Barry Levinson
Levinson at the 2009 premiere of Poliwood
Born	(1942-04-06) April 6, 1942 (age 70) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Valerie Curtin (1975–1982) Diana Rhodes

Barry Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His most notable films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, Bugsy, Sleepers and Wag the Dog.^[1][2][3]

Early life[link]

Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Violet "Vi" (née Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in the furniture and appliance business.^[4][5] His family is of Russian Jewish descent.^[6] After growing up in Baltimore and graduating from Forest Park Senior High School, Levinson attended Baltimore City Community College, and American University in Washington, D.C. at the American University School of Communication, before moving to Los Angeles to work as an actor and writer. Levinson at one time shared an apartment with would-be drug smuggler (and basis for the movie Blow) George Jung.

Career[link]

Levinson's first writing work was for variety shows such as The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, The Lohman and Barkley Show, The Tim Conway Show, and The Carol Burnett Show. After some success as a screenwriter — notably the Mel Brooks comedies Silent Movie (1976) and High Anxiety (1977) (in which he played a bellboy) and the Oscar-nominated script (co-written by then-wife Valerie Curtin) …And Justice for All (1979) — Levinson began his career as a director with Diner (1982), for which he had also written the script and which earned him a Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

Diner was the first of a series of films set in the Baltimore of Levinson's youth. The others were Tin Men (1987), a story of aluminum-siding salesmen in the 1960s starring Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito; the immigrant family saga Avalon (which featured Elijah Wood in one of his earliest screen appearances), and Liberty Heights (1999).

His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain Man (1988), with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. (Levinson appeared in a cameo as a doctor.) The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also won the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.^[7]

Another of his notable films is the 1984 baseball drama The Natural starring Robert Redford, who would later direct Quiz Show and cast Levinson as television personality Dave Garroway. Levinson also directed Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Toys (1992), both with Robin Williams, and the critically acclaimed Bugsy (1991) with Warren Beatty.

He directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog (1997), a political comedy co-starring Robert De Niro about a war staged in a film studio. (Levinson had been an uncredited co-writer on Hoffman's 1982 hit comedy Tootsie). The film won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.^[8]

Levinson partnered with producer Mark Johnson to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures. The two parted ways in 1994. Levinson has been a producer or executive producer for such major productions as The Perfect Storm directed by Wolfgang Petersen (2000); Analyze That (2002), starring De Niro as a neurotic mob boss and Billy Crystal as his therapist, and Possession (2002), based on the best-selling novel by A. S. Byatt.

He has a television production company with Tom Fontana (The Levinson/Fontana Company) and served as executive producer for a number of series, including Homicide: Life on the Street (which ran on NBC from 1993–1999) and the HBO prison drama Oz. Levinson also played an uncredited main role as a judge in the short-lived TV series The Jury.

Levinson published his first novel, Sixty-Six (ISBN 0-7679-1533-X), in 2003. Like several of his films, it is semi-autobiographical and set in Baltimore in the 1960s. He directed two webisodes of the American Express ads "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman".

In 2004, Levinson was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.

Levinson directed a documentary PoliWood about the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The documentary, produced by Tim Daly, Robin Bronk and Robert E. Baruc, had its premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Personal life[link]

Levinson grew up in a Jewish family. He married his writing collaborator Valerie Curtin in 1975. They divorced seven years later. He later married Dianna Rhodes, whom he met in Baltimore while filming Diner. He is the father of Sam, Jack, Michelle, and Patrick Levinson. He is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Currently, he resides with his two sons and wife in Redding, Connecticut.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Barry Levinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Barry Levinson at AllRovi
• Barry Levinson on Charlie Rose (March 24, 1994)

Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty at the 1990 Academy Awards
Born	Henry Warren Beaty (1937-03-30) 30 March 1937 (age 75) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1957–present
Spouse	Annette Bening (1992–present)

Warren Beatty ( /ˈbeɪti/ BAY-tee;^[1] born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including winning the Best Director Award and its highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Award. He has been nominated for 16 Golden Globe Awards and won six, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which he received in 2007. Only Beatty and Orson Welles have been nominated for producer, director, writer and actor in the same film. Welles did it once (for Citizen Kane), Beatty did it twice (for Heaven Can Wait and Reds).

Early life and education[link]

Beatty was born Henry Warren Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a Nova Scotia-born teacher, and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, was a Ph.D. of educational psychology, a public school administrator, and dealt in real estate.^[2] Beatty's grandparents were also educators. The family was Baptist.^[3][4] In 1945, the family moved from Richmond to Arlington, Virginia. Beatty's sister is the multi-award winning actress and writer Shirley MacLaine.

Beatty was a star football player at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Encouraged to act by the success of his sister, who had recently established herself as a Hollywood star, he decided to work as a stagehand at the National Theater in Washington, D.C., during the summer prior to his senior year. Upon graduation from high school, he turned down 10 football scholarships to study liberal arts at Northwestern University.

While at Northwestern, he appeared in the annual Waa-Mu Show. He became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He left after his freshman year to move to New York City, where he studied acting with Stella Adler. He received a best actor Tony Award nomination and won a Theatre World Award in 1960 for his performance in William Inge's drama A Loss of Roses. It was to be his only appearance on the Broadway stage.

Military service[link]

Under his original name of Henry W. Beaty, Warren Beatty enlisted in the California Air National Guard on February 11, 1960.

On January 1, 1961, Beatty was discharged from the Air National Guard due to physical disability. He was also simultaneously discharged from the United States Air Force Reserve. He served on inactive duty only.

Career[link]

1950s and 1960s[link]

The handprints of Warren Beatty in front of The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

Beatty started his career making appearances on television shows such as Studio One (1957), Kraft Television Theatre (1957), and Playhouse 90 (1959). He made his film debut under Elia Kazan's direction in Splendor in the Grass (1961). The film was a critical and box office success and Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and received the award for New Star of the Year - Actor.

He followed his initial film with Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1960) directed by Jose Quintero, All Fall Down (1961) directed by John Frankenheimer, Lilith (1963) directed by Robert Rossen, Promise Her Anything (1964) directed by Arthur Hiller, Mickey One (1964) directed by Arthur Penn, and Kaleidoscope (1965) directed by Jack Smight.

In 1966 Beatty produced and acted in Bonnie and Clyde at age 29. He assembled writers Robert Benton and David Newman and director Arthur Penn, and took full responsibility for production, including cast, script and delivery of the film. It was a critical and commercial success and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. It also received seven Golden Gobe Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

1970s and 1980s[link]

After making Bonnie and Clyde, Beatty acted in The Only Game In Town (1969) directed by George Stevens, McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1970) directed by Robert Altman, Dollars (1971) directed by Richard Brooks, The Parallax View (1973) directed by Alan Pakula, and The Fortune (1974) directed by Mike Nichols. He produced, co-wrote and acted in Shampoo (1974) directed by Hal Ashby, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay. The film was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. In 1978, Beatty directed, produced, wrote and acted in Heaven Can Wait (1978). The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. It also won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

Beatty's next film was Reds (1981), an historical epic about the Communist journalist John Reed who observed the Russian October Revolution – a project Beatty had begun researching and filming for as far back as 1970. It was a critical and commercial success (made all the more noticeable considering it was an American film about an American Communist made and released at the height of the Cold War). It received 12 Academy Award nominations, including four for Beatty for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. He won for Best Director. The film also received seven Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Beatty won the Golden Globe for Best Director.

Following Reds, in 1985-1986 Beatty acted in Ishtar, written and directed by Elaine May. Following severe criticism in press reviews by the new British studio chief David Puttnam just prior to its release, the film received mixed reviews. Puttnam attacked several other over-budget American films that had been greenlit by his predecessor. He was fired shortly thereafter.

1990s and 2000s[link]

In 1990, Beatty produced, directed and acted in the title role of the film Dick Tracy. The film was critically acclaimed and one of the highest grossers of the year. It received seven Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture. In 1991, he produced and starred as the real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in the critically and commercially acclaimed Bugsy, directed by Barry Levinson, which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. The film also received eight Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. It won for Best Picture. His next film, Love Affair (1994), directed by Glenn Caron, received mixed reviews and was unimpressive commercially. In 1998, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in the political satire Bulworth which was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The film also received three Golden Globe Award nominations, for Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay. In 2001, he made an acting appearance in Town and Country, Directed by Peter Chelsom and produced by Simon Fields, which received mixed reviews and did not fare well commercially.

Beatty has appeared briefly in many documentaries, some of which include Arthur Penn, 1922-: Themes and Variants (1970), Year of the Woman (1973), George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984), Dick Tracy: Behind the Badge, Behind the Scenes (1990), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), Bugsy: The Dark Passion of an American Dreamer (1991), Victory & Valor: Special Olympics World Games (1991), Writing With Light: Vittorio Storaro (1992), The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995), Forever Hollywood (1999), Dean Tavoularis: The Magician of Hollywood (2003), One Bright Shining Moment (2005), The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel (2006), In Search of Puppy Love (2007), American Masters (2008), and Revolution! The Making of Bonnie and Clyde (2008).

Tribune lawsuit[link]

In May 2005, Beatty sued Tribune Co., claiming he still maintains the rights to Dick Tracy. On March 25, 2011 U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson decided in Beatty's favor.^[5]

Political work[link]

Beatty in the White House with first lady Nancy Reagan and Diane Keaton, 1981

Since the 1960's, Beatty has been highly active in the presidential politics of the Democratic Party. In multiple forums he has addressed campaign finance reform, the increasing disparity of wealth, universal health care, gun control, and the need for the Democratic Party to return to its roots. In 1968, he campaigned with Senator Robert F. Kennedy in his bid for the Democratic nomination. That same year, Beatty traveled throughout the United States speaking in favor of gun control and against the war in Vietnam.

In 1972, Beatty was part of the "inner circle" of Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign. He traveled extensively and was instrumental in organizing fundraising.^[6] In 1976 with California Governor Jerry Brown, and in 1984 and 1988 with Colorado Senator Gary Hart, Beatty played a similar role in their presidential campaigns. Beatty was rumored to be considering becoming a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination during the summer of 1999. He never publicly expressed an interest in doing so. When a recall of California Governor Gray Davis was set in motion, Beatty campaigned against the 2003 special election.

In 2005, he was the keynote speaker at the California Nurses Association's convention, gave the commencement speech at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and campaigned against Governor Schwarzenegger's ballot propositions. The propositions were defeated, increasing speculation that Beatty might run against Schwarzenegger in the 2006 election, but Beatty denied he would seek the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Personal life[link]

As a bachelor until the age of 54 who had become famous at the age of 20, Beatty has been the subject of myriad fabrications regarding his relationships with women. As a strong proponent of the First Amendment he has never taken legal action against a publisher, and has never authorized a biography of himself.

Honors[link]

He has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Americans for Democratic Action, the Brennan Legacy Award from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, the Philip Burton Public Service Award from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, and the Spirit of Hollywood Award from the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies. Beatty was a founding board member of the Center for National Policy, a founding member of the Progressive Majority, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the Campaign Chair for the Permanent Charities Committee, and has participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. He is on the Board of Trustees at the Scripps Research Institute and the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. He was named Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 2006.

He was nominated twice for the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director, and received the award for Reds. He was nominated four times for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay, which he received three times for Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, and Reds (film). The National Association of Theatre Owners awarded him with the Star of the Year Award in 1975, and in 1978 the Director of the Year Award and the Producer of the Year Award. He was nominated six times and received the Saturn Award three times for Best Film, Actor, and Screenplay. He received two Photoplay Awards for Best Actor and Best Film. He received an American Movie Award in 1981. He was nominated for three Golden Laurel Awards, winning Best Action-Drama for Bonnie and Clyde. In 1999 he was nominated for the Golden Satellite Award for Best Actor. He has received awards from numerous critic organizations, including sixteen nominations and ten awards for producing, writing, acting, and directing from the New York and the Los Angeles Film Critics, the National Board of Review, and the National Society of Film Critics.

He received numerous awards and nominations for Bulworth, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, and nominations for the Academy, Writers Guild, Golden Globe, and the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Screenplay. The film also received Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Award for Best Film, and a Satellite Award for Best Actor.

He received the Alan J. Pakula Memorial Award from the National Board of Review in 1998. He received the Akira Kurosawa Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the San Francisco International Film Festival. He has received the Board of Governors Award from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Distinguished Director Award from the Costume Designers Guild, the Life Achievement Award from the Publicists Guild, and the Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild.

In 2004 he received the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., and the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America. He was honored with the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 2008.

Beatty has also received a number of international awards. He was named a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 1992. In Italy he received the David di Donatello Award twice, for Best Actor and Best Producer, from the Academy of Italian Cinema and its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. That same year, he was nominated for a Golden Lion Award for Best Film for Bulworth and received a Career Golden Lion Award from the Venice Film Festival. He was also nominated for the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Award for Best Director for Dick Tracy. In 2001, he received the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain. He was nominated for two BAFTA awards for Best Actor, and he received the British Academy Fellowship from BAFTA in 2002 and the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award in 2011.

Beatty married Annette Bening on March 12, 1992. With his wife, Beatty received the Champion of Children Award from the Children's Institute International, the Caritas Award from the Saint John's Health Center, the Stem Cell Champions Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the In The Line of Duty Award from the Los Angeles Police Protective League's Eagle and Badge Foundation. They have four children.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Ellis Amburn, The Sexiest Man Alive : A Biography of Warren Beatty, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2002. ISBN 0-06-018566-X
• Suzanne Finstad, Warren Beatty : A Private Man, Random House, Inc., New York, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4606-8
• Mark Harris, "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of New Hollywood", Penguin Press, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59420-152-3
• Suzanne Munshower, "Warren Beatty: His Life, His Loves, HIs Work", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1990. ISBN 0-8065-0670-9
• Lawrence Quirk, "The Films of Warren Beatty", Citadel Press, New Jersey, 1979. ISBN 0-8065-0670-9
• Stephen J. Ross, "Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics", Oxford Press, New York, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19-518172-2
• Peter Swirski, "1990s That Dirty Word, Socialism: Warren Beatty's Bulworth." Ars Americana Ars Politica. Montreal, London: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7735-3766-8
• David Thomson, "Warren Beatty: A Life and Story", Secker and Warburg, London, 1987. ISBN 0-436-52015-X
• David Thomson, "Warren Beatty and Desert Eyes", Doubleday and Co., Inc., New York, 1987. ISBN 0-385-18707-6
• Peter Biskind, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7432-4658-3
• Peter Biskind, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'-roll Generation Saved Hollywood", Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 1998. ISBN 0-684-80996-6

External links[link]

• Warren Beatty at the Internet Movie Database
• Warren Beatty at the Internet Broadway Database
• Warren Beatty at AllRovi
• Warren Beatty at Yahoo! Movies
• The Carolyn Jackson Collection, no. 13 - Interview with Warren Beatty, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

Annette Bening
Bening in 2011
Born	Annette Carol Bening (1958-05-29) May 29, 1958 (age 54) Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	J. Steven White (m. 1984–1991) «start: (1984)–end+1: (1992)»"Marriage: J. Steven White to Annette Bening" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.db.wn.com/index.php/Annette_Bening) Warren Beatty (m. 1992) «start: (1992)»"Marriage: Warren Beatty to Annette Bening" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.db.wn.com/index.php/Annette_Bening)

Annette Carol Bening^[1] (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films. Bening is married to actor Warren Beatty, with whom she has four children.

Early life[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Bening was born in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her mother, Shirley (née Ashley), was a church singer and soloist, and her father, Arnett Grant Bening, was a sales training consultant and insurance salesman.^[2][3][4] Her parents, natives of Iowa, were practicing Episcopalians and conservative Republicans.^[5][6] Her sister and two brothers are Jane, Bradley and Byron. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1959, where she spent her early childhood. In 1965, her father took a job with a company in San Diego, California, and they moved there. She began acting in junior high school, playing the lead in The Sound of Music. She graduated in 1975, from Patrick Henry High School where she studied drama.

She then spent a year working as a cook on a charter boat taking fishing parties out on the Pacific Ocean, and scuba diving for recreation. She attended San Diego Mesa College, then completed an academic degree in theatre arts at San Francisco State University. Bening's career began when she joined the acting company at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco while studying acting as part of the Advanced Theatre Training Program, she appeared from 1984-86. During this time she established herself as a formidable acting talent in roles like Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Bening also starred in productions of Pygmalion and The Cherry Orchard at the Denver Center Theatre Company from 1985-86.

Bening moved to New York City, where she debuted off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (McGinn-Cazale Theatre) in the role of 'Holly Dancer' in Tina Howe's widely acclaimed Coastal Disturbances (1986) opposite Tim Daly. The play transferred to Broadway and Bening earned a 1987 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. However, despite the praise and recognition, it took some time for that success to translate to her film career.

Career[link]

Bening made her film debut with a minor role in The Great Outdoors (1988), which starred Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. Her next role was as the Marquise de Merteuil in Valmont (1989) opposite Colin Firth. Bening received her first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for performance opposite John Cusack in Stephen Frears's The Grifters (1990). In 1991, she portrayed Virginia Hill in the Barry Levinson-directed biopic of Bugsy, co-starring Bening's future husband Warren Beatty. In 1994, she played opposite acting legend Katharine Hepburn in Love Affair. Bening appeared in 1995's The American President and was one of the many stars in Tim Burton's sci-fi spoof Mars Attacks! (1996). Bening also co-starred in The Siege (1998) with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis.

The biggest critical and commercial success of her career thus far was the 1999 film American Beauty, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and was directed by Sam Mendes. For this performance, Bening was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2005, she won a Golden Globe Award and received her third Academy Award nomination for her playing the title role in Being Julia.

Bening starred in the 2003 western Open Range as Kevin Costner's love interest. She was originally set to star in the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, but dropped out and was replaced by Jamie Lee Curtis.^[7] Bening received an Emmy Award^[8] nomination for her portrayal of Jean Harris in the 2005 HBO film Mrs. Harris. She replaced Julianne Moore to star in the film adaptation of Running with Scissors in 2006. In December of that year, Bening hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guests Gwen Stefani and Akon.

She was one of the actresses in the poorly received 2008 film Women, TheThe Women. The following year she received strong reviews for her performance in the independent film Mother and Child (2009).^[9] Her 2010 film, The Kids Are All Right was her most critically acclaimed performance since American Beauty, with several reviewers noting that she "deserves an Oscar" for her "sublime" performance ^[10][11] which garnered her a second Golden Globe, as well as Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

In February 2011, it was announced that Bening will star opposite Morgan Freeman in a new film directed by Rob Reiner titled The Third Act.^[12]

Personal life[link]

In 1985, Bening and her first husband, choreographer J. Steven White, moved to Denver, Colorado, to work at the Shakespeare Festival^[13] in Boulder, Colorado. They separated the following year.^{[citation needed]}

Bening married Warren Beatty on March 12, 1992, after meeting on the set of Bugsy (1991).^[14] They have four children: Stephen (born January 8, 1992), Benjamin (born August 23, 1994), Isabel (born January 18, 1997), and Ella (born April 8, 2000).^[14]

Bening is a supporter of the Democratic Party and was a political contributor to the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama in 2008.^[15] She is a student of Iyengar Yoga.^[16]

Filmography[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Annette Bening

• Annette Bening at the Internet Movie Database
• Annette Bening at the Internet Broadway Database
• Annette Bening at AllRovi
• People in Film: Annette Bening – Focus Features
• Annette Bening at Emmys.com

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Robin Williams
Williams at "Stand Up for Heroes" in 2007
Birth name	Robin McLaurin Williams
Born	(1951-07-21) July 21, 1951 (age 60) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1972–present
Genres	Character comedy, physical comedy, improvisational comedy, satire/political satire, observational comedy, blue comedy
Influences	Peter Sellers, Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, George Carlin, Chuck Jones
Influenced	Conan O'Brien, Frank Caliendo,[1] Dat Phan, Jo Koy
Spouse	Valerie Velardi (1978–1988; 1 child) Marsha Garces Williams (1989–2008; 2 children) Susan Schneider (2011–present)
Website	RobinWilliams.com
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor 1997 Good Will Hunting – Sean Maguire
Emmy Awards
Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program 1987 Carol and Carl and Whoopi and Robin Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program 1988 ABC Presents A Royal Gala
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy 1978 Mork & Mindy – Mork Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1987 Good Morning, Vietnam – Adrian Cronauer Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1991 The Fisher King – Parry Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1993 Mrs. Doubtfire – Daniel Hillard ("Euphegenia Doubtfire") Cecil B. DeMille Award 2005
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 1996 The Birdcage – Armand Goldman Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role 1997 Good Will Hunting – Sean Maguire
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) 1994 Mrs. Doubtfire – Daniel Hillard ("Euphegenia Doubtfire")

Robin McLaurin Williams^[2][3] (born July 21, 1951^[4]) is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. He has also won two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.^[5][6]

Early life[link]

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Laura McLaurin (née Smith, 1922–2001), was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana.^[7] His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 – October 18, 1987), was a senior executive at Ford Motor Company in charge of the Midwest region. His maternal great-great-grandfather was senator and Mississippi governor Anselm J. McLaurin.^[8] Williams is of English, Welsh, Irish, and French ancestry.^[9] He was raised in the Episcopal Church (his mother practiced Christian Science).^[10][11] He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he was a student at the Detroit Country Day School,^[12] and later moved to Woodacre, Marin County, California, where he attended the public Redwood High School. Williams studied at Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont Men's College) for four years.^[13] He has two half-brothers: Todd (who died August 14, 2007) and McLaurin.^[14]

Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mother. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high-school drama department.^[15]

In 1973, Williams was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at the Juilliard School, and one of only two students to be accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year, the other being Christopher Reeve.^[16] In his dialects class, Williams had no trouble mastering all dialects quickly. Williams left Juilliard in 1976.

Television career[link]

After appearing in the cast of the short-lived The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, Williams was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in the hit TV series Happy Days.^[17] As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice. Mork's appearance was so popular with viewers that it led to a spin-off hit television sitcom, Mork & Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982; the show was written to accommodate Williams' improvisations. Although he played the same character as in his appearance in Happy Days, the show was set in the present day, in Boulder, Colorado, instead of the late '50s in Milwaukee. Mork was an extremely popular character, featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise.

Starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including three HBO comedy specials, Off The Wall (1978), An Evening with Robin Williams (1982), and Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986). Also in 1986, Williams reached an ever wider audience to exhibit his style at the 58th Academy Awards show.^{[citation needed]}

His stand-up work has been a consistent thread through his career, as is seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD) Robin Williams: Live on Broadway (2002). He was voted 13th on Comedy Central's list "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time" in 2004.^[18]

After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "A Matter of Time", but he had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict;^[19] Matt Frewer took his place as a time-traveling con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen. Williams, along with Billy Crystal, appeared in a cameo together at the beginning of an episode of the third season of Friends. Both Williams and Crystal's parts weren't originally in the script. They were apparently in the building where the show was shooting and were asked to improvise their lines.^[20]

Williams appeared on an episode of the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 3, Episode 9: November 16, 2000). During a game of "Scenes from a Hat", the scene "What Robin Williams is thinking right now" was drawn, and Williams stated "I have a career. What the hell am I doing here?"^[21] On December 4, 2010, he appeared with Robert De Niro on SNL in the sketch What Up with That.

Movie roles[link]

Most of Williams' acting career has been in film, although he has given some performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of Waiting for Godot with Steve Martin). His performance in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) resulted in Williams being nominated for an Academy Award.^[17] Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos.

His role as the Genie in the animated film Aladdin (1992) was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Williams also used his voice talents in Fern Gully, as the holographic Dr. Know in the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence, in the 2005 animated film Robots, the 2006 Academy Award-winning Happy Feet, and an uncredited vocal performance in the film Everyone's Hero. Furthermore, he was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.

In 1998, he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in Good Will Hunting.^[17] Williams has also starred in dramatic films, which earned him two subsequent Academy Award nominations: First for playing an English teacher in Dead Poets Society (1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in The Fisher King (1991);^[17] that same year, he played an adult Peter Pan in the movie Hook. Other acclaimed dramatic films include Awakenings (1990) and What Dreams May Come (1998). In the 2002 film Insomnia, Williams portrays a writer/killer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles policeman (played by Al Pacino) in rural Alaska. And also in 2002, in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo, Williams played an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time. In 2006 Williams starred in The Night Listener, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he has developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.

He is known for his improvisational skills and impersonations. His performances frequently involve impromptu humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession while on stage. According to the Aladdin DVD commentary, most of his dialogue as the Genie was improvised.

In 2006, he starred in five movies including Man of the Year and was the Surprise Guest at the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. He appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired on January 30, 2006.

At one point, he was in the running to play the Riddler in Batman Forever until director Tim Burton dropped the project. Earlier, Williams had been a strong contender to play the Joker in Batman. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins,^[22] although the part of the Joker was played by Heath Ledger, who went on to win, posthumously, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He was portrayed by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made-for-TV biopic Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy (2005), documenting the actor's arrival in Hollywood as a struggling comedian.

Disputes with Disney[link]

In gratitude for his success with the Disney/Touchstone film "Good Morning, Vietnam", Williams voiced the Genie in the Disney animated film Aladdin for SAG scale pay ($75,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since Toys was scheduled for release one month after Aladdin's debut. The studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. Disney's Hyperion book, Aladdin: The Making Of An Animated Film, listed both of Williams' characters, "The Peddler" and "The Genie", ahead of main characters but was forced to refer to him only as "the actor signed to play the Genie".^[23]

Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, resulting in Dan Castellaneta voicing the Genie role in "The Return of Jafar" and the "Aladdin" animated television series. Castellaneta was also recorded as the original voice for the feature "Aladdin and the King of Thieves". When Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired from Disney and replaced by former 20th Century Fox production head Joe Roth (whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams' film "Mrs. Doubtfire"), Roth arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures' "Jack", directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the "King of Thieves" sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta's dialogue.^[24]

When Williams re-teamed with "Doubtfire" director Chris Columbus for 1999's "Bicentennial Man", Disney asked that the budget be cut by approximately $20 million, and when the film was released on Christmas Day, it flopped at the box office. Williams blamed Disney's marketing and the loss of content the film had suffered due to the budget cuts. As a result, Williams was again on bad terms with Disney, and Castellaneta was once again recruited to replace him as Genie in the "Kingdom Hearts" video game series and the "House of Mouse" TV series. The DVD release for "Aladdin" has no involvement whatsoever from Williams in the bonus materials, although some of his original recording sessions can be seen.

Robin Williams has recently made peace with The Walt Disney Company and in 2009 agreed to be inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame, designated as a Disney Legend.^[25]

Stand-up career[link]

Williams has done a number of stand-up comedy tours since the early 1970s. Some of his most notable tours include An Evening With Robin Williams (1982), Robin Williams: At The Met (1986) and Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway (2002). The latter broke many long-held records for a comedy show. In some cases, tickets were sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale.

After a six year break, in August 2008 Williams announced a brand new 26-city tour titled "Weapons of Self Destruction". He was quoted as saying that this was his last chance to make cracks at the expense of the current Bush Administration, but by the time the show was staged only a few minutes covered that subject. The tour started at the end of September 2009, finishing in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO special on December 8, 2009.^[26]

Accusations of plagiarism[link]

Williams was accused of stealing material from other comics to the extent that David Brenner claims that he confronted Williams personally and threatened him with bodily harm if he heard Williams utter another one of his jokes.^[27]

Theatre career[link]

In theatre, Williams has headed his own one-man show, Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, that played at The Broadway Theatre in July 2002.^[28] He made his Broadway acting debut in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 31, 2011.^[29][30][31] He previously appeared opposite Steve Martin at Lincoln Center in an Off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot.^[32]

Personal life[link]

Marriages and children[link]

Robin Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978. They have one child, Zachary Pym (Zak) (born April 11, 1983). During Williams' first marriage, he was involved in an extramarital relationship with Michelle Tish Carter, a cocktail waitress whom he met in 1984. She sued him in 1986, claiming that he did not tell her he was infected with the herpes simplex virus before he embarked on a sexual relationship with her in the mid-1980s, during which, she said, he transmitted the virus to her. The case was settled out of court. Williams and Velardi divorced in 1988.^[33]

On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, his son's nanny who was already several months pregnant with his child. They have two children, Zelda Rae (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born November 25, 1991). However, in March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.^[34]

Williams married his third wife, graphic designer Susan Schneider, on October 23, 2011, in St. Helena, California.^[35]

Family and friends[link]

While studying at Juilliard, Williams befriended Christopher Reeve. They had several classes together in which they were the only students, and they remained good friends for the rest of Reeve's life. Williams visited Reeve after the horse riding accident that rendered him a quadriplegic, and cheered him up by pretending to be an eccentric Russian doctor (similar to his role in Nine Months). Williams claimed that he was there to perform a colonoscopy. Reeve stated that he laughed for the first time since the accident and knew that life was going to be okay.^[16]

Wiliams' at the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in 2005

On August 20, 2007, Williams' elder brother, Robert Todd Williams, died of complications from heart surgery performed a month earlier.^[36]

Addiction and health problems[link]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine; he has stated that he has since quit. Williams was a close friend of and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. He says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too."^[17]

On August 9, 2006, Williams checked himself in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center (located in Newberg, Oregon), later admitting that he was an alcoholic.^[37] His publicist delivered the announcement:

After 20 years of sobriety, Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family.

Williams was hospitalized in March 2009 due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour in order to undergo surgery to replace his aortic valve.^[38][39] The surgery was successfully completed on March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.^[40][41]

Other interests[link]

Williams is a member of the Episcopal Church. He has described his denomination in a comedy routine as "Catholic Lite—same rituals, half the guilt."^[42]

Williams speaking at the 2008 BBC World Debate.

Williams is an avid enthusiast of games, even naming two of his children after game characters. He named his daughter after Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda action-adventure game series.^[43][44][45] They both have even been featured in an ad for the Nintendo 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.^[46] On this note, his son may have been named after Cody from the beat 'em up game Final Fight.^[47] He also enjoys pen-and-paper role-playing games and online video games, recently playing Warcraft 3, Day of Defeat, Half-Life,^[48] and the first-person shooter Battlefield 2 as a sniper.^[49] He was also previously a fan of the Wizardry series of role-playing video games.^[50]

On January 6, 2006, he performed live at Consumer Electronics Show during Google's keynote.^[51] In the 2006 E3, on the invitation of Will Wright, he demonstrated the creature editor of Spore while simultaneously commenting on the creature's look: "This will actually make a platypus look good."^[52] He also complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to Populous and Black & White. Later that year, he was one of several celebrities to participate in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day.^[53]

A fan of professional road cycling, he was a regular on the US Postal and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team bus and hotels during the years Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France.^[54] He owns over 50 bicycles.^[55]

He also enjoys rugby union and is a big fan of former All Black, Jonah Lomu.^[56]