James Stewart (actor)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born James Maitland Stewart
20 May 1908(1908-05-20)
Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States
Died 2 July 1997 (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Other name(s) Jimmy Stewart
Years active 1935-1991
Spouse(s) Gloria Hatrick (1949-1994)
Awards won
Academy Awards
Best Actor
1940 The Philadelphia Story
Academy Honorary Award
1985 Lifetime Achievement
Golden Globe Awards
Best TVActor - Drama
1974 Hawkins
Cecil B. DeMille Award
1965 Lifetime Achievement
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Life Achievement Award
1968 Lifetime Achievement
Other Awards
AFI Life Achievement Award
1980 Lifetime Achievement
NYFCC Award for Best Actor
1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1959 Anatomy of a Murder
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
1959 Anatomy of a Murder
Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actor
1963 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Honorary Golden Berlin Bear
1982 Lifetime Achievement
National Board of Review
1990 Lifetime Achievement
James Maitland Stewart (20 May 1908 - 2 July 1997), popularly known as Jimmy Stewart especially in the United States, was an iconic, Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing screen persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Oscars, winning one in competition and one life achievement. He also had a noted military career, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force.
Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, Stewart first pursued a career as an architect before being drawn to the theater at Princeton University. His first success came as an actor on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1935. Stewart's career gained momentum after his well-received Frank Capra films, including his Academy Award nominated role in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Throughout his seven decades in Hollywood, Stewart cultivated a versatile career and recognized screen image in such classics as The Philadelphia Story, Harvey, It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Rope, and Vertigo. He is the most represented leading actor on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list. As of 2007, 10 of his films have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry.
Stewart left his mark on a wide range of film genres, including screwball comedies, westerns, biographies, suspense thrillers and family films. He worked for a number of renowned directors later in his career, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra and Anthony Mann. He won many of the industry's highest honors and earned Lifetime Achievement awards from every major film organization. He died in 1997, leaving behind a legacy of classic performances, and is considered one of the finest actors of the "Golden Age of Hollywood." He was named the third Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
Biography
Early life and career
James Maitland Stewart was born on 20 May 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the son of Elizabeth Ruth (née Jackson) and Alexander Maitland Stewart, who owned a hardware store.[1] Stewart's parents were Presbyterian and of Scottish origin.[2][3] His Jackson ancestors served in the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War.[4] The eldest of three children (he had two younger sisters, Virginia and Mary), he was expected to continue his father's business, which had been in the family for three generations.
His mother was an excellent pianist but his father discouraged Stewart's request for lessons. But when his father accepted a gift of an accordion from a guest, young Stewart quickly learned to play the instrument, which became a fixture off-stage during his acting career. As the family grew, music continued to be an important part of family life.[5]
A shy child, Stewart spent much of his after school time in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawing and chemistry ?- all with a dream of going into aviation. But he abandoned visions of being a pilot when his father insisted that instead of the Naval Academy he attend Princeton University. Stewart enrolled there in 1928 as a member of the Class of 1932. Earlier, he had graduated from Mercersburg Academy prep school.
At Mercersburg, Stewart was active in a variety of activities. He played on the football team and track team. He was art editor for the KARUX yearbook and member of the choir club, glee club, and John Marshall Literary Society. During his first summer break, Stewart returned to Indiana Pennsylvania to work as a brick loader for a local construction company and on highway and road construction jobs where he painted lines on the roads. Over the following two summers, he took a job as an assistant with a professional magician.[6] He also made his first appearance on the stage at Mercersburg, as Buquet in the play The Wolves.[7]
At Princeton, Stewart excelled at studying architecture, so impressing his professors with his thesis on an airport design that he was awarded a scholarship for graduate studies,[8] but he gradually became attracted to the school's drama and music clubs, including the famous Princeton Triangle Club.[9] He was a member of the Princeton Charter Club as well as a head cheerleader. In his spare time, he enjoyed going to the movies at the time when "talkies" were just displacing silent films.
His acting talents led him to be invited to the University Players, a performing arts club of Ivy League musicians and thespians, with Joshua Logan as the director and Margaret Sullavan as the leading lady. Stewart developed an immediate crush on her, but she soon left the group for her Broadway debut in A Modern Virgin.[10] He performed in bit parts in the Players' productions in Cape Cod during the summer of 1932 after he graduated, when he joined the troupe which included Henry Fonda and Sullavan (who suddenly decided to marry each other). Stewart moved to New York City in the fall to become an actor, with the reluctant approval of his father, where he shared an apartment with Henry Fonda, who had quickly divorced Sullavan, and with Joshua Logan. In November, Stewart was cast in his first major stage production as a chauffeur in the Broadway comedy Goodbye Again, in which he had two lines. The New Yorker noted, "Mr. James Stewart's chauffeur... comes on for three minutes and walks off to a round of spontaneous applause."[11]
The play was a moderate success but times were hard. Many Broadway theaters had been converted to movie houses and the Depression was reaching bottom. "From 1932 through 1934", Stewart later recalled, "I'd only worked three months. Every play I got into folded."[12] By 1934, he got more substantial stage roles, including the hit, Page Miss Glory, and his first dramatic stage role in Sidney Howard's Yellow Jack, which convinced him to continue his acting career. However, Stewart and Fonda, still roommates, were both struggling.
In the fall of 1934, Fonda's success in The Farmer Takes a Wife took him to Hollywood. Finally, Stewart attracted the interest of MGM scout Bill Grady who saw Stewart on the opening night of Divided by Three, a glittering première with many luminaries in attendance including Irving Berlin and Moss Hart and his buddy Fonda who had returned to New York for the show. With Fonda's encouragement, Stewart agreed to take the screen test and signed a contract with MGM in April 1935, as a contract player for up to seven years at $350 a week.[13]
On his arrival by train to Los Angeles, Fonda greeted Stewart at the station and took him to Fonda's studio-supplied lodging, right next door to Greta Garbo. His first job at the studio was as a participant in the screen tests done for newly arrived starlets. At first, he had trouble being cast in Hollywood films due to his gangly looks and shy, humble screen presence. His first film was the poorly received Spencer Tracy vehicle, The Murder Man, but Rose Marie, an adaptation of a popular operetta, was more successful. After mixed success in films, he received his first substantial part in 1936's After the Thin Man.
On the romantic front, soon Fonda was arranging dates for Stewart. In no time, he found himself dating newly divorced Ginger Rogers, whom he had worshipped while a student at Princeton only a few years earlier.[14] The romance soon cooled, however, and by chance Stewart encountered Margaret Sullavan again. Stewart found his footing in Hollywood thanks largely to Sullavan who campaigned for Stewart to be her leading man in the 1936 romantic comedy Next Time We Love. She rehearsed extensively with him, having a noticeable effect on his confidence. She encouraged Stewart to feel comfortable with his unique mannerisms and boyish charm and use them naturally as his own style. In the meantime, roommate Fonda continued to arrange parties with starlets, who found Stewart different from the other young actors and irresistible in his own way. Stewart was enjoying Hollywood life and had no regrets about giving up the stage, as he worked six days-a-week in the MGM factory.[15]In 1936, he acquired big-time agent Leland Hayward, who had just married Margaret Sullavan. Hayward started to chart Stewart's career, deciding the best path for him was through loan-outs to other studios.
Pre-war success
In 1938, Stewart had a brief, tumultuous, and well-publicized romance with Hollywood queen Norma Shearer whose husband Irving Thalberg, head of production at MGM, had died two years earlier. Stewart began a successful partnership with director Frank Capra in 1938, when he was loaned out to Columbia Pictures to star in You Can't Take It With You. Frank Capra had been impressed by Stewart's minor role in Navy Blue and Gold (1937). The director had recently completed several popular movies including It Happened One Night and was looking for the right type of actor to suit his needs?-which other recent actors in his films such as Clark Gable, Ronald Colman and Gary Cooper did not quite fit. Not only was Stewart just what he was looking for, but Capra also found Stewart understood that prototype intuitively and required very little directing. Later Capra commented, "I think he's probably the best actor who's ever hit the screen."[16]
This heart-warming Depression-era film (You Can't Take It With You), starring Capra's "favorite actress", comedienne Jean Arthur, went on to win the 1938 Best Picture Academy Award. The following year saw Stewart team with Capra and Arthur again for the political comedy-drama, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Stewart replaced intended star Gary Cooper in the film about an idealistic man thrown into the political arena. Upon the film's October release, it garnered critical praise and became a box office success. For his performance, Stewart was nominated for the first of five Academy Awards for Best Actor. Even after this great success, Stewart's parents were still trying to talk him into leaving Hollywood and its sinful ways and to return to his home town to lead a decent life. Instead, he took a secret trip to Europe to take a break and returned home just as Germany invaded Poland.[16]
Destry Rides Again, also released that year, became Stewart's first western film, a genre for which he would become famous later in his career. In this Western parody, Stewart is a pacifist lawman and Marlene Dietrich the saloon dancing girl who comes to love him, but doesn't get him. In it she sings her famous song The Boys In the Back Room. Off-screen, Dietrich did get her man, but the romance was short-lived.[17] Made for Each Other (1939) had Stewart sharing the screen with irrepressible Carole Lombard in a melodrama that garnered good reviews for both stars, but did less well with the public. Newsweek wrote that they were "perfectly cast in the leading roles."[18]Between movies, Stewart began a radio career and became a distinctive voice on the "Lux Radio Hour, the Screen Guild Theater" and other radio shows. So well known had his slow drawl become that comedians started to impersonate him, a form of flattery which continued for most of his life.[19]
from the film The Philadelphia Story (1940)In 1940, Stewart and Margaret Sullavan teamed again for two films. The first, the Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy, The Shop Around the Corner, starred Stewart and Sullavan as co-workers unknowingly involved in a pen-pal romance who cannot stand each other in real life (This was later remade into the romantic comedy You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan). It was Stewart's fifth film of the year and that rare film shot in the story's sequence; it was completed in only 27 days.[20] The Mortal Storm, directed by Frank Borzage, was one of the first blatantly anti-Nazi films to be produced in Hollywood and featured the pair as a husband and wife caught in turmoil upon Hitler's rise to power.
Stewart also starred opposite Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in George Cukor's classic The Philadelphia Story (1940). His performance as an intrusive, fast-talking reporter earned him his only Academy Award in a competitive category (Best Actor, 1941) and he beat out his good friend Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath). Stewart thought his performance "entertaining and slick and smooth" but lacking the "guts" of "Mr. Smith".[21] Stewart gave the Oscar statuette to his father, who displayed it in a case just inside the front door of his hardware store for many years, alongside other family awards and military medals.
During the months before he began military service, Stewart went on to appear in a series of screwball comedies with varying levels of success. He followed the mediocre No Time for Comedy (1940) and Come Live with Me (1941) with the Judy Garland musical Ziegfeld Girl and the George Marshall romantic comedy Pot o' Gold. Stewart was drafted in late 1940 and it coincided with the lapse in his MGM contract, marking a turning point in Stewart's career, with 28 movies to his credit so far.[22]
Military service
Brig. Gen. James Maitland Stewart
United States Air Force
20 May 1908(1908-05-20) - 2 July 1997 (aged 89)
Col. James M. Stewart
Place of birth Indiana, Pennsylvania
Place of death Los Angeles, California
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Air Force Reserve
United States Army Air Corps
Years of service 1941-1968
Rank Brigadier General (advanced in rank in 1959)
Battles/wars World War II
Vietnam War
Awards Distinguished Service Medal
French Croix de Guerre with Palm
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
Air Medal (4)
Army Commendation Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medal
The Stewart family had deep military roots as both grandfathers had fought in the Civil War, and his father had served during both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Since Stewart considered his father to be the biggest influence on his life, it was not surprising that when another war eventually came, he too served. Unlike his family's previous infantry service, Stewart chose to become a military flyer.[23]
An early interest in flying led Stewart to gain his Private Pilot License in 1935 and Commercial Pilot Certificate in 1938. He often flew cross country to visit his parents in Pennsylvania, navigating by the railroad tracks.[24] Nearly two years before the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Stewart had accumulated over 400 hours of flying time.[25]
Considered a highly proficient pilot, he even entered a cross-country race as a co-pilot in 1939.[26] Along with musician/composer Hoagy Carmichael, seeing the need for trained war pilots, Stewart teamed with other Hollywood moguls and put their own money into creating a flying school in Glendale, Arizona, which they named Thunderbird Field. This airfield trained more than 200,000 pilots during the War, became the origin of the Flying Thunderbirds, and is now the home of Thunderbird School of Global Management.[27]
Later in 1940, Stewart was drafted into the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) but was rejected due to a weight problem. The USAAC had strict height and weight requirements for new recruits and Stewart was five pounds under the standard. To get up to 148 pounds he sought out the help of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's muscle man, Don Loomis, who was legendary for his ability to add or subtract pounds in his studio gymnasium. Stewart subsequently attempted to enlist in the USAAC but still came in under the weight requirement although he persuaded the AAC enlistment officer to run new tests, this time passing the weigh-in,[28] with the result that Stewart successfully enlisted in the Army in March 1941. He became the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II.
Since the United States had not entered the conflict and due to the Army's unwillingness to put celebrities on the front, Stewart was initially held back from combat duty, although he enlisted as a private, he earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant and completed pilot training. During training, his previous experience was down played as he was concerned that his expertise would relegate him to instructor duties "behind the lines."[29] His fears were confirmed when he was subsequently stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, becoming an instructor pilot for the B-17 Flying Fortress.
The only public appearances after he went into flight school were limited engagements scheduled by the Air Corps. "Stewart appeared several times on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he performed with Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Walter Huston and Lionel Barrymore in an all-network radio program called We Hold These Truths, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. But mostly, Stewart's days and nights were spent preparing for his upcoming flight tests, ground school and academic examinations for his commission."[30]
"Still, the war was moving on. For the 36-year-old Stewart, combat duty seemed far away and unreachable and he had no clear plans for the future. But then a rumor that Stewart would be taken off flying status and assigned to making training films or selling bonds called for his immediate and decisive action, because what he dreaded most was the hope-shattering spectre of a dead end."[31] So he appealed to his commander, a pre-war aviator, who understood the situation and reassigned him to a unit going overseas.
Col. Stewart being awarded the Croix de guerre with palm by Lt. Gen. Henri Valin, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, for his role in the liberation of France. USAF photo.In August 1943 he was finally assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group in Sioux City, Iowa, first as Operations Officer of the 703rd Bombardment Squadron and then its commander. In December, the 445th Bombardment Group flew its B-24 Liberator bombers to RAF Tibenham, England and immediately began combat operations. While flying missions over Germany, Stewart was promoted to Major. In March 1944, he was transferred as group operations officer to the 453rd Bombardment Group, a new B-24 unit that had been experiencing difficulties. As a means to inspire his new group, Stewart flew as command pilot in the lead B-24 on numerous missions deep into Nazi-occupied Europe. These missions went uncounted at Stewart's orders. His "official" total is listed as 20 and is limited to those with the 445th. In 1944, he twice received the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He also received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. In July 1944, after flying 20 combat missions, Stewart was made Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force. Before the war ended, he was promoted to colonel, one of only a few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.
At the beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the court-martial of a pilot and navigator who were charged with dereliction of duty when they accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Zurich the previous March - the first instance of U.S. personnel being tried over an attack on a neutral country. The Court acquitted the accused.[32]
Stewart continued to play an active role in the United States Air Force Reserve after the war, achieving the rank of Brigadier General on 23 July 1959.[33] Stewart did not often talk of his wartime service, perhaps due to his desire to be seen as a regular soldier doing his duty instead of as a celebrity. He did appear on the TV series, The World At War to discuss the 14 October 1943, bombing mission to Schweinfurt, which was the center of the German ball bearing manufacturing industry. This mission is known in USAF history as Black Thursday due to the incredibly high casualties it sustained; in total, 60 aircraft were lost out of 291 dispatched, as the raid consisting entirely of B-17s was unescorted all the way to Schweinfurt and back due to the current escort aircraft available lacking the range. Fittingly, he was identified only as "James Stewart, Squadron Commander" in the documentary.
He served as Air Force Reserve commander of Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the early 1950s. In 1966, Brigadier General James Stewart flew as a non duty observer in a B-52 on a bombing mission during the Vietnam conflict. At the time of his B-52 flight, he refused the release of any publicity regarding his participation as he did not want it treated as a stunt, but as part of his job as an officer in the Air Force Reserve. After 27 years of service, Stewart retired from the Air Force on 31 May 1968.[34]
Postwar success
Right after the war, Stewart took some time to reassess his career. He was an early investor in Southwest Airways, started by Leland Hayward, and he considered going into the aviation industry if his re-started film career didn't pan out.[35]Upon Stewart's return to Hollywood in fall 1945, he decided not to renew his MGM contract. He signed with an MCA talent agency. His former agent Leland Hayward got out of the talent business in 1944 after selling his A-list of stars, including Stewart, to MCA. The move made Stewart one of the first independently contracted actors, and gave him more freedom to choose the roles he wished to play. For the remainder of his career, Stewart was able to work without limits to director and studio availability.
For his first film in five years, Stewart appeared in his third and final Frank Capra production, It's a Wonderful Life.[36] Capra paid RKO the rights for the story and formed his own production company. The female lead went to Donna Reed, after Capra's perennial first choice, Jean Arthur was unavailable, and after turn downs by Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Dvorak and Martha Scott. Stewart appeared as George Bailey, a small-town man and upstanding citizen, who becomes increasingly frustrated by his ordinary existence and financial troubles. Driven to suicide on Christmas Eve, he is led to reassess his life by Clarence Odbody AS2,[37] an "angel, second class", played by Henry Travers.
After viewing It's a Wonderful Life, President Harry S. Truman concluded, "If Bess and I had a son, we'd want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart."[38]
Although the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Stewart's third Best Actor nomination, it received mixed reviews and only moderate success at the box office, possibly due to its dark nature. However, in the decades since the film's release, it grew to define Stewart's film persona and is widely considered as a sentimental Christmas film classic and, according to the American Film Institute, one of the best movies ever made.
In the aftermath of the film, Capra's production company went into bankruptcy and it effectively ended his movie career. Stewart started to have doubts about his ability to act after his military hiatus. His father kept insisting he come home and marry a local girl. Meanwhile in Hollywood, his generation of actors were fading and a new wave of actors would soon remake the town, including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean.[39]
After a poorly received Magic Town (1947) and after the completion of the shooting of Rope, Stewart decided to return to the stage for the Mary Chase-penned comedy, Harvey, which had opened to nearly universal praise in November 1944. Elwood P. Dowd, the protagonist and Stewart's character, is a wealthy eccentric, whose best friend is an invisible rabbit, living with his sister and niece. His eccentricity, especially the friendship with the rabbit, is ruining the niece's hopes of finding a husband. While trying to have Dowd committed to a sanatorium, his sister is committed herself while the play follows Dowd on an ordinary day in his not-so-ordinary life. Stewart took over the role from Frank Fay and gained an increased Broadway following in the unconventional play. The play, which ran for nearly three years with Stewart as its star, was successfully adapted into a 1950 film, directed by Henry Koster, with Stewart playing Dowd and Josephine Hull as his sister, Veta. Bing Crosby was the first choice for the movie but he declined.[40].For his performance in the film, Stewart received his fourth Best Actor nomination.
After Harvey, the comedic adventure film Malaya with Spencer Tracy and the conventional but highly successful biographical film The Stratton Story in 1949, his first pairing with "on-screen wife" June Allyson, Stewart entered what many critics cite as his "golden era" as an actor. During the 1950s, he took on more challenging roles and expanded into the western and suspense genres, thanks largely to collaborations with directors Anthony Mann and Alfred Hitchcock.
Other notable performances by Stewart during this time include the critically acclaimed 1950 Delmer Daves western Broken Arrow, which featured Stewart as an ex-soldier making peace with the Apache; a troubled clown in the 1952 Best Picture The Greatest Show on Earth; and Stewart's role as Charles Lindbergh in Billy Wilder's 1957 film The Spirit of St. Louis. He also starred in the Western radio show The Six Shooter for its one season run from 1953-1954.
Collaborations with Hitchcock and Mann
James Stewart's collaborations with director Anthony Mann expanded Stewart's popularity and expanded his career into the realm of the western. Stewart's first appearance in a film helmed by Mann came with the 1950 western classic, Winchester '73. In choosing Mann (after first choice Fritz Lang declined), Stewart cemented a powerful partnership. The film, which became a massive box office hit upon its release, set the pattern for their future collaborations. In it, Stewart is a tough, revengeful sharpshooter, the winner of a prized rifle which is stolen and then passes through many hands, until the showdown between Stewart and his brother (Stephen McNally).
Other Stewart-Mann westerns, such as Bend of the River (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), The Far Country (1954) and The Man from Laramie (1955) were perennial favorites among young audiences entranced by the American West. Frequently, the films featured Stewart as a troubled cowboy seeking redemption, while facing corrupt cattlemen, ranchers and outlaws?-a man who knows violence first hand and struggles to control it. Their collaborations laid the foundation for many of the westerns of the 1950s and remain popular today for their grittier, more realistic depiction of the classic movie genre.
Stewart and Mann also collaborated on other films outside the western genre. 1953's The Glenn Miller Story was critically acclaimed, garnering Stewart a BAFTA Award nomination, and (together with The Spirit of St. Louis) cemented the popularity of Stewart's portrayals of "American heroes." Thunder Bay, released the same year, transplanted the plot arch of their western collaborations in the present day, with Stewart as a Louisiana oil-driller facing corruption. Strategic Air Command, released in 1955, allowed Stewart to use his experiences in the United States Air Force on film.
Stewart's starring role in Winchester '73 was also a turning point in Hollywood. Universal Studios, who wanted Stewart to appear in both that film and Harvey, balked at his $200,000 asking price. Stewart's agent, Lew Wasserman, brokered an alternate deal, in which Stewart would appear in both films for no pay, in exchange for a percentage of the profits and cast and director approval. It wasn't the first such deal at Universal; Abbott and Costello also had a profit participation contract, but they were no longer top-flight moneymakers by 1950. Stewart ended up earning about $600,000 for Winchester '73 alone. Hollywood's other stars quickly capitalized on this new way of doing business, which further undermined the decaying "studio system."
The second collaboration to define Stewart's career in the 1950s was with acclaimed mystery and suspense director Alfred Hitchcock. Like Mann, Hitchcock uncovered new depths to Stewart's acting, showing a protagonist confronting his fears and his repressed desires. Stewart's first movie with Hitchcock was the technologically innovative 1948 film Rope, shot in long "real time" takes.
The two collaborated for the second of four times on the 1954 hit Rear Window, one of Hitchcock's masterpieces. Stewart portrays photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries, loosely based on Life photographer Robert Capa, who projects his fantasies and fears onto the people he observes out his apartment window while on hiatus due to a broken leg. Jeffries gets into more than he can handle, however, when he believes he has witnessed a salesman (Raymond Burr) commit a murder, and when his glamorous girlfriend (Grace Kelly), at first disdainful of his voyeurism and skeptical about any crime, eventually is drawn in and tries to help solve the mystery. Limited by his wheelchair, Stewart is masterfully forced by Hitchcock to react to what his character sees with mostly facial responses. It was a landmark year for Stewart, becoming the highest grossing actor of 1954 and the most popular Hollywood star in the world, displacing John Wayne.[41]
After starring in Hitchcock's remake of the director's own production, The Man Who Knew Too Much, with co-star Doris Day, Stewart starred in what many consider Hitchcock's most personal film, Vertigo. The film starred Stewart as "Scottie", a former police investigator suffering from acrophobia, who develops an obsession with a woman he is shadowing. Scottie's obsession inevitably leads to the destruction of everything he once had and believed in. Though the film is widely considered a classic today, and the pairing with Kim Novak, one of the screen's most perfect, Vertigo met with negative reviews and poor box office receipts upon its release, and marked the last collaboration between Stewart and Hitchcock. Stewart was also disappointed. The director blamed the film's failure on Stewart looking too old to still attract audiences, and cast Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959), a role Stewart had very much wanted. In reality, Grant was actually four years older than Stewart.
Career in the 1960s and 1970s
In 1960, James Stewart was awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and received his fifth and final Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, for his role in the 1959 Otto Preminger film Anatomy of a Murder. The early courtroom drama starred Stewart as Paul Biegler, the lawyer of a hot-tempered soldier Ben Gazzara who claims temporary insanity after murdering a tavern owner who raped his sexy wife Lee Remick. The film featured a career-making performance by George C. Scott as the prosecutor. The film was sexually frank for its time (some thought it sordid), and its provocative promotional campaign helped gain it box office success, though Ben-Hur outgrossed all movies by a huge margin and swept the Academy Awards that year.[42]Stewart's nomination was one of seven for the film (Charlton Heston was the winner), and saw his transition into the final decades of his career.
On 1 January 1960 Stewart received the devastating news that Margaret Sullavan had committed suicide, most likely over despondency from her loss of hearing and its impact on her stage career. As a friend, mentor, and focus of his early romantic urges, she had a unique impact on Stewart's life.
In the early 1960s Stewart took leading roles in three John Ford films, his first work with the acclaimed director. The first, Two Rode Together, paired him with Richard Widmark in a Western with thematic echoes of Ford's The Searchers. The next, 1962's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (with John Wayne), is a classic "psychological" western, with Stewart featured as an Eastern attorney who goes against his non-violent principles when he is forced to confront a psychopathic outlaw (played by Lee Marvin) in a small frontier town. At story's end, Stewart's character ?- now a rising political figure ?- faces a difficult ethical choice as he attempts to reconcile his actions with his personal integrity. The film's billing is unusual in that Stewart was given top billing over Wayne in the trailers and on the posters but Wayne had top billing in the film itself, a system later repeated by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All the President's Men. The film garnered so-so reviews (Stewart was seen as being far too old for the young character he played) and fared poorly at the box office, but is now considered a late Ford classic.
How the West Was Won (which Ford co-directed, though without directing Stewart's scenes) and Cheyenne Autumn were western epics released in 1962 and 1964 respectively. While the Cinerama production How the West Was Won went on to win three Oscars and reaped massive box office figures, Cheyenne Autumn, in which a white-suited Stewart played Wyatt Earp in a long sequence in the middle of the movie, failed domestically and was quickly forgotten. It was Ford's final Western and Stewart's last feature film with Ford.
Having played his last romantic lead in 1958's Bell, Book and Candle, and silver-haired (although not all was his - he had begun wearing a hairpiece in the early 1950s), Stewart transitioned into more family-related films in the 1960s when he signed a multi-movie deal with 20th Century Fox. These included the successful Henry Koster outing Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), and the less memorable films Take Her, She's Mine (1963) and Dear Brigitte (1965), which featured French model Brigitte Bardot as the object of Stewart's son's mash notes. The Civil War period film Shenandoah (1965) and the western family film The Rare Breed fared better at the box office; the Civil War movie was a smash hit in the South.
As an aviator, Stewart was particularly interested in aviation films and had pushed to appear in several in the 1950s. He continued in this vein in the 1960s, most notably in a role as a hard-bitten pilot in Flight of the Phoenix (1965). Subbing for Stewart, famed stunt pilot and air racer Paul Mantz was killed when he crashed the "Tallmantz Phoenix P-1", the specially-made, single-engine movie model, in an abortive "touch-and-go". It's little known, but Stewart was the narrator in the X-15 film (1961).[43]
After a progression of lesser western films in the late '60s and early '70s, James Stewart transitioned from cinema to television. In the 1950s he had made guest appearances on the Jack Benny Program (Benny was his real life neighbor and good friend). Stewart first starred in the NBC comedy The Jimmy Stewart Show, which featured Stewart as a college professor. He followed it with the CBS mystery Hawkins, in which he played a small town lawyer investigating his cases. The series garnered Stewart a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Dramatic TV Series, but failed to gain a wide audience and was cancelled after one season. (Andy Griffith fared much better later in Matlock, based on a similar formula.) During this time, Stewart periodically appeared on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, sharing poems he had written at different times in his life. His poems were later compiled into a short collection titled Jimmy Stewart and His Poems (1989).
Stewart returned to films after an absence of five years with a major role in John Wayne's final film, The Shootist (1976) where Stewart played a doctor giving Wayne's gunfighter a terminal cancer diagnosis. At one point, both Wayne and Stewart were flubbing their lines repeatedly and Stewart turned to director Don Siegel and said, "You'd better get two better actors." Stewart also appeared in supporting roles in Airport '77, the 1978 remake of The Big Sleep with Robert Mitchum and The Magic of Lassie (1978). The latter film received poor reviews and flopped at the box office. Some critics expressed their dismay at seeing the 70-year-old veteran singing as the grandfather. Stewart responded it was the only script he had been offered without any sex, profanity and graphic violence.
Later career and death
Stewart was presented an Academy Honorary Award in 1985, "for his fifty years of memorable performances, for his high ideals both on and off the screen, with respect and affection of his colleagues."
Stewart's best friend Henry Fonda died in 1982 and his long-time friend Grace Kelly, his favorite female co-star, died shortly afterwards. A few months later, Stewart starred with Bette Davis in Right of Way, which had the distinction of being the first made-for-cable movie. After filming several television movies in the 1980s, including Mr. Krueger's Christmas, James Stewart, still receiving considerable offers to play "grandfather" roles, retired from acting to spend time with his family. He made frequent visits to the Reagan White House and traveled on the lecture circuit. The re-release of his Hitchcock films gained Stewart renewed recognition. Rear Window and Vertigo were particularly praised by film critics, which helped bring these films to the attention of younger movie-goers.
Stewart became a real life "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in 1988, when he made an impassioned plea in Congressional hearings, along with ageing superstars Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn, and film purist Martin Scorsese, against Ted Turner's decision to "colorize" classic black and white films, including It's a Wonderful Life. Stewart stated, "the coloring of black-and-white films is wrong. It's morally and artistically wrong and these profiteers should leave our film industry alone".[44]The traditionalists eventually prevailed.
One of Hollywood's most shrewd businessmen, Stewart had diversified investments including real estate, oil wells, a charter-plane company and membership on major corporate boards. He became a multimillionaire. In the 1980s and 1990s, he did voiceovers for commercials for Campbell's Soups.[38]
In 1989, Stewart joined Peter F. Paul in founding the American Spirit Foundation to apply entertainment industry resources to developing innovative approaches to public education and to assist the emerging democracy movements in the former Iron Curtain countries and Russia. Paul arranged for Stewart, through the offices of President Boris Yeltsin, to send a special print of It's a Wonderful Life, translated by Moscow University, to Russia as the first American program ever to be broadcast on Russian television.The Final Resting Place of James Stewart.. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.,coinciding with the first day of the existence of the democratic Commonwealth of Independent States and Russia, and the first free Russian Orthodox Christmas Day, Russian TV Channel 2 broadcast It's a Wonderful Life to 200 million Russians who celebrated an American holiday tradition with the American people for the first time in Russian historyThe Final Resting Place of James Stewart.. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
In association with politicians and celebrities that included President Ronald Reagan, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, California Governor George Deukmejian, Bob Hope and Charlton Heston, Stewart worked from 1987 to 1993 on projects that enhanced the public appreciation and understanding of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.[citation needed]
In 1991, James Stewart voiced the character of Sheriff Wylie Burp in the movie "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West", which was his final role in a film before his death.
Stewart died at the age of 89 on 2 July 1997, at his home in Beverly Hills, of cardiac arrest and a pulmonary embolism following a long illness from respiratory problems. He had also suffered from Alzheimer's disease. His death came just one day after fellow screen legend and The Big Sleep co-star Robert Mitchum had died of lung cancer and emphysema. Stewart is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
"America lost a national treasure today," President Bill Clinton said on the day Stewart died. "Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, a gentleman and a patriot."[38]
Personal life
James Stewart was almost universally described by his collaborators as a kind, soft spoken man and a true professional.[45]
Joan Crawford, Stewart's co-star in early period, praised him as an "endearing perfectionist" with "a droll sense of humor and a shy way of watching you to see if you react to that humor."[38]
When Henry Fonda moved to Hollywood, he lived with Stewart and the two gained a reputation as playboys. Once married, both men's children noted that their favorite activity when not working seemed to be silently painting model airplanes together.
After World War II, Stewart settled down, at age 41, marrying former model Gloria Hatrick McLean (1918-1994) on 9 August 1949. As Stewart loved to recount in self-mockery, "I, I, I pitched the big question to her last night and to my surprise she, she, she said yes!".[46]
Stewart adopted her two sons, Michael and Ronald, and together they had twin daughters, Judy and Kelly, on 7 May 1951. They remained devotedly married until her death on 16 February 1994, due to lung cancer. Ronald McLean was killed in action on 8 June 1969, at the age of 24, while serving as a Marine Corps Lieutenant in Vietnam.[47][48] Dr. Kelly Stewart is an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis.
While visiting India in 1959, Stewart reportedly smuggled the remains of a supposed yeti, the so-called Pangboche Hand, by hiding them in his luggage (specifically, in his wife, Gloria's underwear) when he flew from India to London, as a favor to Tom Slick.[49]
James Stewart was active in philanthropic affairs over the years. His signature charity event, "The Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon Race", held each year since 1982, has raised millions of dollars for the Child and Family Development Center at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.[50]
Stewart was a lifelong supporter of Scouting. He was a Second Class Scout when he was a youth, an adult Scout leader, and a recipient of the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). In later years, he made advertisements for BSA, which led to him sometimes incorrectly being identified as an Eagle Scout.[51] (Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, was also the leader of the "Boy Rangers", an organization patterned after cub scouts.) An award for Boy Scouts, "The James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award" has been presented since 17 May 2003.[52]
One little-known talent of Stewart's was his homespun poetry. Once on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Stewart read from his poem, "My Dog, Beau." By the end of his reading, Carson's eyes were welling with tears.[53] This was later parodied on a late 1980s episode of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live, with Dana Carvey as Stewart reciting the poem on Weekend Update and bringing then anchor Dennis Miller to tears.
In addition to poetry, Stewart would talk during Tonight Show appearances about his avid gardening. Stewart purchased the house next door to his own home at 918 North Roxbury Drive, razed the house, and installed his garden in the lot.
Politics
Politically, Stewart was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party.[54] He was an active supporter of the anti-communist movement in Hollywood in the late 1940s. He was a hawk on the Vietnam War and a vocal supporter of Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
One of his best friends was Henry Fonda, despite the fact that the two men had very different political ideologies. One political argument in the spring of 1947 resulted in a fist fight between the two friends, but the two apparently maintained their friendship by never discussing politics again.[55] There is brief reference to their political differences in character in their movie The Cheyenne Social Club.[56]
Cher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Birth name Cherilyn Sarkisian
Also known as Cher
Born May 20, 1946 (1946-05-20) (age 62)
El Centro, California, USA
Origin Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s) Pop, Rock, Dance, Disco, Folk, R&B, Pop rock
Instrument(s) Singing
Voice type(s) Contralto
Years active 1950-present
Label(s) Imperial (1965-1968),
Atco (1965-1968),
Atlantic (1969),
MCA (1971-1974),
Warner Bros. (1975-1977),
Casablanca (1978-1980),
Columbia (1982),
Geffen (1987-1992),
Warner Bros. (UK) (1995-2003),
Warner Bros. (US) (2003-Present)
Website [3]
Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, later adopted by Gilbert LaPierre) [1] is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Among her career accomplishments in music, television and film, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards among others.
Cher rose to prominence in 1965 as one half of the pop/rock duo Sonny & Cher. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, releasing 25 albums, contributing to numerous compilations, and tallying 34 Billboard Top 40 entries in the United States during her career, both as a solo artist and with Sonny. These include eighteen Top 10 singles and five number one singles. Cher has had 16 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1965 and 2003, four of which reached number one.
She became a television star in the 1970s and a film actress in the 1980s. In 1987 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the romantic comedy Moonstruck.
With a career lasting over 40 years, Cher is an enduring pop icon and one of the most popular female artists in music history.[2] She has sold, as a solo artist, 200 million records worldwide and 75 million as Sonny and Cher.[3][4][5] She is one of the biggest-selling artists of all time.
Early life
Cher was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946, at 7:25 a.m. Her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian refugee who worked as a truck driver.[6] Her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch[7]), born in Sharp County, Arkansas, June 20, 1927, an aspiring actress and occasional model, is of Cherokee, British and German descent.[8][9] Cher's parents divorced when she was young and she was raised primarily by her mother, who had married Gilbert LaPierre, a banker who adopted Cher.[6] Due to financial problems, Cher's mother placed her in foster care for a time as a child. Later, her mother provided acting lessons to help further her career.[10] Due to severe, undiagnosed dyslexia, she left Fresno High School at the age of 16.[11] In those years Cher had a relationship with very successful actor Warren Beatty.[12]
Career
1962-1964: Early Career
The much older Sonny (he was already 27) was working for record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.[12] Sonny and Cher became fast friends, eventual lovers, and later married. Through Sonny, Cher started as a session singer, and sang backup on several of Spector's classic recordings, including The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", Darlene Love's "A Fine, Fine Boy," The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and The Ronettes' "Be My Baby". In the composition by Darlene Love, the listener can clearly hear Cher and Sonny close to the mike (along with Love, who recorded her own backing vocals).[12]
Her first solo recording was the unsuccessful novelty single "Ringo, I Love You," released under the pseudonym of Bonnie Jo Mason and produced by Phil Spector.[12] Her second attempt was "Dream Baby," released under the name "Cherilyn" and written and produced by Sonny Bono. Both were released in 1964.
With Sonny continuing to write, arrange and produce the songs, Sonny and Cher's first incarnation was as the duo "Caesar and Cleo(patra)."[13] They received little attention, despite releasing the single "The Letter" in late 1964 which featured the B-side "Baby Don't Go".[13]
1965-1967: Career development
Sonny & Cher
Prior to being known as Sonny and Cher, the duo released an album under the name of "Caesar and Cleo". Later they adopted the name of Sonny and Cher. Now calling themselves Sonny & Cher, the duo released their first album Look at Us in the summer of 1965. This album contained the overnight smash single "I Got You Babe" (1965) which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 1965. Cher was 19 years old, Sonny 30. A re-released "Baby Don't Go", peaked at number eight.
Several more mid-level hits followed, notably "Just You" (#20, 1965) "But You're Mine" (#15, 1965), "What Now My Love" (#14, 1966) and "Little Man" (#21, 1966), before "The Beat Goes On" (#6, 1967) returned the duo to the Top 10. Sonny and Cher charted a total of 11 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1972, including 6 Top 10 hits.
The duo became a sensation, traveling and performing around the world. Following an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the fall of 1965 in which Mr. Sullivan had infamously pronounced her name 'Chur' during their introduction, the singer began spelling her name with a (misleading) acute accent: Chér. The couple soon appeared on other hit television shows of the era including American Bandstand, Top of the Pops, Hollywood a Go-Go, Podunk, Hollywood Palace, Hullabaloo, Beat Club, Ready Steady Go! and Shindig!.
While initially perceived as the slightly awkward and less important half of the popular singing duo, Cher disguised her stage fright and nervousness with quick-witted barbs directed at her partner. She soon rose to prominence as the more outspoken, daring and provocative half of the team. With her dark, exotic looks, she became a fashion trendsetter, helping to popularize fashions such as bellbottoms, and incorporating "hippie" attire and eccentric gowns and elaborate costumes into their live shows.
Later in 1965 Cher released her debut solo album, titled All I Really Want to Do which reached number 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The gold-certified album contained a cover of the Bob Dylan song "All I Really Want to Do" which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1966 Cher released her second solo album on the Imperial Records label, The Sonny Side of Cher. It peaked at number 26 in the U.S. charts, and number 11 in the UK chart. It contained the singles "Where Do You Go (#25 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"(#2 on the Billboard Hot 100). Both hits were written and produced by Sonny Bono. In the United States, the latter was Cher's biggest solo hit of the 1960s. Other artists to record versions of the song include Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Cliff Richard, Petula Clark, and Terry Reid. Also in 1966, she released another album, Cher; The album itself was not as successful as its two predecessors. However, it did manage to provide the European top ten hit "Sunny".
In an attempt to capitalize on the duo's initial success, Sonny speedily arranged a film project for the duo to star in. But the 1967 feature, Good Times, was a major bomb, despite the efforts of fledgling director William Friedkin and co-star George Sanders.[14] Cher continued to establish herself as a solo artist and released the album Backstage. The album was a flop.
1968-1969: Career woes
Sonny and Cher's career had stalled by 1968, as album sales dried up. Their gentle, easy-listening rock folk sound and drug-free life had become "unhip" in an era becoming increasingly consumed with psychedelic rock, and the overall evolutionary change in the American pop culture landscape during the late 1960s.
Sonny and Cher's only child together, Chastity Bono, was born on March 4, 1969. The duo made another unsuccessful foray into film later in 1969 with Bono writing and producing the film Chastity, intended as a dramatic debut for Cher as an actress. That film (directed by first and only-time director Alessio De Paulo) was also a commercial failure.[14]
Sonny decided to forge ahead, carving a new career for the duo in Las Vegas resorts, where they sharpened their public persona with Cher as the wise-cracking singer, and Sonny as the good-natured recipient of her insults. In reality, Sonny controlled every aspect of their act, from the musical arrangements to the joke-writing. While success was slow to come, their luck improved when network TV talent scouts attended a show, noting their potential appeal for a variety series.
1970-1974: TV and musical stardom
In 1970 Sonny and Cher starred in their first television special, The Sonny and Cher Nitty Gritty Hour. A mixture of slapstick comedy, skits and live music, the appearance was a critical success, which led to numerous guest spots on other television shows.
Sonny and Cher caught the eye of CBS head of programming Fred Silverman while guest-hosting The Merv Griffin Show, and Silverman offered the duo their own variety show.[15] The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuted in 1971 as a summer replacement series.[15] The show returned to prime time later that year and was an immediate hit, quickly reaching the Top 10.[15] The show received 15 Emmy Award nominations during its run, winning one for direction.
Among the many guests who appeared on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour were Chuck Berry, Carol Burnett, George Burns, Glen Campbell, Dick Clark, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Phyllis Diller, Farrah Fawcett, Merv Griffin, The Jackson Five, Jerry Lee Lewis, Liberace, Steve Martin, Ronald Reagan, Burt Reynolds, The Righteous Brothers, Neil Sedaka, Dinah Shore, Sally Struthers, The Supremes, and Raquel Welch.
The duo also revived its recording career, releasing four more albums for Kapp Records and MCA Records that included two more Top 10 hits: "All I Ever Need Is You" (#7, 1971) and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" (#8, 1972).
The performance of "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.Now 25, Cher continued to establish herself as a solo recording artist, enlisting the help of hit producer Snuff Garrett. Her first solo number-one hit was "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" (1971). Released in September 1971, the album of the same name peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200, and remained on the chart for 45 weeks. Another single from the album, "The Way of Love (1972)" peaked at #7 in February 1972.
Cher scored her second number one with "Half-Breed" (1973) which became a signature song from the gold-certified album Half-Breed. In 1974 Cher had her third #1 solo hit with "Dark Lady" (1974), also from the album of the same name. Cher's first Greatest Hits album was released in 1974.
By the third season of the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, the marriage of Sonny and Cher was falling apart; the duo separated later that year. The show imploded, while still in the top 10 of the ratings. What followed was a nasty, very public divorce (finalized on June 27, 1975). Cher won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1974.
Bono launched his own show, The Sonny Comedy Revue, in the fall of 1974 while Cher also announced plans to host and star in a new variety TV series of her own. Bono's show was abruptly canceled, however, after only six weeks.[15]
1975-1979: Solo career and misses
The performance of "Dark Lady" in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.The Cher Show debuted as an elaborate, all-star television special on February 16, 1975 featuring Flip Wilson, Bette Midler and special guest Elton John.[15] Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson both won Emmy Awards for their appearances as guest stars a few weeks later,[15] and the series received four additional Emmy nominations that year. Other guests included Pat Boone, David Bowie, Ray Charles, Dion, Patti Labelle, Cheryl Ladd, Wayne Newton, Linda Ronstadt, Lily Tomlin and Frankie Valli. The variety series' debut season ranked 22nd in the year-end Nielsen ratings.
A good deal of press was generated throughout 1975 regarding Cher's exposed navel, and the daring ensembles created by famed designer Bob Mackie.[15] Her show featured numerous outlandish costume changes, even more than typical variety shows. The Cher show ran for two half-seasons, before a pregnant Cher pulled the plug herself, deciding instead to reunite with her ex-husband for a revamped version of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.
On June 30, 1975, three days after her divorce from Sonny was final, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. They had one son, Elijah Blue Allman born July 10, 1976. Together, they released the album, Two the Hard Way, under the rubric Allman and Woman, which featured a cover of the Smokey Robinson hit "You've Really Got a Hold on Me". This project was not considered a critical or commercial success. They were divorced by 1977.
From 1975 to 1978 Cher released a series of unsuccessful albums: Stars, I'd Rather Believe in You and Cherished.
On February 2, 1976 The Sonny and Cher Show debuted with a Top 10 rating and high expectations.[15] Some of the guests who appeared on The Sonny and Cher Show included Frankie Avalon, Muhammed Ali, Raymond Burr, Ruth Buzzi, Charo, Barbara Eden, Farrah Fawcett, Terri Garr, Bob Hope, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, Tony Orlando, The Osmonds, Debbie Reynolds, The Smothers Brothers, Tina Turner, Twiggy, and Betty White. However, ratings soon fell, and the show was cancelled after its second season.[15]
Their overall television success, though brief, was unique because variety programming in general was no longer attracting viewers, other than The Carol Burnett Show.[15]
Cher continued to release numerous solo albums during this period, though none matched the critical or commercial success of her earlier '70s recordings. She made a brief return to prime time starring in the television specials Cher
Special in 1978 (for which guest star Dolly Parton was nominated for an Emmy Award) and Cher
and Other Fantasies in 1979. One highlight for her fans was a song and dance number based on the classic musical West Side Story in which Cher portrayed each of the main characters.
In 1979 she legally changed her name to Cher, with no surname or middle name.[1] Sonny and Cher performed together for the last time on The Mike Douglas Show in the spring of 1979 (until their much-discussed 1987 Letterman appearance), singing a medley of "United We Stand" and "Without You".[16]
Later in 1979 Cher would capitalize on the disco craze, signing with Casablanca Records, and racking up another Top-10 single with "Take Me Home" (#8, 1979). Sales of the album Take Me Home may have been boosted by the image of a scantily-clad Cher in a Viking outfit on the album's cover. The album was RIAA-certified Gold. For her second Casablanca release, Prisoner (1979), Cher appeared on the album's cover virtually naked and wrapped in chains, spurring controversy among some women's rights groups for her perceived "sex slave" image. This album produced the minor hit single Hell on Wheels (#59, 1979); the tune was also featured in the film "Roller Boogie".
1980-1987: Film stardom and musical breakout
In 1980 Cher penned her last disco song for the film Foxes, called "Bad Love." The song can be found on the international version of The Very Best of Cher. Later in the same year, Cher formed the rock band Black Rose with her then-partner, guitarist Les Dudek, and released the album Black Rose by year's end. The album failed to sell, despite an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and the band broke up the following year.
In 1981 Cher released her first Top 5 hit in UK in ten years: "Dead Ringer for Love", a duet with Meat Loaf for his album Dead Ringer. In 1982 Cher released I Paralyze, promoting it on American Bandstand and The Tonight Show, but critics panned the album and sales were disappointing.
With album sales and hit singles again at a standstill, Cher decided to expand her career into serious film acting. Her earliest entertainment ambitions had always lain in film, as opposed to music. However, she soon found herself in an uphill battle trying to land credible roles for a woman now in her mid-30s with little acting experience. At the time, she was quoted as saying that she didn't really care if she ever made another record.
In 1982, at 36, Cher landed her first major role in a Broadway production of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Her performance was critically praised, and she was later cast in the film version, which was directed by acclaimed Hollywood director Robert Altman. She was next cast alongside Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell in the critically hailed drama Silkwood (1983) in which her character was a lesbian. She received her first Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress. She later won the Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for her performance.
Cher's next film was a starring role in the acclaimed Mask (1985), directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film also starred Eric Stoltz, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty and Sam Elliott, and it was considered her first critical and commercial success as a leading actress. For her role as a mother of a severely disfigured boy, Cher won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1985 Cher was honored with Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award.
In 1987 she starred in three films: the thriller Suspect with Dennis Quaid; the dark comedy/fantasy film The Witches of Eastwick with Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer; and the romantic comedy Moonstruck with Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis. For Moonstruck, directed by Norman Jewison, she won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Actress. Clutching her trophy at the ceremony, she announced, "If I can win this, anybody can do anything." She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy, and the Favorite Film Actress award at the People's Choice Awards. 1987 was also noteworthy for the resurgence in Cher's recording career. After signing with friend David Geffen's label, Geffen Records, Cher released a self-titled album late that year which spawned her first major hit since 1979's "Take Me Home". "I Found Someone" returned her to the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100. The follow-up single "We All Sleep Alone" reached #14.
On May 22, 1986 Cher made her infamous first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In her pre-interview with the show's producers, Cher had referred to host David Letterman with a derogatory term when asked why she had previously declined to appear on his program. He later confronted her about this on air during their interview, asking why she had refused so many earlier invitations. As she thought of an appropriate answer, he pushed her further saying, "Because you thought..." to which she suddenly blurted "You were an asshole!" to a shocked Letterman. She received a mixture of boos and laughter from the audience for the remark; however, Letterman quickly played off the incident as just fun. They patched up their differences for a 1987 show that had Cher and Sonny Bono reuniting to sing "I Got You, Babe" for what would be the last time. She has since made multiple appearances on Letterman's CBS show.
This was not the only time a chat show clash like this occurred. In 2001 Cher was interviewed by British talk show host and television presenter Clive Anderson. Anderson asked her, "Wow, Cher, you look like a million dollars... is that how much it cost?"
1987-1989: Return to musical success
In 1987 Cher revived her recording career after a five-year hiatus, under the coordination of rock producer and A&R man John Kalodner. Now with Geffen Records, Cher released the first of three highly successful rock albums, produced by Kalodner and featuring songwriting contributions from the likes of Diane Warren, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child, and Michael Bolton. Darlene Love and Bonnie Tyler provided guest vocals. Cher was released in 1987, and featured the comeback single "I Found Someone" (previously a minor hit for Laura Branigan), as well as "We All Sleep Alone" (#14, 1988). The album was Cher's biggest yet, being certified platinum in the U.S. (1 million) and selling 6 million copies worldwide.[17] Cher also tried her hand at producing, with the film Harry and the Hendersons.
In 1989 Cher released the album Heart of Stone. As on her previous album, Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Diane Warren and Desmond Child handled songwriting and/or producing duties. The album was originally released with cover artwork featuring Cher sitting in front of a heart made of stone, creating the illusion of a skull.[18] Heart of Stone became her most successful album to date, selling eleven million copies worldwide,[17] and certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA.
The album's biggest hit came with the rock hymn "If I Could Turn Back Time, which topped the charts in Australia for 7 non-consecutive weeks, peaked at #3 in the U.S., reached #6 in the UK and charted in various other countries around the globe. Further hits from the album were "Just Like Jesse James" (U.S. Top 10, Top 20 in Australia) and "Heart of Stone" (U.S. Top 20), and it also contained the hit duet with Peter Cetera, "After All" (U.S. #6). The video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" caused controversy, because in it Cher wore a very thin, see-through net outfit, which revealed a very visible "butterfly" tatoo on her derriere (detailed below). Many networks on television, including MTV, initially refused to air the video because of the partial nudity. MTV network eventually played the video, but only after 9 p.m. Cher also launched the Heart of Stone Tour, which played throughout 1989 and 1990 in various parts of the world. She also starred in the television special Cher - Live at the Mirage, which was filmed during a live concert in Las Vegas.
1990-1992: Artistic development and commercial hits
In 1990 Cher starred in the modest box office success Mermaids with Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci. The film received many positive reviews from critics. Cher contributed two songs to its soundtrack. "Baby I'm Yours" and the album's second single, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", charted low on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (at #33), but became a smash hit elsewhere, reaching #1 in the UK, #3 in Germany and France, and #5 in Australia. Around the globe, it became her most successful single to date, selling more than six million copies worldwide. In 1991 Cher completed her Geffen recording contract by releasing the album Love Hurts. This album had a big impact in Europe and in the rest of the world, particularly in the UK where it debuted at #1 and stayed there for 6 consecutive weeks. Unlike her previous two records, Love Hurts received less attention in the United States where it was certified gold; in European countries, the album was certified multi-platinum.[19];;;[20] The European cover of the album was different from the American release, featuring Cher lying on a white background wearing a red wig.
The European release also included the worldwide hit "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)". The album also sparked another hit single, "Love and Understanding", a number 3 hit in UK as well as the album's only major hit in her native U.S., entering the Top 20. The follow-ups "Save Up All Your Tears", "Love Hurts", and "Could've Been You" were minor hits in Europe. The album Love Hurts has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide becoming one of the biggest-selling albums of her career.
In Germany, Cher received the prestigious ECHO award for the most successful female singer of the year. Cher embarked on the Love Hurts Tour throughout 1992. In the same period Cher released two VHS fitness programs, Cherfitness: A New Attitude and Cherfitness: A Body Confidence.
In 1992 the European compilation Greatest Hits: 1965-1992 became a huge success, again peaking at #1 in the United Kingdom for seven non-consecutive weeks, and charting in the Top 10 in several other countries. The album, which contained three newly-recorded tracks ("Oh No Not My Baby", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Whenever You're Near") was available in the United States only as an import.
1992-1996: Commercial ups-and-downs and controversies
In 1992 Cher took some time off, following what was widely reported as a case of Epstein-Barr virus or chronic fatigue syndrome.[21] She made few public appearances during this period with the exception of appearing in a series of infomercials launching hair-care products for her friend Lori Davis,[22] and for the sweetener Equal. It has been said that this had a negative impact on her career. Cher made cameo appearances in the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Pret-a-Porter (1994).
In 1994 she collaborated with MTV's cartoons Beavis and Butt-head for a rock version of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe". The next year she with Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton topped the UK Singles Chart for one week with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge".
At the age of 50, she released an album, mainly of covers, titled It's a Man's World. The album was released in Europe at the end of 1995 and in North America in the summer of 1996. The album sparked two European hits: "Walking in Memphis" and "One by One". It's a Man's World was a moderate success, with more than three million copies worldwide; however, sales in the United States were limited.
Cher starred in the poorly received film Faithful (1996) with Ryan O'Neal and Chazz Palminteri. Also in 1996, Cher co-executive-produced the highly anticipated, controversial HBO abortion drama If These Walls Could Talk, with actress Demi Moore. Nancy Savoca co-wrote all three segments and directed the first two sections starring Moore and Sissy Spacek, but Cher directed and co-starred in the third segment, earning a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress in a made-for-television movie.
1998: Sonny Bono dies
Cher was in London in January 1998 when a call from daughter Chastity brought news of Sonny Bono's death in a skiing accident.[23] He was 62. At the time of his death, Sonny Bono, by then a popular California Congressman, was married to his fourth wife, Mary Bono.[24] Although they had been apart for 24 years and each had re-married since, Cher accepted an invitation to deliver the eulogy. The funeral, unbeknownst to Cher, was broadcast live on CNN. In front of millions, she tearfully and effusively praised the man who had been a father figure, friend, partner, lover, husband, and antagonist, calling him "the most unforgettable character I've ever met."[25] Critics were quick to point out that Cher had spoken very little to Sonny during the 20 years since their divorce, though her outpouring of emotion seemed genuine.
Cher paid tribute to Bono in the CBS special Sonny and Me: Cher Remembers (1998), calling her grief "something I never plan to get over."[26] In 1998, Sonny & Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television. Cher appeared at the event with Mary Bono, who accepted the award on behalf of her late husband.
1998-1999: Popularity of "Believe"
Cher's 23rd studio album, 1998's Grammy Award-winning Believe marked an extreme departure for Cher, as the record was a sparkling collection of up-tempo dance tracks. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching the top spot in Germany and nearly every country where it was released, including the big markets U.S., UK, Australia and France. Believe has been certified 4x Platinum in the U.S. and has sold 20 million copies worldwide.[27] The Grammy Award-winning first single and title track was a worldwide smash, easily becoming the biggest hit of Cher's entire career. The song reached #1 in 23 countries around the world including the U.S., the UK, Germany, France and Australia.[28] "Believe" made Cher the Oldest woman (at age 52) to have a number one hit in the Hot 100 rock era. It also gave her the distinction of having the longest span of #1 hits (more than 33 years) and the largest gap between number ones (10 days short of 25 years). Cher is also the only female artist to have solo Top 10 hits in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. On the UK Singles Chart, "Believe" claimed the number one slot for seven consecutive weeks, and also became the biggest-selling single ever by a female artist in UK.[citation needed] It sold more than 1 million copies in both the UK and Germany. "Believe" is the third most successful song released by a solo female musician worldwide,[29] the biggest selling single ever for Warner Bros. Records and the biggest selling dance song ever, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide.[30] From the album, three other singles were released, with "Strong Enough" becoming a perfect follow-up hit in Europe, peaking at #3 in Germany and France as well as the UK Top Five, but failing to gain equally huge success in North America. "All or Nothing" and "Dov'è L'Amore" were also solid hits in Europe, but didn't get much attention in her native U.S.
Cher published her first memoir in late 1998, titled The First Time. Rather than a tell-all, the book was an intriguing collection of Cher's most significant "first-time" memories from her childhood, life and Hollywood career. In January 1999 Cher performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of the Super Bowl XXXIII television audience. Cher also performed on the highly rated television special VH1 Divas Live 2, performing alongside contemporaries Tina Turner, Elton John, Chaka Khan, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, LeeAnn Rimes, Brandy and Whitney Houston . Later in 1999, Cher co-starred in the well-received Franco Zeffirelli film Tea With Mussolini (1999) with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Lily Tomlin. Her successful worldwide Do You Believe? Tour travelled throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, with the Emmy-nominated television special Cher: Live at the MGM Grand In Las Vegas airing by year's end.
On November 30, 1999 she released a compilation album The Greatest Hits that continued to build upon her huge popularity in Europe. The album entered the German Charts at #1 (her second consecutive German No.1 album) and peaked at number 7 on the official UK Albums Chart. This compilation was released only outside of the United States, due to the release of the North American only compilation, If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits which was released that same year. In Germany she became again best selling female artist of the year and was receiving her second ECHO Award (she and Madonna are the only female artists to do so).
2000-2002: Legacy of achievement
The Do You Believe? Tour continued throughout 2000 and became her most successful tour to that time. In May 2000, Cher was presented with the Lifelong Contribution to the Music Industry Award, at the World Music Awards.
She released an independent alternative-rock album entitled Not.com.mercial (pronounced "not-dot-com-mercial").[31] This album was written mostly by Cher after attending a songwriting retreat in France in 1994. The album was quickly rejected by record labels for being "not commercial." Cher chose instead to sell the recording exclusively through her website.[32][31] This also marked the first time that Cher had written a majority of the material for one of her albums. In an online review, Rolling Stone called "Fit To Fly", a Cher-penned track from the album, "the best Cher song ever." The tune was Cher's tribute to American veterans of war.
In February 2002, still in a dance mode, Cher released the highly anticipated follow-up to Believe: Living Proof, which entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, making it her highest-charting album debut and extending her album chart span to an excess of 37 years. Unfortunately it couldn't repeat the success of Believe, showing no longevity in the charts. Outside the United States, things were a little better: in the United Kingdom, France and Australia, Living Proof failed to reach the Top 40, while charting best in Germany by entering at a respective #13. The lack of huge success was caused by the lead-off single (outside U.S.) "The Music's No Good Without You" that only became a big hit in Europe and Australia, though reaching #1 in Russia and Poland, and the Top 10 in the UK and other European countries. The album included several re-mixed songs that found their way onto the Hot Dance, Maxi-Single Sales, Club Play and Adult Contemporary charts. The album was eventually certified gold in the United States and Germany, and sold more than six million copies worldwide.
That year, Cher won the Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year and was presented with a special Artist Achievement Award at the Billboard Music Awards.
In May 2002 Cher performed on the VH1 television special VH1 Divas Las Vegas, with Shakira, Celine Dion, The Dixie Chicks, Anastacia, Cyndi Lauper and Mary J. Blige. In June, she announced plans for Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, which she claimed would be the final live concert tour of her career, though she vowed to continue recording and releasing music.
2002-2005: The Farewell Tour
The show itself was a tribute to her nearly 40 years in show business. It featured vintage performance and video clips from the 1960s onward, highlighting her successes in music, television, and film, all set amongst an elaborate backdrop and stage set-up, complete with backing band, singers and dancers, including aerial acrobatics. Dates were added, and the tour was extended several times, covering virtually all of the U.S. and Canada (plus 3 shows in Mexico City), several cities in Europe, as well as the major cities of Australia and New Zealand. Going well past its original cutoff date, it was eventually redubbed the "Never Can Say Goodbye Tour".[33]
In April 2003 The Very Best of Cher, a CD collection of all of her greatest hits spanning her entire career, was released. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 album chart, extending her album chart span to over 38 years. The compilation has been certified double platinum and has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.
She found success on television once again in the spring of 2003 with Cher: The Farewell Tour Live, an NBC special taped on 7 and 8 November 2002 at Miami's American Airlines Arena that attracted 17.3 million viewers.[34] It earned Cher her first Emmy Award as Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. She released the album Live: The Farewell Tour later in 2003, a collection of live tracks taken from the tour. She was also seen, as herself, in the Farrelly Brothers comedy Stuck on You (2003) with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. In the film, she spoofed her own image, appearing in bed with a high school boyfriend (Frankie Muniz). Also in 2003, Cher recorded a duet of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" for Rod Stewart's As Time Goes By... The Great American Songbook Volume II album.
In February 2004, at 57, she received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording for her song "Love One Another". During 2004 a Sonny & Cher DVD was released with nine Sonny & Cher shows, from the famous Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny and Cher Show, featuring some of the best shows during the 1970s. Also in 2004 Cher appeared for a few seconds in ABBA: The Last Video.[35]
In 2004 Cher released the album Gold, a 2-CD collection of all her greatest hits, spanning from her days as one-half of Sonny & Cher to her Living Proof era. It was only a year following the release of her multi-platinum The Very Best of Cher album, though All Music Guide nevertheless gave it four and a half out of five stars.
Cher closed the farewell tour in April 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl.
2008: Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace
During 2007, in the seventh volume of Chrome Hearts, Cher once again confirmed that she is working on her twenty-sixth studio album. No recordings have taken place as of yet, and no release date has been scheduled.
It is rumored that Cher will collaborate with Timbaland in a song for his next album Shock Value II, which will also feature Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Dido and Christina Aguilera. This album is expected to be released in November 2008.[36]
On February 7, 2008 Cher, at 61, announced that she had reached a deal to perform 200 shows over three years live at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Her new show, entitled Cher at the Colosseum, will debut on May 6, 2008. [37] The show reportedly includes 18 dancers, 4 aerialists, and multiple costumes designed by Bob Mackie. Choreography will be directed by Doriana Sanchez who also worked with Cher on her past three major tours. Her show will perform four nights a week for a month, and a second leg of the show will continue in August. Cher will share the stage on a rotating basis with contemporaries Bette Midler (whose The Showgirl Must Go On opened on February 20, 2008) and Elton John (whose The Red Piano, which opened in 2004, will continue its run of about 50 shows a year).
On February 10, 2008 Cher made a brief appearance at the Grammy Awards, introducing a performance by Tina Turner and Beyonce Knowles.
Personal life
Marriages and relationships
In the early 1960s Cher had a relationship with actor Warren Beatty.[12] Sonny and Cher first met in 1962. Though they had claimed to be married as early as 1963, and exchanged rings in Tijuana, Mexico, it is believed that they weren't legally married until an impromptu ceremony in Las Vegas in 1969. Their first and only child is Chastity Sun Bono born March 4, 1969.[38] Cher married her second husband, rock star Gregg Allman, in 1975. They later separated and were divorced in 1977. Their son, Elijah Blue Allman of the band Deadsy, was born on July 10, 1976.
Following their break-up, Cher was involved in a number of very public relationships with high profile men including record executive David Geffen, KISS bassist Gene Simmons, and senior account manager Garreth Crawford .[39]
In the early 1980s Cher dated Les Dudek (guitarist on the Black Rose album) and was rumored to have dated a number of younger film stars, including Eric Stoltz (her co-star in Mask) and Val Kilmer. Sometime between 1983 and 1986 she had a relationship with Tom Cruise.[citation needed] She began a much-publicized romance in 1986 with a much younger Rob Camilletti. When they met, he was 22 and she was 40. The media dubbed him "Bagel Boy," as it was learned that he was once a baker in a bagel shop.[40] It was widely speculated in the tabloid press that the couple were planning to marry, but this never occurred. In the late-1980s she had a relationship with musician Josh Donen. Cher was involved with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora for two years in the early 1990s, and was also linked to musicians Eric Clapton and Mark Hudson.[12] Rumors also circulated that Cher was romantically involved with a member of her band during her lengthy Farewell Tour.
Cher has also been reportedly linked with singer Ricky Martin, actors Ray Liotta, Matt Dillon and John Heard, TV host John Loeffler and NHL hockey player Ron Duguay, but most of these affairs are unconfirmed. In a February 2008 interview with Good Morning America, Cher confirmed a brief relationship with actor Tom Cruise during the early 1980s as well as having turned down advances from Elvis Presley and actor Marlon Brando during the 1970s. Recently in 2007/2008 Cher has been caught romancing three men at once, in an interview with Gene Simmons she admitted to seeing one, one day, one the next day and the other the day after, all of whom younger than herself.
Personal wealth
According to a 2002 Rolling Stone magazine article, her personal net worth was estimated to be over $900 million.[citation needed] The same year, she decided to end her singing career after "Living Proof": The Farewell Tour; it lasted 3 years and grossed over $250 million.[citation needed] Cher owns several pieces of real estate, including homes in Aspen, Colorado, USA, and London, UK, and maintains a primary home in Malibu, California, USA, valued at $192 million.[citation needed] In April 2006 it was reported that Cher had purchased a condominium in the Sierra Towers in West Hollywood, California, for $3.5 million.[41] In May 2006 she sold her Florida mansion for $3.8 million.[citation needed] She claims to own an impressive antique and art collection reportedly worth $9.5 million.[citation needed]
In July 2006 it was announced that Cher, in conjunction with Sotheby's and Julien's Auctions, was planning to auction about 800 of her personal possessions from her Italian Renaissance-themed Malibu estate, including numerous antiques, art collectibles, paintings, career memorabilia, furniture (including her bed) as well as numerous pieces of jewelry, clothing, stage costumes, gowns, a 2003 H2 Hummer and her 2005 Bentley. The event, which took place October 3-5, 2006, in Beverly Hills, California, raised $3.3 million. Cher had said a large percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Cher Charitable Foundation. [42] Besides her personal wealth and real estate noted above, Cher reportedly received $180 million for mounting her comeback at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.[citation needed] Cher's wealth would easily reach over $1 billion.
As a gay icon
Cher has been imitated by drag queens across the world for decades. Her transition to dance music and social activism in recent years has further contributed to her iconic popularity within the gay community. The NBC sitcom Will & Grace acknowledged her status by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. Cher guest-starred as herself twice on the sitcom, in 2000 and 2002. In 2000 Cher made a cameo on the show, in which Jack believed her to be a drag queen, and said he could "do" a better Cher himself. In 2002 she played God in Jack's imagined version of Heaven.
Her status may have been boosted by her support of her openly lesbian daughter Chastity Bono. Although not supporting Chastity immediately after she came out, Cher has since become one of the gay community's most vocal advocates. At several of her live concert appearances, Cher acknowledged the audience by declaring, "good evening, ladies and gentlemen... and flamboyant gentlemen!"
In 1998 Cher was honored with a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and in November 1999, The Advocate named Cher one of the '25 Coolest Women'. In October 2005 the Bravo program Great Things About Being... declared Cher "the number one greatest thing about being gay."
Her perseverance and longevity are the inspiration for the famous quote by gay impressionist Jimmy James: "After a nuclear holocaust, all that will be left are cockroaches and Cher".
Political interests
Unlike her late ex-husband Sonny Bono, Cher has always been a staunch Democrat. She has attended and performed at Democratic Party conventions and events. Today, she considers herself a Democrat by default, but more of an Independent because of what she perceives to be the recent moderate to conservative leanings of the current Democratic Party.
Cher has always defined herself as an anti-war activist; she demonstrated against the Vietnam War, and the video for "Turn Back Time" in 1989 was sometimes interpreted as an admonition against the army: "Make love, not war."[43]
On October 27, 2003 Cher anonymously called a C-SPAN phone-in program. She recounted a visit she had made to maimed soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and criticized the lack of media coverage and government attention given to injured servicemen.[44] She also remarked that she watches C-SPAN every day. Though she simply identified herself as an unnamed entertainer with the USO, she was recognized by the C-SPAN host, who subsequently questioned her about her 1992 support for independent presidential candidate Ross Perot.
Back from her last tour in Europe, Cher declared that Europeans had a very bad image of Americans, mostly because of the Bush administration. "[Europeans] see us as the real terrorists since this stupid war in Iraq and because of all the innocent civilians that were killed within the first [...]somehow they're right." She shared the stage with Muhammad Muhammad in N.Y.C, an American actor who used to tell stories about the changes in American Muslim's lives since 9/11.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2006 she called in again, endorsing Operation Helmet, an organization started by a doctor that provides helmet upgrade kits free of charge to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to those ordered to deploy in the near future. She identified herself as a caller from Malibu, California, and proceeded to complain about the current presidential administration. She read aloud a letter from a soldier on the ground in Iraq, praising Operation Helmet's efforts, and decrying the lack of protection afforded by the military's provisions for troops.[45]
On May 18, 2006 Cher appeared on The Ed Schultz Show to discuss her work in support of U.S. troops fighting abroad, as well as returning veterans. Schultz noted her involvement with both Operation Helmet and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is constructing an advanced training skills facility at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The center will serve military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those severely injured in other operations, as well as in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related.
During the interview with Schultz, Cher again said she is an independent. Her comments about the current political scene in the U.S. led him to interject, "You're fed up with everybody", to which she replied, "I really am. I couldn't be a Republican 'cause I think I believe in too many services for poor people, but I'm fed up with the Democrats. I just think...you're gonna find all their spines where you find the elephant's graveyard."
Toward the end of the interview, Schultz asked Cher what she thinks about today's protest songs. She responded, "You know, I think it's the duty of artists to say what they want, in favor or in opposition. Unfortunately, I think that, with [the Bush administration], you haven't been able to really voice any opposition because of 9/11, if you say anything opposed to the administration, somehow they've been able to wrap themselves in the flag, so that if you have any opposing viewpoint, you're unpatriotic." She was about to offer her thoughts on this, but stopped, saying, "I don't know what you can say on your program, so I won't talk the way I normally talk." Implying her comments would be salty, she did add, though, "I don't like it...it rubs me the wrong way. And if I could say all those seven words [that George Carlin's famous routine suggests cannot be said on TV], that's what I'd be saying."
Cher is still involved with Operation Helmet, and appeared with Dr. Bob Meaders (founder of Operation Helmet) on C-SPAN again on June 14, 2006. She then appeared with him on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2006. It has been reported that Cher has so far donated over US$130,000 to Operation Helmet.[46]
Humanitarian work
Cher has been involved with many humanitarian groups and charity efforts over the years. After appearing in the movie Mask, she served as National Chairperson and Honorary Spokesperson of the Children's Craniofacial Association. Over the years while touring, she frequently donated concert tickets to families and non-profit groups for children and youth with facial deformities. Such donations were alluded to in an episode of the TV series X-Files entitled The Post Modern Prometheus.
In 1993 Cher participated in a humanitarian effort to Armenia, (where her father was born) bringing much needed food and medical supplies and touring the war-torn region of Karabakh.[47] In 1998 she co-hosted the annual Amfar AIDS Benefit at the Cannes Film Festival with Elizabeth Taylor.
In August 2005 it was reported that Cher had voluntarily sent payments to help a 16-year-old Northport, Alabama, boy with muscular dystrophy who required home healthcare. He was all but bedridden after his 58-year-old adoptive mother, who'd suffered two strokes, was left disabled and the boy's home health care was cut off when he lost his Medicaid coverage.[48]
She is also the namesake of the Cher Charitable Foundation, which donates funds to various charities and causes close to her heart.
Image and enduring popularity
Cher's lasting legacy in popular culture has long been disputed. She has stated of herself that "singers don't consider me a singer and actors don't consider me an actor," despite her undeniable achievements in both arenas. She is highly respected for her considerable career longevity and ability to bounce back when critics have long written her off. She has also been quoted as saying, "Some years I'm the hottest thing, and the next year, people are so over me." She has described herself as a "hit and miss artist" and "more of a stylist than a musician."
Cher's youthful-looking appearance has long been the subject of intense scrutiny, both by the public and the tabloid press. In the late 1990s, the National Enquirer published a series of photographs of Cher taken over a 20-year period, and had a doctor point out various surgical procedures done to her face during the time. The plastic surgeon pointed out evidence of surgical implants and other surgeries, including collagen applied to enhance her lips, facelifts to reduce wrinkles, skin peels to provide "younger"-looking skin, an all over body lift. Cher has not confirmed any of these diagnoses, except to once famously respond to one interviewer, "all I'll say about that is that getting older really sucks." Anthony Hopkins said in an interview 'If you have it, flaunt it, and Cher definitely has it!"
Cher has a very large and devoted fan base that has transcended generations. Their devotion is evidenced through the biennial Cher Convention that began in Chicago in 2000 when her song "Believe" reached number one. The event was held in Las Vegas in 2002 and 2004, Los Angeles in 2006, and will be held again in Las Vegas in 2008, August 11th & 12th at Caesars Palace. The convention coincides with the beginning of Cher's second run at Caesars Colosseum beginning August 12th. Events include a Pre-Concert Dance Party and After-Concert Dance Party in the evenings and the convention in the daytime.[28] All convention proceeds go to the Children's Craniofacial Association, a 501(c)3, in which Cher is the National Spokesperson.
The Cher Expo, a biennial event that began in 2007, brings Cher fans together for a two-night, one-day event. All expo proceeds go to a non-profit charity. The 2009 Cher Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, will benefit "Keep a Child Alive."
Tattoos
Cher became famous for her many tattoos, long before they were fashionable among women in Hollywood. Among them were a large butterfly and floral design on her buttocks, later imitated by androgynous Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns; a flowing necklace on her left upper arm with three charms hanging on it: an Egyptian ankh, a cross and a heart, a kanji on her right shoulder (Chinese 'li'; Japanese 'chikara'; 力, meaning 'power'); a small cluster of Art Deco crystals on her inner right arm; a black orchid design just above the crease of her right thigh; and a chrysanthemum on her left ankle.[49]
Media reports in recent years have indicated that Cher has since committed to having most of her tattoos removed, and the process has apparently been under way. Some pictures from her most recent concert tour have shown blank skin where some of the smaller tattoos once were. She no longer has a necklace on her left arm or the Japanese symbol on her right arm. Elderly pop culture historian Thomas Caputo actually specializes in Cher tattoos.[50]
Influence
In her early career Cher was a fashion trend-setter, popularizing long straight hair, bell-bottoms and an exposed midriff. She is noted by fashion designers and television historians as being the first female to ever expose her bellybutton on television (paving the way for Barbara Eden in I Dream Of Jeanie and Victoria's Secret Models alike). She stepped that up a notch in 1987 when she boarded a navy ship in thong and fishnets, earning her the glories of being the first video ever banned by MTV (after the video was banned the video grew to mass popularity, forcing MTV to play the video after hours). Through her television shows she inspired women and pushed the censors with her revealing outfits and creative ensembles, frequently designed by Bob Mackie. She has also inspired a generation of younger singer/actresses who have noted her as being a major influence on them.
In July 1999 Cher ranked 43rd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll poll and in September 2002 ranked 26th on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.[51] She has appeared on the cover of People magazine 13 times. In a recent poll, A&E's Biography Magazine ranked her as the third favorite actress of all time behind two of her Hollywood idols, Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn.
Bing Crosby, Nelson Eddy, Perry Como (the record I had); Jan Peerce, Willie Nelson, and more. 
