in Oakland, CA Tom began taking part in high school plays. He continued to act in plays while attending California State University. Then he left the university to pursue his acting career further.

Hanks went to the city of opportunities, New York. This is when he got married to actress/producer Samantha Lewes on January 24, 1978. The marriage lasted nearly 9 years and they got divorced on March 19, 1987. Tom Hank’s first break as an actor came in a low budget movie called “He Knows You’re Alone” in 1980 where he was reportedly paid just $800 for the movie. After few months he moved to Los Angeles and co-starred in the TV Sitcom “Bosom Buddies” where he portrayed a man forced to dress as a woman in order to stay at a women’s only hotel. The show didn’t touch cord with the viewers and was shelved after only two seasons. He also worked in TV Series like “Taxi” and “Family Ties”. His acting career remained silent until 1984 when he got a big break in a Disney Film’s comedy called “Splash” which was about a mermaid in 1984. The movie proved to be a box office hit and the audience liked the charm and comic timing of the actor. Tom Hank was reportedly paid $70,000 for this movie.

Hanks didn’t carry the success that he got after “Splash” for too long. He appeared in many comedies which went unnoticed until he starred in “Big” in 1988 where he gave a powerful performance portraying the role of a child in a grown up man’s body for which he also won a Oscar nomination. He became darling to the audience’s hearts and that is the reason why they ignored the flop movie “Bonfire of the Vanities” in 1990 and looked forward to his upcoming movies rather. He once again made a comeback with the movie “Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own” in 1992. The success of this movie fetched him a role in another comedy called “Sleepless in Seattle” in 1993, which was a huge hit at the box office.  He also portrayed the role of a homosexual in 1993 movie “Philadelphia” for which he won an Oscar for best actor. He won an Oscar for best actor again the next year for the movie “Forrest Gump” in 1994 achieving a rare double only the second time in the history of academy awards.

The actor had a wonderful run with movies like “Apollo 13″ in 1995, “Toy Story” in 1995 and “Saving Private Ryan” in 1998. His recent movies include “Toy Story 2″ in 1999, “Cast Away” in 2000 for which he again won an Oscar nomination and controversial “The Da Vinci Code” in 2006. Tom Hanks is a family man married to actress Rita Wilson who he met on the sets of the movie “Volunteers” in 1985. Tom Hanks continues his professional life hosting “Saturday Night Live”. Entertainment Weekly has reportedly chosen him as the only actor right now who is worth more than $20 million. Surely with the bundle of talent that this actor has and his selective approach to movies there is no match to this actor.

Marilyn Monroe

To call Marilyn Monroe as an actress is a great injustice done to the great acting legend. In fact she was the authority in acting and if we go on writing about her a library of books wouldn’t be enough to describe her. Such was her influence on films and fashion during her era that she is remembered even today as the goddess of fashion and powerhouse of acting. Even today’s teenagers look at her as the role model. Marilyn Monroe was a class in her own and created an identity that would never vanish. Though she would have been in her 80′s now but she is still remains dream girl of every man and every man compares the beauty of the woman with the beauty of Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Her original name was Norma Jean Mortensen but for the millions of her fans she was “The Blonde Bombshell”. This famous star had a very trouble childhood. Her mother was a film cutter at RKO, a widow and so insane that she abandoned her to foster home. Marilyn Monroe’s misery didn’t end there; she had a close brush with death at the age of 2 and was nearly raped at the age of 6. At the age of 9 she started doing kitchen work for church for a nickel a month. She used to work in an aircraft plant at the age of 16. She married a man who she used to call Daddy. She started modeling when he went into the military. But the marriage was short lived, as they got divorced in 1946. She amassed two hundred books of many great writers. She had a love for music and listened to Beethoven’s music in particular. Also at the same time she joined acting classes at Hollywood’s Actor’s Lab. She also took literature classes at University of California, Los Angeles.

While the actress had a relatively easy modeling career it was not the case with her acting career. She had to be content with many small roles and she starred in dozen B movies with secondary roles. She got a break with Twentieth Century Fox, which ended within a year. She then signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, which was also for only six months. She starred in a small role in “The Asphalt Jungle” in 1950 and also in “All about Eve”. Her performance interested the Studio and they went on to sign a 7-year contract with her. It was in the year 1953 that her career skyrocketed to new heights when she starred as a sex symbol in “Niagara” and “Gentleman prefer Blondes”. She again starred in a super hit movie “The Seven Year Itch” in 1955, the year which also saw her getting married to one of the greatest baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Monroe wanted to change her sex bomb image and wanted to try something serious. She wanted to have a change over; she thus consulted director Lee Strasberg and took some sessions of psychoanalysis. She did look a transformed person in her nee movie in 1956 called “Bus Stop” which also won her critical acclaim. She also married playwright Arthur Miller the same year to everyone’s surprise.

While her professional life was soaring her personal life was taking its toll on her. After two miscarriages and a gynecological surgery she fell prey to alcohol and pills. She had an affair with Yves Montand during the same time. She was not able to complete the movie “The Misfits” which was written by her departing husband Arthur Miller due to frequent exhaustions, the movie also happened to be Clark Gable’s last one when he died after a year due to heart attack. She was again dropped from the movie “Something’s Got to Give” due to frequent no shows and drug abuse.

Marilyn Monroe’s life came to a tragic end on August 5, 1962 due to drug overdose at a young age of 36. Though Marilyn Monroe did only thirty movies in her life but her memorable movies would be remembered forever.

Katharine Hepburn

Born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, CT Katharina Hepburn was the best of the best actresses that Hollywood has seen.  She was born to a highly respectable family, the mother being a feminist and a suffragist. He father was a doctor who led a struggle against the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Both her parents endorsed the birth control. Katharine owes her life to her parents for her upbringing that gave her enough freedom to be adventurous in life. She had 5 siblings one elder to her and four younger than her. One of the traumatic experiences of life was when her elder brother Tom died hanging by her aunt’s attic. The incident had left an indelible trauma, which haunted her for years.

Hepburn went to Bryn Mawr College and she graduated in 1928 from there. She happened to meet Ludlow Smith in the college and she married him the same year she graduated. But the marriage didn’t last too long and they got divorced in 1934. During her student days at the college she took active participation in theatre arts and she even appeared in 2 theatrical productions after her senior year in Baltimore, MD. Then she moved to New York and began training as an actor. She got her first break in theater in her first New York Production “The Big Pond”. But that didn’t go well and she was discontinued from the show only after one showing. But there was no dearth of work for her and she regularly worked in Broadway shows.

The turning point in her life came when she did a Broadway show in 1932 called “The Warrior’s Husband” in which her performance was greatly appreciated and thus led her to many screen tests. She eventually ended up getting a role in the film “A Bill of Divorcement” released in 1932. She won rave reviews for her role in the film and there was no looking back for her after that. Many production houses lined up at her home to cast them in their movies. She had an excellent run of movies in 1930′s which included her first Academy Award winning movie “Morning Glory” in 1933 for which she won the award for best actress.  What better start can an actor get, being only a year old and winning an Oscar.

In the same year i.e. 1933 she again returned to New York Theater and worked in the Broadway Production “The Lake”. The show didn’t do many wonders to her career in fact the show was rejected by both the audience and the critics. She returned to Hollywood again in 1935 but with little success. Until the year 1938 she only had two successes, one in “Alice Adams” released in 1935 and other in “Stage Door” released in 1937, which also gave her second Oscar nomination. But then this period included more flops than hits so much so that everybody started calling her “box office poison”. She was no more an actress in demand and was deemed as a commercial failure, which led her to return to Broadway again. She starred in “The Philadelphia Story” in 1938, which rehabilitated her career again. She gained the film rights of the show and made a movie by the same name and story in 1940 and that was a box office hit and also won her third Oscar nomination. She was back in business one more time. Her next movie was “Woman of the year”, her first with Spencer Tracy. This was just a beginning of the long association they had there after which lasted for 8 more movies and twenty-five years of romantic love affair. She was once again nominated for the best actress award for this movie.

She continued to appear in movies in 1940′s and 1950′s which resulted in her winning seven Oscar nominations and two Oscars awards for best actress for movies “Guess who’s coming” and “The Lion in Winter”. She also worked in Shakespeare plays from 1955 to 1960. In 1970′s she started making television movies and also appeared in several of them. She even won an Emmy for her role “Among the Ruins” in 1975 with Laurence Olivier. She was befittingly awarded with Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. She won another Oscar Award for best actress for her role in “On Golden Pond” released in 1982. Her last film was “Love Affair” in 1994 in which she had a guest appearance.
Although she was romantically linked with many men but she didn’t marry any of them. The only longest romance was with Spencer Tracy, which Hepburn admitted. Hepburn became less and less social in her last years of life and she remained home mostly. Katharine Hepburn passed away on June 29, 2003 at her home giving the world glorious 96 years she lived.

Ellen DeGeneres

American Idol season nine is scheduled to start in January, 2010 and Ellen DeGeneres will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGyardi as a judge after the auditions. Ellen DeGeneres is best known as a stand-up comedian and for her talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” which is currently entering its 7th season.

Ellen started out as an emcee at a comedy club in New Orleans, her hometown. She was propelled to star status when video tapes of her act won Showtime’s “Funniest Person In America.” She then worked several sitcoms including “These Friends of Mine” which was renamed to “Ellen” after its first season. “Ellen” ran for four years and commanded record ratings. In it’s third season the episode named “Puppy Episode” earned Ellen an Emmy and was seen by some 46 million people.

Ellen’s career is choke full of awards including Forbes’ Top 5 “Most Influential Women in Media” Parade.com’s “Best Daytime Talk-Show Host.” She has hosted many specials and awards shows which include the “Primetime Emmy Awards” and American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back.”

Ellen’s unique brand of personality and comedy will be a welcome change to the upcoming 2010 season of American Idol.

Scott Macintyre

Scott MacIntyre

23 years old
Scottsdale, AZ

Scott MacIntyre, one of the 13 finalists on FOX’s American Idol season 8, scored the vote from all four judges.

Nearly blind, Scott MacIntyre plays the piano as well as guitar and drums. At an age when most of us are just entering high school, Scott MacIntyre was starting college. At nineteen he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and then went on to graduate school in London, England.

Scott MacIntyre has been profiled on CNN, Headline News, Sky News Europe, Global Television Network, USA Today, and national and local news, radio, and print media as pianist, vocalist, and songwriter, and has independently produced, engineered, and released 6 full-length CD’s. Scott has written in genres spanning pop, rock, punk, jazz, and classical. Busy guy!

Kris Allen

23 years old
Conway, AR

Kris Allen, one of the 13 finalists on FOX’s American Idol season 8, is a business major at the University of Central Arkansas. Kris Allen scored one of the largest amounts of votes securing him a spot among the finalists.

Kris Allen has been singing and playing the guitar since he was 13.