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| Name | United Nations Development Programme |
|---|---|
| Image size | 150px |
| Type | Programme |
| Acronyms | UNDP |
| Administrator | Helen Clark |
| Status | Active |
| Established | 1965 |
| Website | www.undp.org |
| Parent | ECOSOC |
| Commons | United Nations |
UNDP is an executive board within the United Nations General Assembly. The UNDP Administrator is the third highest ranking official of the United Nations after the United Nations Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General.
Headquartered in New York City, the UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from member nations. The organization has country offices in 166 countries, where it works with local governments to meet development challenges and develop local capacity. Additionally, the UNDP works internationally to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
UNDP provides expert advice, training, and grant support to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries. To accomplish the MDGs and encourage global development, UNDP focuses on poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, democratic governance, energy and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery. UNDP also encourages the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women in all of its programs.
Furthermore, UNDP publishes an annual Human Development Report to measure and analyze developmental progress. In addition to a global Report, UNDP publishes regional, national, and local Human Development Reports.
The UNDP was founded in 1965 to combine the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the United Nations Special Fund. In 1971, the two organizations were fully combined into the UNDP.
UNDP links and coordinates global and national efforts to achieve the goals and national development priorities laid out by host countries. UNDP focuses primarily on five developmental challenges:
Democratic governance UNDP supports national democratic transitions by providing policy advice and technical support, improving institutional and individual capacity within countries, educating populations about and advocating for democratic reforms, promoting negotiation and dialogue, and sharing successful experiences from other countries and locations. UNDP also supports existing democratic institutions by increasing dialogue, enhancing national debate, and facilitating consensus on national governance programs. This field of activity included UNDP's support of the Elections Reform Support Group which supports the election activities of the Palestinian National Authority.
Poverty reduction UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty programs with countries’ larger goals and policies, and ensuring a greater voice for the poor. UNDP also works at the macro level to reform trade, encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and ensure the poorest of the poor benefit from globalisation.
On the ground, UNDP sponsors developmental pilot projects, promotes the role of women in development, and coordinates efforts between governments, NGOs, and outside donors. In this way, UNDP works with local leaders and governments to provide opportunities for impoverished people to create businesses and improve their economic condition.
The UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) in Brasilia, Brasil expands the capacities of developing countries to design, implement and evaluate socially inclusive development projects. IPC-IG is a global forum for South-South policy dialogue and learning, having worked with more than 7,000 officials from more than 50 countries.
Crisis prevention and recovery UNDP works to reduce the risk of armed conflicts or disasters, and promote early recovery after crises have occurred. UNDP works through its country offices to support local government in needs assessment, capacity development, coordinated planning, and policy and standard setting.
Examples of UNDP risk reduction programs include efforts to control small arms proliferation, strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters, and programs to encourage use of diplomacy and prevent violence.
Recovery programs include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, demining efforts, programs to reintegrate displaced persons, restoration of basic services, and transitional justice systems for countries recovering from warfare.
Environment and Energy As the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water, sanitation and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental issues in order to improve developing countries’ abilities to develop sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty. UNDP works with countries to strengthen their capacity to address global environmental issues by providing innovative policy advice and linking partners through environmentally sensitive development projects that help poor people build sustainable livelihoods.
UNDP’s environmental strategy focuses on effective water governance including access to water supply and sanitation, access to sustainable energy services, Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and policies to control emissions of harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting substances.
HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS is a big issue in today's society and UNDP works to help countries prevent further spreading and reduce its impact.
The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was created by the Secretary General in 1997, to improve the effectiveness of UN development at the country level. The UNDG brings together the operational agencies working on development. The Group is chaired by the Administrator of UNDP. UNDP also provides the Secretariat to the Group.
The UNDG develops policies and procedures that allow member agencies to work together and analyze country issues, plan support strategies, implement support programmes, monitor results and advocate for change. These initiatives increase UN impact in helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including poverty reduction.
Over 25 UN agencies are members of the UNDG. The Executive Committee consists of the four "founding members": UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP and UNDP. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.
In addition to his or her responsibilities as head of UNDP, the Administrator is also the Chair of the UN Development Group.
Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, is the current Administrator. She was appointed in late March 2009, succeeding Kemal Derviş. The current government of New Zealand strongly supported her nomination, along with Australia, the Pacific Island nations and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown. The five countries on the UNDP board also have some influence over selection. Current board members are Iran (chair), Haiti, Serbia, the Netherlands and Tanzania.
Other holders of the position have included: Bradford Morse, former Republican congressman from Massachusetts; William Draper, venture capitalist and friend of George H.W. Bush who saw one of the UN system's major achievements, the Human Development Report, introduced during his tenure; Mark Malloch Brown, who was previously Vice President of External Affairs at the World Bank and subsequently became UN Deputy Secretary General.
Kemal Derviş, a former finance minister of Turkey and senior World Bank official, was the previous UNDP Administrator. Derviş started his four-year term on 15 August 2005.
== Goodwill Ambassadors == UNDP, along with other UN agencies, has long enlisted the voluntary services and support of prominent individuals as Goodwill Ambassadors or Youth Emissaries to highlight and promote key policies. According to UNDP’s website: “Their fame helps amplify the urgent and universal message of human development and international cooperation, helping to accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.” Goodwill Embassy has a complete list of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors as well as Goodwill Ambassadors of other UN Organisations.
Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:United Nations General Assembly subsidiary organs *
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Playername | Maria Sharapova |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Masha (diminutive) |
| Caption | Sharapova, holding the 2006 Acura Classic Cup |
| Country | |
| Residence | Bradenton, Florida, USA |
| Datebirth | April 19, 1987 |
| Placebirth | Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Height | |
| Australianopenresult | W (2008) |
| Frenchopenresult | SF (2007) |
| Wimbledonresult | W (2004) |
| Usopenresult | W (2006) |
| Othertournaments | Yes |
| Wtachampionshipsresult | W (2004) |
| Doublesrecord | 23–17 |
| Doublestitles | 3 |
| Highestdoublesranking | 41 (June 14, 2004) |
| Australianopendoublesresult | 2R (2003, 2004) |
| Usopendoublesresult | 2R (2003) |
| Updated | January 10, 2011 |
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she upset two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top ten of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the number one ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She ultimately won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and World No. 2 Justine Henin in the final. Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury, and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She ultimately won her third Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović in the final. After reclaiming the number one ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly ten months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked No. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won 3 singles titles (bringing her career total to 22) and improved her ranking.
Sharapova's public profile extends beyond tennis, as she has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Also she has been featured in many advertisements including Nike, Prince, Canon and many more, also being the face of many fashion houses, primarily Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Project Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme.
Sharapova got engaged to her boyfriend, NBA basketball player Sasha Vujačić, after they had been dating for nearly a year.
At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year. She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either. It wasn't until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top 20 player for the first time and reaching her first ever semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova. The highlight of the remainder of her spring hardcourt season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, where she ultimately lost to Vera Zvonareva. with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams' dominance at Wimbledon. She entered the top ten in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win. However, on court, she was struggling to achieve results, winning just three of six matches in her preparations for the US Open. At the US Open itself, she reached the third round before being eliminated by Mary Pierce. In order to regain confidence, Sharapova played and won consecutive titles in Asia in the fall, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships and the Japan Open Tennis Championships.
In October, Sharapova defeated Venus Williams en route to making the final of a Tier I event for the first time at the Zurich Open, losing in the final to Alicia Molik. She then made her debut at the year-ending WTA Tour Championships. There, she won two of her three round-robin matches (including a win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova) in order to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Myskina. In the final, she defeated Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, after trailing 4–0 in the final set. In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Qatar Total Open, The following fortnight, she defeated former World No. 1 players Justine Henin and Venus Williams to reach the final at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open, where she lost to Kim Clijsters. Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament. also losing a rematch several weeks later at the Dubai Tennis Championships, having defeated former World No. 1 Martina Hingis and World No. 3 Lindsay Davenport in earlier rounds of the tournament. By reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the World No. 1 ranking. her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open where she lost in the same round. but was not considered a favorite. Nevertheless, she defeated former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, and then World No. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals, ending the latter's 32-match winning streak. She proceeded to the finals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović to win her third Grand Slam title, having not dropped a set all tournament.
After the Australian Open, Sharapova extended her winning streak to 18 matches. against Israel The following week, at the Family Circle Cup, she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams, her fourth consecutive loss to the American.
In May, Sharapova regained the World No. 1 ranking because of Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis and request to the WTA that her own ranking be removed immediately. As the top-seeded player at the French Open of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina in the first round, before eventually winning. As a result of losing to Dinara Safina in the fourth round, she was forced to relinquish her No. 1 ranking. Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to World No. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva.
Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury. A MRI scan then revealed that she had been suffering from a rotator cuff tear since April, forcing her out of all tournaments for the rest of the season, including the Beijing Olympics, the US Open and the WTA Tour Championships. In spite of that, she still managed to finish the year ranked World No. 9. In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.
Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open in May, being beaten by Alyona Bondarenko. The following week, in the first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková.
After a semifinal result at her only tune-up event in Birmingham, Sharapova was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by Gisela Dulko, the second consecutive year she had fallen at that hurdle.
Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic, the semifinals at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup to Elena Dementieva. Nevertheless, she was dealt her second straight early exit at a Grand Slam, losing to Melanie Oudin at the US Open, while committing 60 unforced errors and a personal record of 21 double faults.
The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo, after opponent Jelena Janković retired in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open, but failed to use it to her advantage, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round after rallying from two breaks down in the final set of her second round match against Victoria Azarenka. She ultimately finished the season at No. 14, having improved from No. 126 when she started her return.
At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open, and the Family Circle Cup.
Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg with her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. Her brief clay season culminated with a third round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin at the French Open. It was her seventh loss to the Belgian in ten career meetings.
Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon by making the final of the AEGON Classic for the fourth time since 2007, losing there to Li Na. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon, she made it to the fourth round before losing to world No. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams, despite having three set points in the opening set. The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more, and Sharapova herself stating she feels that she is "in a much better spot than I was last year."
Sharapova started her US Open Series campaign in Stanford. She won her opening two matches against World No. 23 Jie Zheng and World No. 43 Olga Govortsova in straight sets. In the quarterfinals she defeated World No. 6 Elena Dementieva in three sets and 2 hours and 47 minutes. She then beat World No. 11 Agnieszka Radwańska to advance to the final where she plays World No. 18 Victoria Azarenka where she was defeated in straight sets. Her next tournament will be the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open, starting August 9. This will be her debut appearance at this venue. She defeated her 1st round opponent Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2 hours and 12 minutes 6-4 1-6 6-2. In the second round, Sharapova overcame Andrea Petkovic in straight sets. Sharapova then defeated Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time this year where she advanced to the quarterfinals. She then reached the semifinals after she won her match against Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-4. Sharapova advanced into her fifth final of the year after beating compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in over 2 hours. She then lost to Kim Clijsters in three sets in the final after losing 3 championship points in the second set. Sharapova pulled out of the 2010 Rogers Cup in Montreal due to a heel injury suffered during the match with Clijsters.
At the 2010 U.S. Open, Maria defeated Australian Jarmila Groth 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. She faced Iveta Benešová in the second round and won 6-1, 6-2. She defeated American wildcard Beatrice Capra 6-0, 6-0 in the third round. This was Maria's second career double bagel. Her first double bagel was against Bethanie Mattek-Sands a few years ago. She faced top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16, and would go on to lose 3-6, 4-6. Maria had more winners than the number one seed, but commited some unforced errors that made her suffer her Us Open loss.
Her last two tournaments of the season would end in disappointment. She played in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she was upset in the first round by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm. Her last tournament of the year would be the China Open, she would beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the 1st round, but she would once again be upset, this time in the 2nd round, by fellow Russian Elena Vesnina. Days later she announced the end of her 2010 season. She would end the year at #18 in the world.
In her first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament, top-seeded Sharapova beat Alberta Brianti and Renata Voracova in tough straight-set matches at the ASB Classic in Auckland, before being upset by the unheralded Hungarian veteran Greta Arn, who went on to take the title.
After Sharapova had beaten fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina at the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, Myskina criticized Sharapova's father, saying: "He was just yelling and screaming instructions to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point in the match." At the Fed Cup semi-finals two weeks later Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined the Russian team the following season: "If she joins our team next season you won't see me there for sure. His behaviour is totally incorrect, simply rude. I don't want to be around people like him." Larisa Neiland, assistant to Russia Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev, added: "Her father's behaviour (at the WTA Tour Championships) was simply outrageous. I just don't see how he could work with the rest of us." However Tarpishchev himself played down the problem, insisting: "I feel that things will calm down soon and we'll have Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova and everyone else playing for Russia."
At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew. Sharapova later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007 and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries. The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September. However, Sharapova attended the final, cheering from the sidelines and acting as a "hitting partner" in practices, resulting in some of her Russian teammates implying that she was attending only to enable her to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (rules state that players must have "shown commitment" to Fed Cup in order to play). Svetlana Kuznetsova said, "She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?"
Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel. For the semifinals, she was given permission to skip the tie, with Tarpishchev announcing that she will be on the team for the final. However, the date of the final coincided with the lay-off from her shoulder injury, and thus she did not play.
Sharapova will lead the Russians against France in February, in their first-round tie. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. Despite her powerful game, Sharapova's greatest asset is considered to be her mental toughness and competitive spirit, with Nick Bollettieri stating that she is "tough as nails". At the 2010 French Open, Hall-of-famer Martina Navratilova said of Sharapova, "with her, it's not over until she's shaking hands." Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting", which reached a recorded 101 decibels during a match at Wimbledon in 2005. During her second round match in Birmingham in 2003, Sharapova was asked to tone down the level of her grunt after opponent Nathalie Dechy complained to the umpire, with Sharapova's response saying that her grunting was "a natural instinct." Monica Seles suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis. When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match."
At the 2004 US Open, Sharapova, along with several other Russian female tennis players, wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis, which took place only days before. In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis. though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury. She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010. With Haynes, Kirilenko, Vaidišová, Stubbs, Governor Bush and Capriati, Sharapova participated in an exhibition in Tampa in December 2004, raising money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
In July 2008, Sharapova sent a message on DVD to the memorial service of Emily Bailes, who had performed the coin toss ahead of the 2004 Wimbledon final that Sharapova had gone on to win.
Sharapova helped promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Sharapova has often implied that she desires an early retirement. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too." In an interview after the 2008 Australian Open, she balked at the idea of playing for another ten years, saying that she hoped to have a "nice husband and a few kids" by then.
Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian born professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić, who plays for the New Jersey Nets. The two have been dating since 2009.
In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."
Sharapova used the Prince Triple Threat Hornet for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the US Open. She gave the racquet she used in the 2004 Wimbledon final to Regis Philbin when taping Live with Regis and Kelly. Sharapova began using the Prince Shark OS at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet. She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. Because of Sharapova's various shoulder injuries, she switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008. Sharapova signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.
In June 2007, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US$26 million, the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. In a later interview, she said, "You know, one of the greatest things about being an athlete and, you know, making money is realizing that you can help, you know, help the world, and especially children, who I absolutely love working with."
In 2007 Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.
Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games, along with such players as Daniela Hantuchová, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles include the Top Spin series, Virtua Tennis series, and Grand Slam Tennis.
Upon hearing that Sports Illustrated had named her in 2006 as the world's best-paid female athlete, Sharapova said, apparently only a little tongue-in-cheek, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make."
In January 2010 it was announced that Sharapova had renewed her contract with Nike, signing an 8 year deal for $70 million. This is the most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman, dwarfing the previous record, which was Venus Williams' $43 million deal with Reebok.
In January, 2010, she signed an eight-year Nike contract, worth $70 million.
In August 2010, Maria Sharapova was once again named the world's highest-paid female athlete by Forbes magazine, earning $24.5 million.
;2003
Category:Female tennis players Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:People from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Category:People from Manatee County, Florida Category:Russian expatriates in the United States Category:Russian female models Category:Russian female tennis players Category:Russian Orthodox Christians Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:1987 births Category:Living people
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Caption | Antonio Banderas in 2010 |
|---|---|
| Birth date | August 10, 1960 |
| Birth place | Málaga, Andalusia, Spain |
| Birth name | |
| Spouse | Ana Leza (1987–1995)Melanie Griffith (1996–present) |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Occupation | Actor, director, singer |
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, , Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids and the Shrek sequels.
He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA.
In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the PSOE lists in the general election.
He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.
He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions, although in an interview with People magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic.
In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary Mexican masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, for which he was the first Spanish actor to portray the character.
In 2000, Ridley Scott offered Banderas a part as a peasant in his film Gladiator. Banderas accepted and received $50,000 for the role, which is currently the world record for the highest salary of an extra.
In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003 he starred in the last installment of the "Mexico" trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.
In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics.
His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third and the last film in the Shrek franchise; "Shrek Forever After" which made the character popular on the family film circuit. He is set to be the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off film: "" Which is said to be released on November 4, 2011. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title: Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October. He hosted the 600th episode of Saturday Night Live (during season 31). He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd in 2005.
Category:1960 births Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Spanish people Category:Andalusian people Category:Living people Category:People from Málaga (city) Category:Spanish agnostics Category:Spanish film actors Category:Spanish musical theatre actors Category:People from Los Angeles, California
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
