Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation logo
Founder(s)	Vito Russo Jewelle Gomez Gregory Kolovakos
Founded	1985
Location	New York, NY, US Los Angeles, California, US
Key people	Mike Thompson (President)
Area served	United States
Focus	Discrimination in media
Method	Media monitoring
Motto	To promote understanding, increase acceptance, and advance equality.
Website	glaad.org

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a US non-governmental media monitoring organization which promotes the image of LGBT people in the media.

History[link]

Formed in New York City in 1985 to protest against what it saw as the New York Post's defamatory and sensationalized AIDS coverage, GLAAD put pressure on media organizations to end what it saw as homophobic reporting. Initial meetings were held in the homes of several New York City activists as well as after-hours at the New York State Council on the Arts. The founding group included film scholar Vito Russo; Gregory Kolovakos, then on the staff of the NYS Arts Council and who later became the first Executive Director; Darryl Yates Rist; Allen Barnett [1]; and Jewelle Gomez, the organization's first treasurer. Some members of GLAAD went on to become the early members of ACT UP.^{[citation needed]}

In 1987, after a meeting with GLAAD, The New York Times changed its editorial policy to use the word "gay" instead of harsher terms referring to homosexuality.^[1] GLAAD advocated that The Associated Press and other television and print news sources follow. GLAAD's influence soon spread to Los Angeles, where organizers began working with the entertainment industry to change the way LGBT people were portrayed on screen.

Entertainment Weekly has named GLAAD as one of Hollywood's most powerful entities,^[2] and the Los Angeles Times described GLAAD as "possibly one of the most successful organizations lobbying the media for inclusion."^[3]

Within the first five years of its founding in New York as the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League (soon after changed to GLAAD after legal pressure by the Anti-Defamation League), GLAAD chapters had been established in Los Angeles and other cities, with the LA chapter becoming particularly influential due to its proximity to the California entertainment industry. GLAAD/NY and GLAAD/LA would eventually vote to merge in 1994, with other city chapters joining soon afterward; however, the chapters continue to exist, with the ceremonies of the GLAAD Media Awards being divided each year into three ceremonies held in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Following the 2011 resignation of Jarrett Barrios from the GLAAD presidency, Mike Thompson served as interim president until the announcement of Herndon Graddick, previously GLAAD's Vice-President of Programs and Communications, to the presidency on April 15, 2012. Graddick is the younger son of Charles Graddick of Mobile, a circuit court judge and the former Attorney General of Alabama.

Programs[link]

GLAAD promotes positive portrayals of LGBT people in media by encouraging journalists, writers and other creators to use its preferred terminology, and to portray the LGBT community in what it sees as an unbiased and inclusive way. GLAAD also pitches stories to media outlets that involve members of the LGBT community that may otherwise be overlooked. The organization often uses action alerts, and has raised awareness of anti-LGBT defamation and the need for LGBT-inclusive laws by publicizing the hate-motivated murders of Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, Angie Zapata, and others. It has also called attention to anti-gay song lyrics, the anti-gay advocacy of certain commentators, and to ads promoting conversion to heterosexuality.^{[citation needed]}

GLAAD's Media Field Program serves local communities and organizations in places where LGBT rights are not secure by training people to speak at community meetings, in local media and online via blogs and social media. The organization has recently started departments to work with sports writing and press for people of color, as well as with faith communities to highlight growing support for LGBT people from Lutherans, Catholics, Episcopalians, and the Jewish community.

GLAAD's Announcing Equality [2] project has resulted in more than 1,000 newspapers including gay and lesbian announcements alongside other wedding listings.

In 1998, GLAAD produced a report entitled "Access Denied", which argued that Internet filtering using content-control software prevented access to legitimate, non-pornographic LGBT-related websites, which causes problems for young people seeking information about their sexuality.^[4]

GLAAD Media Awards[link]

Wanda Sykes at 2010 GLAAD Media Awards.

The GLAAD Media Awards were established in 1989 to "recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives." Ceremonies are held annually in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

LGBT portal

Notes[link]

References[link]

Myers, Daniel J.; Daniel M. Cress (2004). Authority in Contention. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 0-7623-1037-5. 

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official blog

Dianna Agron
Agron at the Glee Hot Topic Tour, on August 17, 2009
Born	Dianna Elise Agron (1986-04-30) April 30, 1986 (age 26) Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	2006–present

Dianna Elise Agron^[1] ( /ˈeɪɡrɒn/;^[2] born April 30, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Quinn Fabray on the television series Glee^[3] and Sarah Hart in I Am Number Four.

Early life[link]

Dianna Agron was born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in San Antonio, Texas and San Francisco, California. She is the daughter of Mary and Ronald S. Agron, a general manager of Hyatt hotels.^[4][5][6] Agron's father's family is originally from Russia, and their original surname, Agronsky, was altered by Ellis Island officials.^[2] Her father was born Jewish and her mother converted to Judaism;^[7] Agron attended Hebrew school and had a bat mitzvah.^[7][8] Agron attended Burlingame Intermediate School and then Burlingame High School in Burlingame, California.^[3] She has been dancing since the age of three,^[9] and began teaching dance as a teenager.^[6]

Career[link]

Agron in NYC, 2011

Agron has appeared on television shows such as Shark, Close to Home, CSI: NY, Numb3rs,^{[citation needed]} and had a recurring role on Veronica Mars. She then appeared as Harper on a 13-episode series of short films called It's a Mall World, directed by Milo Ventimiglia, and airing on MTV, and then on the second season of Heroes as Debbie Marshall, the head cheerleader/captain of the cheer squad at Costa Verde High School. Dianna has also hosted a mini Music Festival for 826LA in Los Angeles called Chickens in Love.^[10]

She was among many young Hollywood stars selected to be in Wal-Mart's Ocean Pacific spring 2010 marketing campaign. The national campaign debuted in fashion, lifestyle and entertainment magazines such as Elle, Teen Vogue, Seventeen and Cosmopolitan, outdoor and online at the official Ocean Pacific website.^{[citation needed]} In addition, the celebrities hosted an Ocean Pacific party in Los Angeles in late April and made personal appearances on behalf of the brand.^[11]

Agron's most notable role to date is as Quinn Fabray, a high school cheerleader, on the Fox series Glee. The show has received high ratings and critical acclaim, including a Screen Actors Guild cast award in 2009^[12] and two Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.^[13][14]

In 2010, Agron directed the music video for "Body" by Thao with the Get Down Stay Down.^[15]

In 2010, Agron played the small role of Natalie, fiancée to main character Ali's love interest Jack, in the movie Burlesque alongside Christina Aguilera, Cher, and Stanley Tucci.

Agron was chosen by People to be part of their Most Beautiful 2010.^[16] She also came 8th in the 2011 Afterellen.com "Hot 100" list.^[17]

Agron appeared alongside Alex Pettyfer and Timothy Olyphant in the 2011 science-fiction action thriller I Am Number Four, directed by D. J. Caruso.

Agron appeared as herself in Punk'd.

The Biography Channel aired a Glee documentary named "Glee: Don't Stop Believing" on April 10, 2012, where Agron was interviewed about her role in the show.

Agron will host GLAAD Media Award on June 2, 2012 in San Francisco. Her co-stars of Glee, Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith hosted them on March 24, 2012 in New York City.

Agron came 13th in the 2012 AfterEllen.com "Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters" list, thanks to her character, Quinn Fabray, on Glee.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Agron at the Glee premiere party, May 11, 2009

Agron is a vegetarian and a supporter of PETA.^[19] Also an avid supporter of gay rights, Agron worked with The Trevor Project in 2012 to raise money in honor of her birthday. She promised to match all donations made to the organization by April 30, 2012.^[20]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dianna Agron

• Website
• Dianna Agron at AllRovi
• Dianna Agron at the Internet Movie Database

Kerry Washington
Washington at the Metropolitan Opera's 2010 opening night of Das Rheingold
Born	(1977-01-31) January 31, 1977 (age 35) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present

Kerry Washington (born January 31, 1977)^[1] is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray (2004), as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm/The Thing in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007. She has also starred in the critically acclaimed independent films Our Song and The Dead Girl, and is the lead actress in the 2012 ABC drama Scandal, a Shonda Rhimes series where Washington plays Olivia Pope, a former crisis management expert to the President.^[2]

Early life[link]

Washington was born in the The Bronx, New York City, the daughter of Valerie, a professor and educational consultant, and a real estate broker father.^[3][4] She performed with the Tada theater teen group and attended the Spence School in Manhattan, graduating in 1994.^{[citation needed]} She attended The George Washington University, graduating in 1998.^{[citation needed]} She also studied at Michael Howard Studios^{[citation needed]} in New York City.

Career[link]

Washington made her screen debut in the ABC telefilm Magical Make-Over (1994). She was in the cast of the 1996 PBS sketch comedy-style educational series Standard Deviants, and she appeared in the short "3D" and the feature film Our Song in 2000. She went on to appear in several movies, including Save the Last Dance (2001), The Human Stain (2003), Spike Lee's She Hate Me (2004), Ray (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Little Man (2006), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), and as a wife of 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the UK historical drama The Last King of Scotland (2006). Washington has also appeared in the recurring role of Chelina Hall on the ABC television series Boston Legal, and in several episodes of the A&E cable-TV series 100 Centre Street.

She is the new spokesperson for L'Oréal, appearing in commercials and ads alongside fellow actresses Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria, and model Doutzen Kroes.

She also co-directed and appeared in the music video for hip-hop artist Common's song, "I Want You", the fourth single off of his album Finding Forever.

Washington narrated the critically acclaimed documentary about the New Orleans-based teenage TBC Brass Band, From the Mouthpiece on Back. She also appears in Maxwell's "Bad Habits" video. In 2009, Washington performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.^[5]

In 2010, she made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's Race, alongside James Spader, David Alan Grier, and Richard Thomas. She also appeared in Tyler Perry's 2010 film For Colored Girls.

In October 2011 it was confirmed that she would be starring in Quentin Tarantino's new film Django Unchained.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Washington at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Washington was engaged to actor David Moscow from October 2004 to March 2007.^[7]

As a sort of souvenir or memento, she usually tries to keep something from every character that she plays, such as an item of wardrobe or a piece of furniture from the house the character lived in.^[8]

Politics[link]

She is at times referred to as a political activist and was a supporter of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.^[9] Washington has also spent time volunteering through the Adopt-a-Classroom program in New York as well as with Co-Op America,^[10] now known as Green America.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Washington at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 2007 Breakthrough Awards.

• BET Awards
  • 2007- Best Actress The Last King of Scotland: Nominated

• Black Reel Awards
  • 2011- Outstanding Supporting Actress For Colored Girls: Nominated
  • 2011- Outstanding Actress Night Catches Us: Won
  • 2011- Outstanding Ensemble Night Catches Us: Nominated
  • 2011- Outstanding Ensemble For Colored Girls: Won
  • 2009- Outstanding Ensemble Miracle at St. Anna: Nominated
  • 2007- Outstanding Supporting Actress The Last King of Scotland: Nominated
  • 2005- Outstanding Actress, Drama Ray: Nominated
  • 2003- Outstanding Actress, Network/Cable Lift : Nominated
  • 2002- Outstanding Independent Actor Lift: Nominated
  • 2002- Outstanding Supporting Actress Theatrical, Save the Last Dance: Nominated
• Image Awards
  • 2011- Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Night Catches Us: Nominated
  • 2007- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture The Last King of Scotland: Nominated
  • 2006- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Boston Legal: Nominated
  • 2005- Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Ray: Won

• Independent Spirit Awards
  • 2002- Best Female Lead Lift: Nominated

• Satellite Awards
  • 2005- Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Ray: Nominated

• Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • 2005- Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Ray: Nominated

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kerry Washington

• Kerry Washington at the Internet Movie Database
• Kerry Washington on Twitter

Shonda Rhimes
Born	Shonda Rhimes (1970-01-13) January 13, 1970 (age 42) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Occupation	producer, screenwriter, and director.

Shonda Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. Rhimes is best known as the creator, head writer, and executive producer of acclaimed television series Grey's Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice. In May 2007, Rhimes was named one of Time magazine's 100 people who help shape the world.^[1] Rhimes was an executive producer for the medical drama series Off the Map, and developed the ABC drama series, Scandal, which debuted midseason April 5, 2012. She is also developing an upcoming period drama television pilot Gilded Lillys.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

1970–2004: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of a university administrator and a college professor. Rhimes resided in Park Forest South, Illinois (now University Park) with four siblings. Rhimes has stated that she exhibited an early affinity for storytelling^[4] and that her time spent as a candy striper while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments.^[5] Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School, before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree. At Dartmouth, she divided her time between fiction and directing and performing in plays. After college, she relocated to San Francisco with an older sibling and obtained a job in advertising. Rhimes would later relocate to Los Angeles to attend USC to study screenwriting.^[4] Rhimes was ranked at the top of her class and earned the prestigious Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship Award.^[4] Rhimes earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television.^[4]

After graduation, Rhimes found herself an unemployed scriptwriter in Hollywood.^[4] To make ends meet, Rhimes worked at a variety of day jobs, including as an office administrator, and then as a counselor at a job center that taught mentally ill and homeless people job skills. During this period, Rhimes also worked as research director on the 1995 Peabody Award-winning documentary, Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995).^[4] Rhimes made her directorial debut in 1998 with the short film “Blossoms and Veils” starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright.^[4] A feature script Rhimes wrote was purchased by New Line Cinema. This was soon followed by an assignment to write the acclaimed 1999 HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. It earned numerous awards for its star, Halle Berry.^[4] In 2001, Rhimes wrote Crossroads, the debut film of pop singer Britney Spears. Despite being panned by critics, the film grossed over $60 million worldwide.^[6][7] She then moved on to Disney’s sequel to its popular 2001 movie The Princess Diaries. Though 2004's The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) did not score at the box office like its predecessor, Rhimes later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews.^[4]

[edit] 2005–present: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and other projects

Rhimes is currently the creator, executive producer and head writer of Grey's Anatomy. The series debuted as a midseason replacement on March 27, 2005. The series focuses on the surgical staff at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle, Washington. The series features an ensemble cast with Ellen Pompeo serving as titular character Meredith Grey, who provides narration for a majority of the series' episodes. On May 16, 2006, ABC announced plans to relocate Grey's Anatomy from Sunday evenings to Thursdays in order to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming,^[8] by airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. As Thursday has historically been the most competitive programming night among American broadcast networks, the announced schedule change for the series has been viewed by media analysts as another vote of confidence in the series from ABC. The seventh season ended on May 18, 2011 and returned for an eighth season which aired on September 22, 2011.

Rhimes also created and produces the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice. The series debuted on September 26, 2007 on ABC. The show chronicles the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital for Los Angeles in order to join a private practice. The series features an ensemble cast, including Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs among others. The first season was shortened due to writers' strike and consists of only nine episodes. In January 2011, ABC picked up Private Practice for the 2011-12 television season. The fifth season premiered September 29, 2011.

Rhimes created a new pilot for ABC in 2010 called Inside the Box, a female-centric ensemble drama set in a Washington, D.C. network news bureau. It centered on Catherine, an ambitious female news producer, and her colleagues pursuing "the story" at all costs while juggling their personal animosities and crises of conscience.^[9] It was not picked up by the network.^[10] In 2011, Rhimes served as executive producer for the medical drama, Off the Map, which was created by Grey's Anatomy writer, Jenna Bans. It focused on a group of doctors who practice medicine at a remote clinic in the Amazon.^[11] The series was officially cancelled by the ABC network on May 13, 2011.^[12] In May 2011, ABC ordered Rhimes' pilot script Scandal to series. Kerry Washington stars as Olivia Pope, a political crisis management expert who is partially based on former Bush administration press aide Judy Smith.^[13][14] The series debut aired on April 5, 2012.^[15]

Awards[link]

• Rhimes was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay for the 2002 Britney Spears film Crossroads.
• In 2005, Rhimes was nominated for a Black Reel Award(original and adaptation) for the Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
• Rhimes was nominated for an Emmy on three occasions: in 2006, for a dramatic series and a separate nomination for writing a dramatic series, followed by a third nomination in 2007 for a dramatic series.
• Rhimes was nominated by PGA awards for the "Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic" for Drama in Grey's Anatomy in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and won the award in 2007.
• Rhimes and fellow co-workers were nominated in 2006 and 2007 by the Writers Guild of America, USA for the WGA Award (TV) and won the award in 2006.
• In 2007, Rhimes, along with the cast of Grey's Anatomy, was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television^[16]
• In 2007, Rhimes won an image award for "Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series" for the episode "It's the End of the World".
• On February 14, 2008 at the 39th NAACP Image Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in California, Rhimes won 'Outstanding Writing for a Dramatic Series for the episode "A Change is Gonna Come" on Grey's Anatomy. In addition, Rhimes and fellow writer Krista Vernoff won an award for "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" for Private Practice.
• Rhimes has gone on to win two more image awards. One in 2009 for the episode "Freedom" part one and two and the other in 2010 for "What a Difference a Day Makes" both for "Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series" on Grey's Anatomy.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shonda Rhimes at the Internet Movie Database
• 'Grey Matter' Writer's Blog on ABC.com
• http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/11/shonda_rhimes_in_crisis_judy_s.html
• Interview with Shonda Rhimes on the Tavis Smiley show
• Writer's Guild of America profile

Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro at Cannes 2008
Born	Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (1967-02-19) February 19, 1967 (age 45) Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1987–present

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic (2000). He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995), Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Franky Four Fingers in Snatch (2000), Jackie Boy in Sin City (2005), and Che Guevara in Che (2008). He is the third Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.

Early life[link]

Benicio del Toro was born in San German, on the southwest side of the island of Puerto Rico, and grew up in Santurce, a district of San Juan. He is the son of Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera, who were both lawyers, and deeply respected and beloved in Puerto Rico for their commitment to their community. Gustavo Del Toro was affectionately called the "lawyer of the poor". Many of Del Toro's relatives are involved in the island's legal system. ^[1] He has an older brother, Gustavo, who was a pediatric oncologist at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.^[2][3] He is of Spanish descent through a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother,^[4] he has Italian and Amerindian ancestry as well.^[5] The surname del Toro (Touro) is of Sephardic origin. Benicio del Toro is related to Puerto Rican basketball player Carlos Arroyo, his father Gustavo is a cousin of Arroyo's mother, Gloria Bermudez. Del Toro is also related to Spanish Euro-pop singer Rebeca Pous Del Toro, whose grandfather is Puerto Rican, and Puerto Rican singer Eliseo del Toro.

Del Toro, whose childhood nicknames were "Skinny Benny" and "Beno", was raised a Roman Catholic^[6][7] and he attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico.^[8][9] When del Toro was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis.^[2] At age 12, he moved with his father and brother to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he was enrolled at the Mercersburg Academy. He spent his adolescence and attended high school there.^[10] After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a degree in business at the University of California, San Diego.^[10] Success in an elective drama course encouraged him to drop out of college and study with noted acting teachers Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza, in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, in New York City.^[10]

Career[link]

Del Toro began to surface in small television parts during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs such as Miami Vice and the NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story. He had a cameo in Madonna's 1987 music video clip "La Isla Bonita" as a background character (the kid sitting on the car). Work in films followed, beginning with his debut in Big Top Pee-wee and in the 007 film Licence to Kill,^[10] in which 21-year-old del Toro held the distinction of being the youngest actor ever to play a Bond henchman. Del Toro continued to appear in movies including The Indian Runner (1991), China Moon (1994), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), Money for Nothing (1993), Fearless (1993) and Swimming with Sharks (1994).

His career gained momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in The Usual Suspects, where he played the mumbling, wisecracking Fred Fenster.^[10] The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and established him as a character actor. This led to more strong roles in independent and major studio films, including playing Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996) and winning a second consecutive Best Supporting Actor Independent Spirit Award for his work as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), directed by his friend, artist Julian Schnabel. Del Toro also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the big budget thriller The Fan, in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Puerto Rican baseball star.

For Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he gained more than 40 lbs. (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo (a.k.a. Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort.^[10] The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years. Returning from a two-year hiatus after Fear and Loathing, del Toro would gain a mainstream audience in 2000 with a string of performances in four high-profile films. First up was The Way of the Gun, a crime yarn that reunited him with The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, making his directorial debut. A few months later, he stood out among a first-rate ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, a complex dissection of the North American drug wars. As Javier Rodriguez —a Mexican border cop struggling to remain honest amid the corruption and deception of illegal drug trafficking —del Toro, who spoke most of his lines in Spanish, gave a performance that dominated the film.^[10]

His performance swept all of the major critics awards in 2001. Del Toro won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the fourth living Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a foreign language. Del Toro is also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar, after Jose Ferrer and Rita Moreno.^[10] The night he won his Oscar marked first time that two actors born in Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category (the other actor was Joaquin Phoenix). In his acceptance speech, del Toro thanked the people of both Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora and dedicated his award to them. In addition to the Oscar, he also won the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Traffic was also a success at the box office, bringing to del Toro real Hollywood clout for the first time in his career. While Traffic was still playing in theaters, two other del Toro films were released in late 2000/early 2001. He had a brief role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy Snatch, and played a mentally-challenged Native American man in The Pledge, directed by his old friend Sean Penn.^[10]

In 2003, del Toro appeared in two films: The Hunted, co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, and the drama 21 Grams, co-starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He went on to garner another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work in the latter. He then appeared in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City, directed by Robert Rodriguez, and Things We Lost in the Fire, the English language debut of celebrated Danish director Susanne Bier. Things We Lost in the Fire co-starred Halle Berry, Alison Lohman, and John Carroll Lynch.

In 2008, del Toro was awarded the Prix d'interpretation masculine (or Best Actor Award) at the Cannes Film Festival for his characterization of Che Guevara in the biographical films The Argentine and Guerrilla (together known as Che).^[11] During his acceptance speech del Toro dedicated his award "to the man himself, Che Guevara" along with director Steven Soderbergh.^[12] Del Toro was also awarded a 2009 Goya Award as the Best Actor for his depiction of Che.^[13] Actor Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for his role in Milk, remarked that he was surprised and disappointed that Che and del Toro were not also up for any Academy Award nominations. During his acceptance speech for the Best Actor's trophy at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Penn expressed his dismay stating, "The fact that there aren't crowns on Soderbergh's and Del Toro's heads right now, I don't understand ... that is such a sensational movie, Che."^[14] For the final portions of the film (shown here), del Toro shed 35 pounds to show how ill Guevara had become near the end of his life in the jungles of Bolivia.^[15]

In 2010, del Toro starred in and produced the remake of Lon Chaney, Jr.'s classic cult film The Wolf Man.^[16]

He was chosen to be the face of the 2011 Campari calendar, becoming the first male model to be featured in the Italian liquor company's calendar.^[17][18]

Personal life[link]

Benicio is not related to Oscar-nominated director Guillermo del Toro; this is a popular misconception.

While promoting his film The Wolfman in 2010, he described his romantic life as "in limbo." When asked if he had thoughts of settling down, he responded, "Why? Everyone says, 'Why isn’t he married?' But it’s like, Fuck! Why do I have to get married? Just so I can get divorced?" In an interview with The Times he mentioned that he didn't want his West Hollywood apartment, which he described as his "cave," to be "invaded" by a wife and children.^[19]

Benicio del Toro has been linked to various women through the years, including actresses Valeria Golino, Claire Forlani, Alicia Silverstone, Chiara Mastroianni, Heather Graham, and Sara Foster.

On April 11, 2011, del Toro's publicist announced that del Toro and Kimberly Stewart (daughter of Rod Stewart) were expecting their first child, although they were not in a relationship.^[20] Stewart gave birth to a daughter, Delilah,^[21] on August 21, 2011.^[20]

In November 2011, he acquired Spanish citizenship. The request was granted by the Spanish government due to his artistic talents and his Spanish roots (he has family in Barcelona).^[22]

In March 2012, he was granted a honorific degree by the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico for his impact on the cinema enterprise, during the celebration of the institution centenary.^[23]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Short films[link]

Television series[link]

Selected awards[link]

See also[link]

	Puerto Rico portal
	Academy Award portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal

• List of Best Supporting Actor nominees
• List of Puerto Ricans

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benicio del Toro

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Benicio del Toro

• Benicio del Toro at the Internet Movie Database
• Benicio Del Toro on 'Che': Man on a Mission
• Benicio Del Toro Gets to the Man Behind the T-Shirt Myth in "Che"