Isabella Rossellini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini
June 18, 1952 (1952-06-18) (age 56)
Rome, Italy
Years active 1976 - present
Spouse(s) Martin Scorsese (1979-1982)
Jonathan Wiedemann (1983-1986)
Awards won
Other Awards
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (film)
1992 Death Becomes Her
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born June 18, 1952) is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.
Biography
Background
Rossellini is the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian director Roberto Rossellini. She has three siblings from her mother: her twin sister Isotta Ingrid Rossellini, who is an adjunct professor of Italian literature; a brother, Roberto Ingmar Rossellini, who works in finance; and a half-sister, Pia Lindström, who formerly worked on television and is from her mother's first marriage. She also has four other siblings from her father's two other marriages: Romano (died at age 9), Renzo, Gil, and Raffaella.[1]
Rossellini was born and raised in Rome, Santa Marinella, and Paris. At the age of 13, she was diagnosed with scoliosis. In order to correct it, Isabella had to undergo an 18 month ordeal of painful stretchings, body casts, surgery on her spine using pieces of one of her shin bones (used to add supports for the individual vertebrae without risking foreign body rejection issues), and a recovery from that surgery. Consequently, she has permanent incision scars on her back and shin. Incidentally, her daughter, Elettra, also developed scoliosis when she was a child.
At the age of 19, she came to New York, where she attended Finch College while working as a translator and a RAI television reporter. She also appeared intermittently on Roberto Benigni's Italian comedy show, The Other Sunday. However, she did not decide to stay full time in New York until her marriage to Martin Scorsese (1979-1982). After her marriage to Scorsese, she married Jon Wiedemann (1983-1986), a German model (now a Microsoft executive), and gave birth to a daughter, Elettra. Later, she dated David Lynch, Gary Oldman, and Gregory Mosher.
Modeling career
At the age of 28, her modeling career began, when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. During her career, she has also worked with many other renowned photographers, including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Norman Parkinson, Eve Arnold, Francesco Scavullo, Annie Leibovitz, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Her image has appeared on such magazines as Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and ELLE. Furthermore, in March 1988, an exhibition dedicated to photographs of her, called Portrait of a Woman, was held at the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris.
Rossellini's modeling career led her into the world of cosmetics, when she became the exclusive spokesmodel for the international cosmetics brand Lancôme in 1982, replacing Nancy Dutiel in the United States and Carol Alt in Europe. While there, in 1990, she was involved in product development for Lancôme's fragrance Trésor. Later, in 1995, she worked with the Coty Group and developed her own brand of cosmetics, Isabella Rossellini's Manifesto. However, in 1996, after 14 years with the company, she was infamously removed as the face of Lancôme for being "too old", since she was in her 40s at the time. She is signed to Trump Model Management.
Film career
Rossellini made her film debut with a brief appearance as a nun opposite her mother in the 1976 film A Matter of Time. However, she did not truly begin acting until the 1979 film Il Prato. She did not become successful with acting until after her mother's death in 1982, when she was cast in her first American film, White Nights (1985). Nonetheless, she is probably best known for her pivotal role as the nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Some other notable film roles include her work in Cousins, Death Becomes Her, Immortal Beloved, and Fearless.
In 2003, Rossellini had a recurring role on the television series, Alias. In that same year, she also appeared in the Canadian film The Saddest Music in the World directed by Guy Maddin. In 2004 she played as the High Priestess Thar in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Legend of Earthsea. In addition, she acted in an Off-Broadway production of The Stendhal Syndrome. Furthermore, she became an ambassador for the Silversea Cruise Line, which has her appearing in print ads and on their website.[2]
In 2006, Rossellini was on television for several documentaries. First, she narrated a two-hour television special on Italy for the Discovery Channel's Discovery Atlas series, in order to show a glimpse of present-day Italy. In addition, on an episode of the Sundance Channel series Iconoclasts, which also featured the Segway PT inventor Dean Kamen, she told about her past and what activities she is currently involved in.[3] In 2007, Rossellini guest starred on two episodes of the television show 30 Rock, playing Alec Baldwin's ex-wife.
In 2008, Rossellini toured the festival circuit with a series of short films entitled Green Porno, which she wrote and co-directed with Jody Shapiro. Each Green Porno film is one minute long, and has Rossellini reenacting the mating rituals of various insects.
Rossellini received a 1987 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her role in Blue Velvet. In 1997, she received two notable award nominations. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for her role in Crime of the Century and an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the television series Chicago Hope.
Activism
Outside of acting, modeling, and cosmetics, Rossellini is involved in conservation efforts. She is a board member of the Wildlife Conservation Network.[4] In addition, she is the president and director of the Howard Gilman Foundation, a leading institution focused on the preservation of wildlife, arts, photography and dance.[5][6] Disney gave $100,000 to her to help with her conservation efforts in those two organizations.[7] She has also helped with the Central Park Conservancy.[8] Furthermore, Rossellini is considered a major benefactor of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society of Bellport, Long Island, where she is a part-time resident.[9]
Rossellini is also involved in training guide dogs for the blind.[10][11] In addition, she is a former trustee of the George Eastman House and a 1997 George Eastman Award honoree for her support of film preservation.[12] She is also a National Ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[13]
Writing
Rossellini has written three books. In 1997, her self-described fictional memoir, Some of Me, was published. In 2002, she released her second book, Looking at Me (on pictures and photographers). In 2006, In the name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini was published and was accompanied by the Guy Maddin-directed short film My Dad Is 100 Years Old (both the film and the book are tributes to her father). In the film, she played almost every role, including David Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock, and her mother Ingrid Bergman.
Personal life
Isabella Rossellini holds dual United States and Italian citizenship.[2][14] She has a daughter, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann (born 1983), and an adopted son, Roberto (born 1993).[15][16]
Carol Kane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born June 18, 1952 (1952-06-18) (age 56)
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress most known for Hester Street and When a Stranger Calls
Biography
Early life
Kane was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and Michael Kane, an architect who worked for the World Bank.[1] Her family is Jewish, with her grandparents having emigrated from Russia.[2] Her parents divorced when she was twelve years old.[3] She attended the Cherry Lawn School, a progressive boarding school in Darien, Connecticut until 1965[4] Early photo[5] She attended the Professional Children's School in New York and made her professional theatre debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Tammy Grimes.[6]
Career
Kane is best-known for her portrayal of Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, wife of Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman), on the American television series Taxi from 1981 to 1983. Kane earned two Emmy Awards for her work in the series. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hester Street. She also appeared in 1987's The Princess Bride and 1988's Scrooged with Bill Murray, in which Variety called her "unquestionably [the] pic's comic highlight".[7]
Kane was a regular on the 1986 NBC series All Is Forgiven, a regular on the 1990-1991 NBC series American Dreamer, guest-starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld and had a supporting role in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom Pearl, which starred Rhea Perlman.
In early 2006, Kane began a ten month run in the Broadway musical Wicked, playing Madame Morrible, a role which she had previously played in the show's first national tour. She also appeared in the NBC television live action production of The Year Without a Santa Claus in December 2006. She recently reprised the role of Madame Morrible in the open-ended Los Angeles production of Wicked, which opened on February 21, 2007 at the Pantages Theatre. She left the production on December 30, 2007 along with co-stars Eden Espinosa and Adam Wylie. Kane was replaced by Jo Anne Worley.
WHY PARENTS DRINK
A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his
bed was nicely made and everything was picked up.
Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that
was addressed to 'Dad.'
With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling
hands and read the letter.
Dear Dad:
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to
elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom
and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice.
But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings,
tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older
than I am.
But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant.
Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the
woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream
of having many more children.
Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really
hurt anyone.. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the
other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy.
In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get
better.
She deserves it.
Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself.
Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to
know your grandchildren.
Love,
Your Son Cody,
P.S.. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just
wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report
card that's in my center desk drawer.
I love you.
Call me when it's safe to come home.
Most people will be thinking, Richard Boone: Have Gun Will Travel; Ballad of Palladin, to honor his birthday. Before there was HGWT, however, there was this show: Medic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpdYFtS693I
Thanks, hawkman, for the great bio's, and that kid ought to get a scholarship to some big university and major in either creative writing or psychology.
Hey, edgar. Thanks for that info. I don't recall that TV show, however, and that is why our little cyber radio is more than just music, it's also biographies and interesting trivia about stars.
Speaking of movies, I saw Carol Kane in Scrooged and she was hilarious. Here's a song by that talented lady, y'all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7kjiJlICLo&feature=related
You have a good day, too, puppy, and thanks for the lovely collage of notables.
Here's a lovely ballad written by Sammy Cahn and sung by Shirley Bassey who gives us a smile at the onset.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=r-J8vF9KGLQ&feature=related
Hi Letty! Just popped in for a minute.....
Bob, thanks for the bio on Paul McCartney. I quite enjoyed reading things I did not know about him. :wink:
Reyn, it is great to see you in our cyber radio station. Any requests? You realize that we can do Singing in the Reyn for you, right?
Ah, folks, our Reyn is shy. Let's do this funny one for him anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jkjzayN2j4&feature=related
Thank you my friends. And of course it's always wonderful to be acknowledged during the reign of the Reyn.
Letty wrote:Reyn, it is great to see you in our cyber radio station. Any requests? You realize that we can do Singing in the Reyn for you, right?
Hi again.
Yes, I realized, but that song has been played to death for me by "others".
For those unware, Reyn is pronounced "wren", not "rain".
At least it's not Reyn Tin Tin.
Here's a song for Mr. and Mrs. Reyn, just so that he will know we understand his name.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBtFV8m7LM8
Great, edgar, and if we're going to do avian songs, let's not omit this one by The Byrds and Bob.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pum6MtyC3NA
Donovan was once one of my top favorite artists. I still love him, though I don't play his music as much these days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eo_-QjhcsU
edgar, I've heard you refer to Donovan before. Not too familiar with him, but I understand about the " season of the witch"
I saw somewhere that The hingeheads are in Sorrento, Italy, so I thought I would play one by an unlikely couple, and dedicate it to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVEGhtMxvUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA9fRrt9cro
This song has been played here before, but, I like hearing it again.
