name	Kate Hudson
birth name	Kate Garry Hudson
birth date	April 19, 1979
birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	1996–present
spouse	Chris Robinson (2000-2007)
partner	Matthew Bellamy (2010-present)
children	2
parents	Bill Hudson, Goldie Hawn
relatives	Oliver Hudson (brother) }}

Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in ''Almost Famous''. She then starred in the hit film ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003) which gained her wider fame. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several productions including ''Raising Helen'' (2004), ''The Skeleton Key'' (2005), ''You, Me and Dupree'' (2006), ''Fool's Gold'' (2008) and ''Bride Wars'' (2009).

Early life

Hudson was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, an actor, comedian, and musician. Her parents divorced eighteen months after her birth; she and her brother, actor Oliver Hudson, were raised in Colorado by her mother and her mother's long-time boyfriend, actor Kurt Russell.

Hudson has stated that her biological father "doesn't know me from a hole in the wall", and that she considers Russell to be her father. Her biological father has indicated that he has made several efforts to connect with Kate and Oliver, but neither has reciprocated. Hudson has described her mother as "the woman that I've learned the most from, and who I look up to, who has conducted her life in a way that I can look up to". She has four half-siblings: Emily and Zachary Hudson, from her biological father's subsequent marriage to actress Cindy Williams; Lalania Hudson, from his relationship with another woman; and Wyatt, from her mother's relationship with Russell.

Hudson is of Italian (from her paternal grandmother), English, and Hungarian Jewish descent. She was raised in her maternal grandmother's Jewish religion; She graduated from Crossroads, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica, in 1997. She was accepted to New York University but chose to pursue an acting career instead of an undergraduate degree.

Career

Hudson's breakthrough was as Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's ''Almost Famous'' (2000), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. She had previously appeared in the lesser-known films ''Gossip'', a teenage drama, and ''200 Cigarettes'', a New Year's-set comedy with a large cast of actors. Regarding her early career and success, Hudson has noted that she is a "hard worker", and did not want to be associated with her well-known parents, wishing to avoid the perception that she "rode on somebody's coattails".

In 2002, she starred in the remake of the historical romance ''The Four Feathers'', a film which was not well-received by critics or audiences. Her next film, the romantic comedy ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'', was a box office success, grossing over $100 million after its February 2003 release. Hudson subsequently appeared in several romantic comedies, including ''Alex and Emma'' and ''Raising Helen''; the films met with varying degrees of success.

Hudson headlined a thriller called ''The Skeleton Key'' in 2005. The film, which had a production budget of $43 million, enjoyed box office success, grossing over $91.9 million worldwide ($47.9 million in North America). Her later film, a comedy titled ''You, Me and Dupree'' and co-starring Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon, grossed $21.5 million on its opening weekend of July 14, 2006.

In 2007, Hudson directed the short film ''Cutlass'', one of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays. ''Cutlass'' co-stars Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and Kristen Stewart.

In 2008, she appeared in ''Fool's Gold'', a romantic comedy released on February 8, and her second film to co-star Matthew McConaughey. She had been certified in scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef for the movie's underwater scenes. Also the same year, she appeared in another romantic comedy, ''My Best Friend's Girl'', which was released in September.

Hudson next appeared in the musical film ''Nine'', alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench. The film, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in December 2009. Hudson was critically acclaimed for her unknown dancing skills, showcased in a stylish 60's inspired original piece called "Cinema Italiano", which was written specifically for the film and for Hudson's character.

She starred in the film adaptation of Jim Thompson's ''The Killer Inside Me''. The film premiered on January 24, 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival.

Personal life

Hudson married Chris Robinson, the frontman for The Black Crowes, on December 31, 2000 in Aspen, Colorado. The couple lived in a house that was once owned by director James Whale and traveled together during Hudson's film shoots or Robinson's music tours. Hudson gave birth to son Ryder Russell Robinson in January 2004. On August 14, 2006, Hudson's publicist announced that Hudson and Robinson had separated. On November 18, 2006, Robinson filed divorce papers, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on October 22, 2007. In May 2009, Hudson began dating New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. She was seen many times during the 2009 World Series in the crowd. The two had split by December 14, 2009.

In spring 2010, Hudson began dating Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy. In January 2011, it was announced Hudson and Bellamy were expecting a child. In February 2011, Hudson bought a house in London, England. A ''Daily Mail'' source reported that she plans to live in London with her partner six months a year. On April 27, 2011 on ''The Today Show'' she said that she and Matthew Bellamy got engaged the prior week. Their son Bingham Hawn Bellamy was born in July 2011.

Hudson has also said that she does not enjoy seeing herself on screen, specifying that she "gets cold... shakes and... sweats" when watching her performances for the first time.

In July 2006, Hudson sued the British version of the ''National Enquirer'' after it reported she had an eating disorder, describing her as "painfully thin". Hudson said the tabloid's statements were "a blatant lie" and she was concerned about the impact the false report could have on impressionable young women. The newspaper apologized and compensated her.

Filmography

''EZ Streets'' ''Desert Blue'' ''200 Cigarettes'' ''Dr. T & the Women'' Penny Lane ''The Cutting Room'' ''The Four Feathers (2002 film) ''Le Divorce'' ''Raising Helen'' ''The Skeleton Key'' ''You, Me and Dupree'' ''Fool's Gold (2008 film) ''Bride Wars'' ''The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)

Year			! Role	! Notes
1996	''Party of Five''	Cory
1997	|	Larraine Cahill	episode: "Neither Have I Wings to Fly"
rowspan="2">1998	|	Skye Davidson
''Ricochet River''	Lorna
1999	|	Cindy
rowspan="4"	2000	|	Dee Dee Travis
''Almost Famous''	| Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female – Newcomer<	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Breakthrough ArtistGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion PictureOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated–American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion PictureNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising ActressNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best DressedNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceNominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough PerformanceNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
''Gossip (2000 American film)	Gossip''	Naomi Preston
''About Adam''	Lucy Owens
2001	|	Chrissy Campbell	Uncredited
2002	The Four Feathers'' ||	Ethne
rowspan="3">2003	|	Isabel Walker
''Alex & Emma''	Emma Dinsmore
''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days''
2004	|	Helen Harris
2005	|	Caroline Ellis
2006	|	Molly Peterson
rowspan="2"	2008	Fool's Gold''||	Tess Finnegan
''My Best Friend's Girl (2008 film)	My Best Friend's Girl''	Alexis
rowspan="2"	2009	|	Olivia "Liv" Lerner	Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
''Nine (film)	Nine''
2010	The Killer Inside Me'' ||	Amy Stanton
rowspan="2"	2011	''A Little Bit of Heaven'' ||	Marley Corbett
''Something_Borrowed_(film)	Something Borrowed''	Darcy

References

External links

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Jewish actors Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Children of Entertainers

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name	Jimmy Kimmel
birth name	James Christian Kimmel
birth date	November 13, 1967
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
medium	Radio, Television, Film
nationality	American
active	1989–present
genre	Observational comedy, Current events, Insult comedy
subject	American culture, Everyday life, Celebrities
influences	David Letterman, Howard Stern
spouse	Gina Kimmel (1988–2003) (divorced) 2 children
domesticpartner	Sarah Silverman (2002–2007; 2008–2009) Molly McNearney (2009–present)
notable work	Creator and Host of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' (ABC) Creator and Co-Host of ''The Man Show''co-host of ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' (Comedy Central)co-host of ''Crank Yankers''

}}

James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's ''The Man Show'' and ''Win Ben Stein's Money''. Kimmel is also a television producer, having produced shows such as ''Crank Yankers'', ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'', and ''The Andy Milonakis Show''.

Early life

Kimmel was born in the Mill Basin neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the eldest of three children of Joann (née Iacono), a homemaker, and James Kimmel, an IBM executive. He is Roman Catholic and, as a child, served as an altar boy. Kimmel is of German and Irish descent on his father’s side and Italian descent on his mother’s side. His real life uncle, Frank Potenza, would later appear on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' as a regular from 2003 until his death in 2011.

The family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was nine years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and then attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year before attending Arizona State University for two years without completing a degree.

Career

Radio career

Kimmel began working in the radio industry while in high school, hosting a Sunday night interview show on UNLV's college station KUNV. While attending Arizona State University, he became a popular caller to the KZZP-FM afternoon show hosted by radio personalities Mike Elliott and Kent Voss in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1989, Kimmel landed his first paying job alongside Voss as morning drive co-host of ''The Me and Him Show'' at KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington. Ten months later, Kimmel and Voss were fired by KZOK (for reasons unknown) and were fired again a year later at WRBQ-FM in Tampa, Florida. Kimmel went from Tampa to host his own show at KCMJ in Palm Springs, California, where Kimmel convinced a young Carson Daly to drop out of college and become his intern. After a morning stint at KRQQ In Tucson, Arizona, Kimmel landed at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, California. He spent five years as "Jimmy The Sports Guy" for the Kevin and Bean morning show. During this time he met and befriended a struggling comedian named Adam Carolla.

Comedy Central

Kimmel began his television career as the comedic counterpart to Ben Stein on the game show ''Win Ben Stein's Money'', which began airing on Comedy Central in 1997. His quick wit and loutish everyman personality were counterpoints to Stein's monotone performing style and patrician demeanor. The combination earned the pair an Emmy award for Best Game Show Host.

In 1999, during his time with ''Win Ben Stein's Money'', Kimmel was also co-host with Adam Carolla and co-creator (with Daniel Kellison) of Comedy Central's ''The Man Show''. Kimmel permanently left ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' in 2001, replaced by comedian Nancy Pimental, who was eventually replaced by Kimmel's cousin Sal Iacono. ''The Man Show'''s success allowed Kimmel, Carolla and Kellison to create and produce, under the banner Jackhole Industries, ''Crank Yankers'' for Comedy Central (on which Kimmel plays the characters "Elmer Higgins", "Terrence Catheter", "The Nudge", "Karl Malone" and himself), and later ''The Andy Milonakis Show'' for MTV2. Kimmel also produced and co-wrote the feature film ''Windy City Heat'', which won the Comedia Award for Best Film at the Montreal Comedy Festival.

''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''

In January 2003, Kimmel permanently left ''The Man Show'' to host his own late-night talk show, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on ABC. ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' was briefly also broadcast on Irish digital TV channel 3e. In the April 2007 issue of Stuffmagazine.com, Kimmel was named the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor but clearly a mistake.

Since the show's second season, it has not actually been broadcast live. This is due to an incident during the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, when Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for his show. He suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Officials with Detroit's ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV, immediately announced that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized. The incident led ABC officials to force Kimmel to tape his show an hour before it airs in most of the country to check for offending content.

Kimmel usually ends his show with, "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time." When Matt Damon did actually appear on the show to be interviewed, he walked in and sat down only to be told just a few seconds later by Kimmel, "Sorry, but once again we are completely out of time." Damon seemed to become angry.

In February 2008 Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called, "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck", as "revenge" after his then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon recorded a similar video, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman's video originally aired on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', and became an "instant YouTube sensation." Kimmel's "revenge" video featured himself, Ben Affleck, and a large lineup of stars, particularly in scenes spoofing the 1985 "We Are the World" video: Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, Dominic Monaghan, Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, Lance Bass, Macy Gray, Josh Groban, Huey Lewis, Perry Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Pete Wentz, Meat Loaf, Rebecca Romijn, Christina Applegate, Dom Joly, Mike Shinoda, Lauren Conrad and Joan Jett, among others. After this Jimmy's sidekick, Guillermo, appeared in a spoof of The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. He was then chased down by Damon as Matt cursed about Kimmel being behind all this. Guillermo also stopped Damon on the red carpet one time and before he could finish the interview he said, "Sorry we are out of time." The most recent encounter was titled "The Handsome Men's Club" which featured Kimmel, along with other "Handsome Men" including Matthew McConaughey, Rob Lowe, Lenny Kravitz, and many more, speaking about being handsome and all the jobs that come with it. At the end of the skit Kimmel has a door slammed in his face by none other than Matt Damon, stating that they had run out of time and then Damon continues with a sinister laugh.

As a tradition, celebrities voted off ''Dancing with the Stars'' appear on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', causing Kimmel to describe himself as "the three-headed dog the stars must pass on their way to No-Dancing Hell". In the 2008 season of his show, Kimmel started another tradition of ceremonially burning the dancers' shoes after they were voted off ''DWTS''.

Other television work

In Spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the Fox network.

Kimmel's other television work included being the on-air football prognosticator for ''Fox NFL Sunday'' for four years. He has had numerous appearances on other talk shows including, but not limited to, ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. Kimmel has appeared on ''The Late Show'' five times, most recently on April 21, 2008. Kimmel served as roastmaster for the New York Friars' Club Roast of Hugh Hefner and Comedy Central Roasts of ''Pamela Anderson''. He has appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, along with his parking lot security guard Guillermo.

In August 2006, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel would be the host of their new game show ''Set for Life''. The show debuted on July 20, 2007. On April 6, 2007, Kimmel filled in for Larry King on ''Larry King Live''. That particular show was about the paparazzi and Kimmel reproached Emily Gould, an editor from Gawker.com, about the web site's alleged stalking of celebrities. On July 8, 2007, Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game in San Francisco. He played in the game in 2004 and 2006 (Houston and Pittsburgh). On July 11, 2007, Kimmel along with basketball player LeBron James, hosted the 2007 ''ESPY Awards''. The show aired on ESPN on July 15, 2007. Kimmel hosted the American Music Awards on ABC four times, in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Kimmel guest hosted ''Live with Regis and Kelly'' during the week of October 22, 2007 – October 26, 2007, commuting every day between New York and Los Angeles. In the process, he broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest distance () travelled in one work week.

Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs. His voice appeared in ''Garfield'' and ''Road Trip'', and he portrayed Death's Dog in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Mr. Saturday Knight"; ''Family Guy'' creator Seth McFarlane later presented Kimmel with a figurine of his character on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. Kimmel also did voice work for ''Robot Chicken''. Kimmel's cousin "Sal" (Sal Iacono) has accepted and won a wrestling match with WWE superstar Santino Marella. On January 14, 2010, in the midst of the 2010 Tonight Show host and time slot conflict, Kimmel was the special guest of Jay Leno on ''The Jay Leno Show'''s "10 at 10" segment. Kimmel derided Leno in front of a live studio audience for taking back the 11:35 pm time slot from Conan O'Brien, and repeatedly insulted Leno. He ended the segment with a plea that Leno "leave our shows alone," as Kimmel and O'Brien had "kids" while Leno only had "cars".

Kimmel also made a brief appearance in the TV commercial "There's A Soldier In All Of Us" promoting the 2010 video game ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'', along with Kobe Byrant. He is seen taking cover from bullets, then firing an RPG-7 with the words ''PROUD N00b'' on it, with the aftershock from the weapon sending him tumbling backwards.

Personal life

Kimmel and his then fiancée, Gina, married in June 1988. They have two children, Katie (born 1991) and Kevin (born 1993). Katie Kimmel is an art student in Chicago. The marriage ended in separation in early 2002. Kimmel then dated comedian Sarah Silverman for five years, splitting with her in March 2009. He started dating current girlfriend, Molly McNearney, in October 2009. McNearney is also a co-head writer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live''.

Kimmel plays the bass clarinet. He got a chance to showcase his talent during a July 20, 2008, concert in Costa Mesa, California, featuring the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, when he took the stage and played bass clarinet on their hit song "The Impression That I Get."

Kimmel has spoken publicly of being a narcoleptic.

Kimmel co-founded the annual LA Feast of San Gennaro, which celebrates Italian culture through entertainment, music and cuisine. The festival also honors outstanding members of the Los Angeles community and raises funds to aid needy children and families in the city. He hosted Los Angeles' eighth annual feast of San Gennaro from September 28 to 30, 2009. Kimmel served as Master of Ceremonies for the National Italian American Foundation's 34th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C., on October 24, 2009. He resides across the street from actor John Krasinski (well known for his role as Jim Halpert on the show ''The Office'') and his wife, actress Emily Blunt.

Awards

References

External links

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live website

JimmyKimmel.Net

Jimmy Kimmel appears on Michael Eisner's talkshow on CNBC

Jimmy Kimmel interview

Appearance on HGTV's ''Designer's Challenge''

Jimmy is Maxim's #2 Dudeliest Dude 2007

Category:1967 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American radio personalities Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Radio personalities from the Las Vegas metropolitan area Category:University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni

ar:جيمي كاميل de:Jimmy Kimmel fr:Jimmy Kimmel id:Jimmy Kimmel it:Jimmy Kimmel he:ג'ימי קימל no:Jimmy Kimmel pl:Jimmy Kimmel pt:Jimmy Kimmel ru:Киммел, Джимми fi:Jimmy Kimmel th:จิมมี คิมเมล

name	Ginnifer Goodwin
birth name	Jennifer Michelle Goodwin
birth date	May 22, 1978
birth place	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	2001–present }}

Ginnifer Goodwin (born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin; May 22, 1978) is an American television and film actress, best known for her role as Margene Heffman on the HBO series ''Big Love'' and starring in the movies ''Mona Lisa Smile'' and ''He's Just Not That into You''.

Early life

Goodwin was born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother, Linda (Kantor) Goodwin-Parkinson, is a former educator who now works for FedEx, and her father, Tim Goodwin, formerly owned and operated a recording studio. She changed her name from "Jennifer" to "Ginnifer" to distinguish her name, and to assist in pronunciation of her name in her regional dialect. Her younger sister, Melissa Goodwin, is a stop motion animator on shows such as the Emmy Award-winning ''Robot Chicken'', on which Ginnifer has also appeared as voice talent.

Goodwin was affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth and was active in BBYO at the Jewish Community Center in Memphis growing up; she had a bat mitzvah. After graduating from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996, Goodwin attended Hanover College (majoring in Theatre) for one year before moving on to Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, with honors, in 2001.

Goodwin is 5 feet and 6 inches tall.

Career

Goodwin first had roles in the popular NBC television programs ''Law & Order'' and ''Ed'' before appearing in the Comedy Central television movie ''Porn 'n Chicken''. She later had substantial roles in the films ''Mona Lisa Smile'', ''Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!'', ''Walk the Line''—in which she portrayed Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife—and ''Birds of America''. She also played Dori Dumchovic in the dark comedy ''Love Comes to the Executioner''. Goodwin played a leading role as Margene Heffman, the third wife in a polygamous family, on the HBO original series ''Big Love'', which concluded on March 20, 2011.

Goodwin starred as Gigi in ''He's Just Not That into You'', which was released in February 2009. For this role, she received a nomination for the People's Choice Award for Breakout Movie Actress. In April 2009, she began filming ''Ramona and Beezus'' (playing Ramona Quimby's Aunt Bea), co-starring with John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, and Selena Gomez.

In 2008, MaxMara honored Goodwin with a "Face of the Future" award, an award recognizing up and coming women in film. Also, Goodwin was one of the celebrities featured in Gap's Fall 2008 ad campaign.

In 2011, Goodwin will play Sister Mary Margeret Blanchard, a teacher who in reality is actually Snow White in the upcoming American fantasy adventure ''Once Upon a Time'', which is scheduled to debut on ABC.

Personal life

She began dating actor Joey Kern in April 2009. The couple announced their engagement December 24, 2010. They announced their breakup on May 20, 2011.

Goodwin was a vegan and was a spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project in 2009, having adopted a whole flock herself. She disclosed on Jimmy Kimmel that she gave up being a vegan after experiencing undisclosed health issues.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	''Law & Order''	Erica
2001–2004		Diane Snyder	25 episodes
2002		Maya	TV movie
2003	''Mona Lisa Smile''	Connie Baker
2004	''Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!''	Cathy Feely
2005	''Walk the Line''	Vivian Cash
2005–present	''Robot Chicken''	Various Voices
2006	''Love Comes to the Executioner''	Dori Dumchovic
2006–2011	''Big Love''	Margene Heffman	53+ episodes
2007	''In the Land of Women''	Janey
2007	''Day Zero''	Molly Rifkin
2008		Ida
2009		Gigi Phillips
2009	''''	Mrs. Strunk
2010	''Ramona and Beezus''	Aunt Bea
2011		Rachel White
2011
2011	''SpongeBob SquarePants''	Teenage Mermaid	Episode: Welcome To The Bikini Bottom Triangle

References

External links

Category:1978 births Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American television actors Category:Boston University alumni Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Hanover College alumni

ar:جينيفر غودين cs:Ginnifer Goodwin da:Ginnifer Goodwin de:Ginnifer Goodwin es:Ginnifer Goodwin fa:جنیفر گودوین fr:Ginnifer Goodwin ko:지니퍼 굿윈 id:Ginnifer Goodwin it:Ginnifer Goodwin he:ג'יניפר גודווין nl:Ginnifer Goodwin ja:ジニファー・グッドウィン nds:Ginnifer Goodwin pl:Ginnifer Goodwin pt:Ginnifer Goodwin ru:Гудвин, Джиннифер fi:Ginnifer Goodwin sv:Ginnifer Goodwin tr:Ginnifer Goodwin vi:Ginnifer Goodwin

name	Tom Cruise
birth name
birth date	July 03, 1962
birth place	Syracuse, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor, producer, writer, director
years active	1981–present
spouse	Mimi Rogers (1987–1990)Nicole Kidman (1990–2001)Katie Holmes (2006–present)
children	Isabella, Connor Cruise and Suri Cruise
website	TomCruise.com }}

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (; born July 3, 1962), better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards.

Cruise first debuted in a major film in Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Outsiders,'' released in March 1983. His first leading role was in the film ''Risky Business'', which was released in August 1983. After playing the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and financially successful 1986 film ''Top Gun'', Cruise continued in this vein, playing a secret agent in a series of ''Mission: Impossible'' action films in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to these heroic roles, he has starred in a variety of other successful films such as ''Rain Man'' (1988), ''Days of Thunder'' (1990), ''A Few Good Men'' (1992), ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996), ''Magnolia'' (1999), ''Vanilla Sky'' (2001), ''Minority Report'' (2002), ''The Last Samurai'' (2003), ''Collateral'' (2004) and ''War of the Worlds'' (2005).

Since 2005, Cruise and Paula Wagner have been in charge of the United Artists film studio, with Cruise as producer and star and Wagner as the chief executive. Cruise is also known for his support of and adherence to the Church of Scientology.

Early life

Cruise was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III (died 1984), an electrical engineer. Cruise's surname originates from his great-grandfather, Thomas Cruise O'Mara, who was adopted by a Welsh immigrant and renamed "Thomas Cruise Mapother". Cruise is of German, Irish, and English ancestry. Cruise grew up in near poverty in a Catholic family dominated by an abusive father he described as "a merchant of chaos". He was beaten by his father, who Cruise described as a bully and coward.

Cruise attended Robert Hopkins Public School for grades three, four, and five. The Mapother family then moved to the suburb of Beacon Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, so Cruise's father could take a position as a defence consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces. There, Cruise completed grade six at Henry Munro Middle School, part of the Carleton Board of Education, where he was active in athletics, playing floor hockey almost every night, showing himself to be a ruthless player, and eventually chipping his front tooth. In the game British bulldogs, he then lost his newly capped tooth and hurt his knee. Henry Munro was also where Cruise became involved in drama, under the tutelage of George Steinburg. The first play he participated in was called ''IT'', in which Cruise won the co-lead with Michael de Waal, one playing "Evil", the other playing "Good". The play met much acclaim, and toured with five other classmates to various schools around the Ottawa area, even being filmed at the local Ottawa TV station. Cruise was bullied regularly in the 15 different schools he attended in 12 years. When Cruise was twelve, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sister Lee Anne with her.

He briefly attended a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati (on a church scholarship) and aspired to become a Catholic priest. In his senior year, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker, but he was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game.

Career

Acting

1980s

Cruise first appeared in supporting roles the 1981 films ''Endless Love'' and ''Taps'', the latter in which he played a crazed military school student. His first starring role was in the 1983 comedy ''Losin' It''. That same year he appeared in ''All the Right Moves'' and ''Risky Business'', which has been described as "A Generation-X classic, and a career-maker for Tom Cruise", and which along with 1986's ''Top Gun'', cemented his status as a star.

Cruise followed up ''Top Gun'' with ''The Color of Money'', which came out the same year, and which paired him with Academy Award-winner Paul Newman. 1988 saw him star in ''Cocktail'', which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman in ''Rain Man'', which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise finished the decade by portraying real-life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in 1989's ''Born on the Fourth of July'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Cruise's first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.

1990s

In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's ''Interview with the Vampire'', a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in ''Daily Variety'' praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about him.

In 1995, Cruise appeared as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of ''Mission: Impossible,'' which he produced. In 1996, he took on the title role in ''Jerry Maguire'', for which he earned a Golden Globe and his second nomination for an Academy Award. In 1999, Cruise costarred with wife Nicole Kidman in the erotic Stanley Kubrick film ''Eyes Wide Shut'', and played motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey in the ensemble film ''Magnolia'', for which he received another Golden Globe and nomination for an Academy Award.

2000s

In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the ''Mission Impossible'' films, releasing ''Mission: Impossible II''. The film was directed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his gun fu style, and it continued the series' blockbuster success at the box office, taking in almost $547M in worldwide figures, like its predecessor, being the third highest grossing film of the year. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award as Best Male Performance for this film. His next five films were major critical and commercial successes. The following year Cruise starred in the romantic thriller ''Vanilla Sky'' (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction thriller, ''Minority Report'' which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick.

In 2003, he starred in the Edward Zwick's historical drama ''The Last Samurai'', for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as best actor. In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in ''War of the Worlds'', which became the fourth highest grossing film of the year with US$591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star, and the MTV Generation Award. Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once. Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office. In 2006, he reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in the third installment of the ''Mission Impossible'' film series, ''Mission: Impossible III''. The film was more positively received by critics than its predecessor, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. Cruise's 2007 film ''Lions for Lambs'' was a rare commercial disappointment. In 2008, Cruise appeared in the hit comedy ''Tropic Thunder'' with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. This performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise's role in the historical thriller ''Valkyrie'' released on December 25, 2008 to box office success. As of 2009, Cruise's films have grossed over $6.5 billion worldwide.

2010s

In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy ''Knight and Day'', in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010. On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he will star in ''Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' the fourth ''Mission:Impossible'' film, slated for release in December 2011.

On May 6, 2011, Cruise was awarded a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist.

Producing

Cruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993, and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise's films, the first being ''Mission: Impossible'' in 1996 which was also Cruise's first project as a producer.

Cruise is noted as having negotiated some of the most lucrative film deals in Hollywood, and was described in 2005 by Hollywood economist Edward Jay Epstein as "one of the most powerful – and richest – forces in Hollywood". Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar film franchise. Epstein also contends that the public obsession with Cruise's tabloid controversies obscures full appreciation of Cruise's exceptional commercial prowess.

Cruise/Wagner Productions, Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's ''New York Times'' bestseller, ''The Devil in the White City'' about a real life serial killer, H. H. Holmes, at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition. Kathryn Bigelow is attached to the project to produce and helm. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.

Breakup with Paramount

On August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. In the ''Wall Street Journal'', chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behavior and views. Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount's announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had successfully sought alternative financing from private equity firms. Industry analysts such as Edward Jay Epstein commented that the real reason for the split was most likely Paramount's discontent over Cruise/Wagner's exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the ''Mission: Impossible'' franchise.

Management of United Artists

In November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over United Artists film studio. Cruise acts as a producer and star in films for United Artists, while Wagner serves as UA's chief executive. Production began in 2007 of ''Valkyrie'', a thriller based on the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. The film was acquired in March 2007 by United Artists. On March 21, 2007 Cruise signed on to play Claus von Stauffenberg, the protagonist. This project marks the second production to be greenlighted since Cruise and Wagner took control of United Artists. The first was its inaugural film, ''Lions for Lambs'', directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise. ''Lambs'' was released on November 9, 2007, opening to unimpressive box office revenue and critical reception. In August 2008, Wagner stepped down from her position at United Artists; she retains her stake in UA, which combined with Cruise's share amounts to 30 percent of the studio.

Relationships and personal life

Cruise had a relationship with his ''Risky Business'' co-star Rebecca De Mornay; they cohabited in New York from 1983–85.

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987; they divorced on February 4, 1990. Rogers is generally believed to have introduced Cruise to Scientology. He met his second wife, Nicole Kidman, on the set of their film ''Days of Thunder''. The couple married on December 24, 1990. He and Kidman adopted two children, Isabella Jane (born December 1992) and Connor Antony (born January 1995). They separated in February 2001 when Kidman was three months pregnant; she later miscarried.

Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, his co-star in ''Vanilla Sky''. That relationship ended in 2004. In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes. On April 27 that year, Cruise and Holmes, dubbed "TomKat" by the media, made their first public appearance together in Rome. A month later, Cruise declared his love for Holmes on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' famously jumping up and down on Winfrey's couch during the show. On October 6, 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child, and their daughter, Suri, was born in April 2006. On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy, in a Scientology ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars. The actors' publicist said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony. David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man.

Popularity

In 1990, 1991 and 1997, ''People'' magazine rated him among the 50 most beautiful people in the world. In 1995, ''Empire'' magazine ranked him among the 100 sexiest stars in film history. Two years later, it ranked him among the top 5 film stars of all time. In 2002 and 2003, he was rated by ''Premiere'' among the top 20 in its annual Power 100 list.

In 2006, ''Premiere'' ranked Cruise as Hollywood's most powerful actor, as Cruise came in at number 13 on the magazine's 2006 Power List, being the highest ranked actor. The same year, ''Forbes'' magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity.

In August 2006, "a USA Today/Gallup poll in which half of those surveyed registered an 'unfavorable' opinion of the actor" was cited as a reason in addition to "unacceptable behavior" for Paramount's non-renewal of their production contract with Cruise. In addition, Marketing Evaluations reports that Cruise's Q score (which is a measure of the popularity of celebrities), had fallen 40 percent. It was also revealed that Cruise is the celebrity people would least like as their best friend. October 10, 2006 was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan; the Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because he has made more trips to Japan than any other Hollywood star.

Controversy

Litigation

During Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman, the couple endured public speculation about their sex life and rumors that Cruise was gay. In 1998, he successfully sued the ''Daily Express'', a British tabloid which alleged that his marriage to Kidman was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality. In May 2001 he filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater. Slater had allegedly told the celebrity magazine ''Actustar'' that he had had an affair with Cruise. Both Slater and Cruise denied this, and in August 2001, Slater was ordered to pay $10 million to Cruise in damages after Slater declared he could not afford to defend himself against the suit and would therefore default. Cruise also sued Michael Davis, publisher of ''Bold Magazine'', who alleged but never confirmed that he had video that would prove Cruise was gay. The suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that the video was not of Cruise, and that Cruise was heterosexual.

After ''The Beast''s publication of their 50 Most Loathsome People of 2004, which included Cruise, Cruise's lawyer Bertram Fields threatened to sue. Seeing the opportunity for nationwide exposure, ''The Beast'' actively encouraged the lawsuit. No lawsuit was ever filed and Cruise was included more prominently in the 2005 list. In 2006, Cruise sued cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to obtain control of the TomCruise.com domain name. When owned by Burgar, the domain redirected to information about Cruise on Celebrity1000.com. The decision to turn TomCruise.com over to Cruise was handed down by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on July 5, 2006.

''Oprah Winfrey Show'' incident

Cruise has made several expressions of his feelings for Holmes to the media, most notably the "couch incident" which took place on the popular ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' of May 23, 2005. Cruise "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend". The phrase "jumping the couch", fashioned after "jumping the shark", is used to describe someone "going off the deep end" in public in a manner extreme enough to tarnish his or her reputation. It enjoyed a short-lived popularity, being chosen by the editors of the ''Historical Dictionary of American Slang'' as the "slang term of the year" in 2005 and by the nonprofit group Global Language Monitor as one of its top phrases for the year.

The "couch incident" was voted No.1 of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E! and No.5 at BoxOfficeProphets.com. and was the subject of numerous parodies, including the epilogue of ''Scary Movie 4'', an episode of ''South Park'', a short on ''Sesame Street'', and an episode of ''Family Guy''. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Lesson learned: Tell, don't show".

In early May 2008, Cruise reappeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to celebrate 25 years in the film business. The feature was a two hour special, the first hour was Oprah spending the day with Cruise at his house in Telluride, Colorado on May 2.

Scientology

Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology; according to Andrew Morton's ''Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography'' (2008), Cruise is the church's "second in command in all but name". He became involved with Scientology in 1990 through his first wife, Mimi Rogers. He has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia. In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be recognized as a religion in Europe. He lobbied politicians in France and Germany, where the legal systems regard Scientology as a cult and business, respectively. In 2005, the Paris city council revealed that Cruise had lobbied officials Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Claude Gaudin, described him as a spokesman and militant for Scientology, and barred any further dealings with him. Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City 9/11 rescue workers detoxification therapy based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. This drew criticism from the medical profession, as well as firefighters. For these activities and others, David Miscavige awarded Cruise Scientology's Freedom Medal of Valor in late 2004.

A controversy erupted in 2005 after he openly criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the drug Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant to which Shields attributes her recovery from postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter in 2003. Cruise asserted that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance, and that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience. Shields replied that she would not take advice from anyone who believed in space aliens. This led to a heated argument with Matt Lauer on NBC's ''Today'' on June 24, 2005. Medical authorities view Cruise's comments as furthering the social stigma of mental illness. Shields herself called Cruise's comments "a disservice to mothers everywhere". In late August 2006, Cruise apologized in person to Shields for his comments. Scientology is well known for its opposition to mainstream psychiatry.

On January 15, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on You Tube, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him. The Church of Scientology said the video had been "pirated and edited", and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology. YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation.

Cruise's more open attitude to Scientology has been attributed to the March 2004 departure of his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley. He replaced her with his sister, fellow Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, who served in that role until November 2005. DeVette was replaced with Paul Bloch from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan. Such restructuring is seen as a move to curtail publicity of his views on Scientology, as well as the hard-sell of his relationship with Katie Holmes backfiring with the public.

Filmography

See also

Tom Cruise (disambiguation)

Brat Pack (actors)

List of people from Louisville, Kentucky

List of Scientologists

Supercouple

''Tom Cruise: Unauthorized'' (1998)

''Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage'' (2006)

References

External links

Transcript of the Matt Lauer interview

''Rolling Stone'' Interview: "The Passion of the Cruise"; 08/11/04

Tom Cruise at Rotten Tomatoes

Category:1962 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from New York Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American expatriates in Canada Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American Scientologists Category:Best Actor Empire Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Converts from Roman Catholicism Category:Living people Category:People from Ottawa Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:Saturn Award winners

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name	Graham Norton
birth name	Graham William Walker
birth date	April 04, 1963
birth place	Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland
medium	Television, radio, stand-up
nationality	Irish
active	1992–present
genre	Observational comedy
subject	Everyday life, pop culture, current events, celebrities, sex
awards
notable work	''So Graham Norton''''V Graham Norton''''The Graham Norton Effect''''Graham Norton's Bigger Picture''''The Graham Norton Show'' }}

Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton, (born 4 April 1963) is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist. He is the host of comedy chat programme ''The Graham Norton Show'' on BBC One in the UK. ''Hot Press'' has described him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan", with both men sharing an Irish background and the common link of being a BBC Radio 2 presenter and the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Early life and career

Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in County Cork.

In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.

His first appearances in broadcasting were in his spot as a regular comedian and panellist on the BBC Radio 4 show ''Loose Ends'', when the show ran on Saturday mornings, in the early 1990s. His rise to fame began as one of the early successes of Channel 5, when he won an award for his performance as the stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty. This was followed by a comic quiz show on Channel 5 called ''Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment'', which was not well received as a programme, but did further enhance Norton's individual reputation as a comic and TV host. In 1996, Norton co-hosted the late-night quiz show ''Carnal Knowledge'' on ITV with Maria McErlane.

In 1996, Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes ("Hell", "Flight Into Terror", "The Mainland") of the Channel 4 series ''Father Ted''. Father Noel Furlong was often seen taking charge of a small youth folk-group.

Channel 4

After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own chat shows including ''So Graham Norton'' and ''V Graham Norton''. As a performer who is not only openly gay, but also camp and flamboyant, it was here that Norton's act was fully honed as a cheeky, innuendo-laden joker.

In 2003, he was the subject of controversy when, on his show on Channel 4, he made a comedic reference to the recent death of Bee Gees singer Maurice Gibb. The Independent Television Commission investigated after complaints about this insensitivity were forwarded to it and eventually Channel 4 had to make two apologies: one in the form of a caption slide before the show, another from Norton in person.

Also in 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy (though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK).

In the summer of 2004, Norton moved across the Atlantic to start a new venture in American television. ''The Graham Norton Effect'' debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. In the midst of controversy surrounding Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance, Norton was wary of moving into the market.

BBC

In 2005, Norton moved to the BBC and began hosting the Saturday evening reality TV series ''Strictly Dance Fever'' on BBC One, as well as a new comedy chat show, ''Graham Norton's Bigger Picture''. He also read stories some nights on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of ''Bedtime Hour''.

In 2006, Norton hosted the BBC One series ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'' in which Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to find a lead actress for his West End version of ''The Sound of Music''. Norton has subsequently presented the 3 follow-up series: ''Any Dream Will Do'' in 2007, in which a group of males competed to win the role of Joseph in the West End production of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''; ''I'd Do Anything'' in 2008, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber seeks to find the part of Nancy and Oliver for Sir Cameron Mackintosh's production of Lionel Bart's ''Oliver!''; and ''Over the Rainbow'' in 2010, following a similar format to find a new Dorothy for a ''Wizard of Oz'' West end Production.

Norton hosted various other shows for the BBC during this time, including ''When Will I Be Famous?'' (2007), ''The One and Only'' (2008) and ''Totally Saturday'' (2009). Since 2007, Norton has also been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards. On 7 July 2007, Norton presented at Live Earth and undertook a trip to Ethiopia with the Born Free Foundation to highlight the plight of the Ethiopian wolf – the rarest canid in the world. In the same year, he was the subject of an episode of the BBC1 genealogy documentary ''Who Do You Think You Are?''.

Norton's chat show, ''The Graham Norton Show'', began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two. Although in a format that he had not been involved in for 4 years, it is very similar to his previous Channel 4 shows. On 6 October 2009, the show moved to BBC One, in a new one-hour format.

In May 2010, he stood in for Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. Later that month, it was confirmed that he would be replacing Jonathan Ross's Saturday morning slot on the same station.

In December 2011, the panel show ''Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton'' premiered on BBC America in the time slot immediately following ''The Graham Norton Show''. Recorded in New York, it is one of BBC America's earliest efforts at producing original programming, and is also the first panel game the channel has shown, either of British or American origin.

In January 2012, he called on listeners to his Radio 2 show to help find his car hours after it was stolen. He called it "The Great Car Hunt" and told listeners to “Keep your eyes out for it. It was filthy by the way."

Eurovision

Norton hosted the first annual ''Eurovision Dance Contest'' alongside Claudia Winkleman which was held on 1 September 2007 in London, England. The format was based on the BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and the EBU's ''Eurovision Song Contest''. Norton and Winkleman also hosted the 2008 Contest in Glasgow, Scotland.

In October 2008, it was confirmed by the BBC that Norton would replace Terry Wogan as the BBC's presenter for the UK heats of the ''Eurovision Song Contest'', in a show to be called ''Your Country Needs You''.

On 5 December 2008 it was announced that Norton would also take over from Wogan as the presenter of the main Eurovision Song Contest. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Olimpiyskiy (Olympic) Stadium, Moscow on 16 May 2009.

Norton's jokes during his debut received some positive reviews from the British media. ''The Guardian'' noted his comments on Iceland's entry, which finished in second place, had "rooted around in a cupboard and found an old bridesmaid dress from 1987" and the Armenian singers, who finished in tenth place, were sporting traditional dress, "which would be true if you come from the village where Liberace is the mayor".

His comment “The bad news is you’re about to watch Albania. She’s only 17 so please bear that in mind. Where was her mother? Why didn’t she step in and say no?” which was made just before Albanian singer Kejsi Tola was set to take the stage dubbed an insult by many, sent ripples of outrage through not only Albania, but also the Albanian population in Britain. There was even a petition circling the net calling for a formal apology from Norton. The petition, which called his comment “very rude and insulting,” had drawn over 1,000 signatures.

Other

In July 2000 Graham was one of three judges of the Miss Lesbian Beauty Contest 2000 held at The Talk of London, Dury Lane. The contest was won by 42 year old Carol Hutchins who wowed the audience with her sit-down comedy routine from a wheelchair. Graham described Carol as a 'very bright, funny lady'.

Graham Norton played Mr. Puckov in the 2006 American comedy spoof film ''Another Gay Movie''. In 2007, Norton played Taylor in the romantic comedy film ''I Could Never Be Your Woman''.

Norton was involved in a high-publicity advertising campaign for the UK National Lottery as an animated unicorn, the stooge to a character based on Lady Luck (played by Fay Ripley). He has also advertised McVitie's biscuits.

In 2007, Norton featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for the single "Walk This Way".

In January 2009, Norton made his West End stage debut in a revival of ''La Cage Aux Folles'' at the Playhouse Theatre.

Since 2009, Norton has been the host of the comedy game-show ''Most Popular'' on US cable television channel WE tv.

Norton currently writes an advice column in ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper. In October 2010, these columns were made into a book entitled ''Ask Graham'', published by John Blake Publishing.

Personal life

Norton has stated that he felt "out of place" growing up in Ireland; his family are Protestant yet the Republic of Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic. Norton took part in the TV programme, ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', to trace his ancestry. It was discovered that his family were originally planters sent over from England to take over Irish land. Some members of his family had fought for the British Monarchy during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and taken part in a massacre of Catholics in Carnew Castle. Another member of his family was later killed in battle by the United Irishmen. Norton said he was comforted to find out that his family had resided in Ireland for generations.

In 1989, Norton was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of attackers on the street. He says he lost half his blood and nearly died, and he was hospitalized for two and a half weeks.

Norton is openly gay.

Norton suffers from vitiligo, a skin disorder in which patches of depigmented skin occur.

Norton caused controversy on 7 October 2006, when he described ecstasy as "fantastic".

Immediately after hosting the BAFTAs in 2009, he said he returned home only to fall down his stairs and break two ribs. Some sources claimed that he presented the next Graham Norton Show on crutches, but this is not true, although he did make a comment about it, related to ''Pushing Daisies'', by saying "in ''Pushing Daisies'' people die in all sorts of bizarre ways... someone else was killed by a man dressed as a crash-test dummy, and some idiot almost died when he got drunk and fell down the stairs after presenting the BAFTAs. As if that could happen in real life!"

TV appearances

Main presenting credits

''Carnal Knowledge'' (TV series, co-presenter) (1996, 27 one hour shows)

''Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment''

''So Graham Norton'' (1998–2002)

''V Graham Norton'' (2002–2003)

''NY Graham Norton'' (2004)

''The Graham Norton Effect'' (2004–2005)

''Graham Norton's Bigger Picture'' (2005–2006)

''Strictly Dance Fever'' (2005–2006)

BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical theater talent searches (2006–present)

* ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'' (2006)

* ''Any Dream Will Do'' (2007)

* ''I'd Do Anything'' (2008)

* ''Over the Rainbow'' (2010)

''The Big Finish'' (2006–)

''When Will I Be Famous?'' (2007)

''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present)

''The British Academy Television Awards'' (2007)

''Live Earth'' (2007)

''Eurovision Dance Contest'' (2007)

''The One and Only'' (2008)

''Eurovision Dance Contest'' (2008)

''Eurovision: Your Country Needs You'' (2009–present)

''Eurovision Song Contest'' (UK commentator, 2009–present)

''Totally Saturday'' (2009)

''Most Popular'' (2009–present)

''Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton'' (BBC America, 2011–present)

Other television credits

''Rex the Runt'': A Crap Day Out ''Absolutely Fabulous'': Gay ''Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series)

!Year!!Title!!Character!!Broadcaster
1996–98	''Father Ted'':	* Hell	* Flight into Terror	* The Mainland	Father Noel Furlong	Channel 4
rowspan=3	2001	|	The Plants voice	BBC
''Rex the Runt'': Patio	Osvalde Halitosis voice
''The Kumars at No. 42''	Himself
2002	|	Himself	BBC
rowspan=4	2007	Who Do You Think You Are?'' ||	Himself	BBC
''Saving Planet Earth''	*Saving Wolves	Himself	BBC
''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List''
''Robbie the Reindeer'' in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind	Computer voice

Radio

''Just a Minute''

Sitting in for Steve Wright August 2009 BBC Radio 2

Sitting in for Chris Evans May /July 2010 BBC Radio 2

On 2 October 2010, he began his weekly BBC Radio 2 Saturday show taking over from Jonathan Ross. The show airs from 10.00am-1.00pm and combines a mixture of music, chat and celebrity guests.

2011/12 Radio 2 Saturday mornings

Filmography

''Stargay'' ''Another Gay Movie'' ''I Could Never Be Your Woman''

!Year!!Title!!Character!!Production
1999	|	Graham Solex	Canal+
2006	|	Mr. Puckov	Luna Pictures
2007	|	Taylor	The Weinstein Company

Stand-Up videos

''Live At The Roundhouse'' (19 November 2001)

Awards

1999 : Gaytime Award for ''Gay Entertainer of the Year''

2000, 2001, 2002 : BAFTA Award for Best Entertainment Performance - ''So Graham Norton''

2001 : RTS Television Award for Best Presenter - ''So Graham Norton''

2001 : TRIC Award TV Personality of the Year

2011 : BAFTA Award for Best Entertainment Performance - ''The Graham Norton Show''

References

External links

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of University College Cork Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Gay actors Category:Irish columnists Category:Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Irish male comedians Category:Irish people of English descent Category:Irish television talk show hosts Category:LGBT comedians from Ireland Category:LGBT people from Ireland Category:LGBT radio personalities from Ireland Category:LGBT television personalities from Ireland Category:People from County Cork Category:People from Dublin (city) Category:Survivors of stabbing Category:United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

cy:Graham Norton de:Graham Norton es:Graham Norton fy:Graham Norton ga:Graham Norton nl:Graham Norton no:Graham Norton pl:Graham Norton ro:Graham Norton sv:Graham Norton