The Christian Dior Home and Museum in Granville (Manche), France.

Christian Dior (French pronunciation: [kʁistjɑ̃ djɔːʁ]) (21 January 1905 – 23 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.

Early life[link]

Christian Dior was born in Granville, a seaside town on the coast of Normandy, France, the second of the five children of Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer (the family firm was Dior Frères), and his wife, the former Isabelle Cardamone. He had four siblings: Raymond (father of Françoise Dior), Jacqueline, Bernard, and Ginette (aka Catherine).^[1] When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris, France, but still returned to the Normandy coast for summer vacations.

Dior's family had hopes he would become a diplomat, but Dior was artistic and wished to be involved in fashion. To make money, he sold his fashion sketches outside his house for about 10 cents each. In 1928, Dior left school and received money from his father to finance a small art gallery, where he and a friend sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. Three years later, after the death of Dior's mother and brother and a financial disaster in the family’s fertilizer business, during the Great Depression, that resulted in his father losing control of Dior Frères, the gallery had to be closed. From then until about 1940 he worked with fashion designer Robert Piguet, when he was called up for military service.

In 1942, when Dior left the Army, Dior joined the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, where he and Pierre Balmain were the primary designers. For the duration of World War II, Dior, as an employee of Lelong — who labored to preserve the French fashion industry during wartime for economic and artistic reasons — designed dresses for the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators, as did other fashion houses that remained in business during the war, including Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin, and Nina Ricci.^[2][3] While Dior dressed Nazi wives, his sister Catherine (1917—2008) served as a member of the French Resistance, was captured by the Gestapo, and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was incarcerated until she was liberated in May 1945.^[4]

The Dior fashion house[link]

On 16 December 1946 Dior founded his fashion house, backed by Marcel Boussac, a cotton-fabric magnate. The actual name of the line of his first collection, presented in early 1947, was Corolle (literally the botanical term corolla or circlet of flower petals in English), but the phrase New Look was coined for it by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar. Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles, influenced by the rations on fabric.^[5] He was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying "I have designed flower women." His look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form.

Initially, women protested because his designs covered up their legs, which they had been unused to because of the previous limitations on fabric. There was also some backlash to Dior's designs due to the amount of fabrics used in a single dress or suit. During one photo shoot in a Paris market, the models were attacked by female vendors over this profligacy, but opposition ceased as the wartime shortages ended. The "New Look" (a name given it by American fashion-magazine editor Carmel Snow) revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of the fashion world after World War II.

Death[link]

Dior died while on holiday in Montecatini, Italy on 23 October 1957. Some reports say that he died of a heart attack after choking on a fish bone.^[6] Time's obituary stated that he died of a heart attack after playing a game of cards.^[7] However, the Paris socialite and Dior acquaintance Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Rédé, stated in his memoirs that contemporary rumor had it that the fashion designer succumbed to a heart attack after a strenuous sexual encounter. Some even think that he died because of a seizure. To this day, the exact circumstances remain undisclosed.

Dior was a bachelor.

Tributes[link]

The Paul Gallico novella Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris (1958, UK title Flowers for Mrs Harris) tells the story of a London charwoman who falls in love with her employer's couture wardrobe and decides to go to Paris to purchase herself a Dior ballgown.

A perfume named Christian Dior is used in Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as an influential symbol placed at critical plot points throughout.

The English singer-songwriter Morrissey released a song titled "Christian Dior" as a b-side to his 2006 single "In the Future When All's Well".

American Rapper/Producer Kanye West released a song titled "Christian Dior Denim Flow" as a 2010 Fashion Week single.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Christian Dior official website
• Christian Dior designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• A biography of Christian Dior
• Sewing patterns by Christian Dior
• "'Bar' Suit and Hat". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighBarSuit.php. Retrieved 11 November 2007. 
• "Zémire evening ensemble". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighZemire.php. Retrieved 13 November 2007. 
• Photos of Dior and Samples of New Look Fashion
• "Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php. 
• [1] Documentary film Christian Dior, The Man Behind The Myth
• Christian Dior at Chicago History Museum Digital Collections

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

John Charles Galliano^[1] CBE, RDI (born 28 November 1960) is a Gibraltar-born British fashion designer who was head designer of the French fashion companies John Galliano S.A. (1993 to April 2011)^[2], Givenchy (January 1996 to October 1996), and Christian Dior (October 1996 to March 2011).

Family[link]

He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a Spanish mother, Anita, and has two sisters.^[3]Galliano's father was a plumber.^[4] His family moved to England in pursuit of work when Galliano was six, and settled in Streatham, South London, before moving to Dulwich^[5][6] and later to Brockley.^[7] He was raised in a strict Roman Catholic family. Galliano, who was shy and diffident, often spoke of his struggle to fit in. Recalling his early days, he once admitted: "I don’t think people here understood where I was coming from." His mother, a flamenco teacher, would dress him in his "smartest" outfit even for a trip to the local shops. This, combined with his creative sensibilities, saw him frequently bullied at the London boys' grammar school he attended.^[5]

Early career[link]

After attending St. Anthony's RC School and Wilson's Grammar School in London, Galliano went on to study at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, from which he graduated in 1984 with a first class honours degree in Fashion Design. His first collection was inspired by the French Revolution and entitled Les Incroyables, with a music soundtrack mixed by DJ Jeremy Healy. The collection received positive reviews and was bought in its entirety for resale in the London fashion boutique Browns. Galliano then started his own fashion label alongside long-term collaborators Amanda Harlech, at that time stylist with Harpers and Queen, and Stephen Jones, a milliner.^{[citation needed]}

On the back of this success, Galliano rented studio space in London, but his talent was not matched by a head for business. Moreover, he would take his enjoyment of London’s nightlife to extremes.^[5] Initially, financial backing came from Johan Brun, and when this agreement came to an end, Danish entrepreneur Peder Bertelsen, owner of firm Aguecheek, who were also backing Katherine Hamnett at the time, took over. This agreement ended in 1988 and Galliano sought the backing of German agent Faycal Amor (owner and designer of fashion label Plein Sud) who directed him to set up his base in Paris. Galliano relocated to Paris in search of financial backing and a strong client base. His first show was in 1989 as part of Paris Fashion Week. By 1990, he was bankrupt and, after his own London-based label failed to re-ignite his fortunes, he moved to Paris.^[5]

Media fashion celebrity Susannah Constantine has worked for Galliano,^[8] and he has also aided the future success of other designers including shoe designer Patrick Cox. In 1991, he collaborated with Kylie Minogue, designing the costumes for her Let's Get to It Tour.^{[citation needed]}

Paris[link]

In 1993, Galliano's financial agreement with Amor ended and he did not have a showing in October, missing the season. With the help of American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley, then European Correspondent at Vanity Fair, Galliano was introduced to Portuguese socialite and fashion patron Sao Schlumberger and financial backers of venture firm Arbela Inc, John Bult and Mark Rice. It was through this partnership that Galliano received the financial backing and high society stamp needed to give him credibility in Paris. This collection was important in the development of Galliano as a fashion house, and is regarded as a 'fashion moment' in high fashion circles.^{[citation needed]}

Givenchy[link]

In July 1995, he was appointed as the designer of Givenchy by Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, thus becoming the first British designer to head a French haute couture house.^{[citation needed]} On 21 January 1996, Galliano presented his first couture show at the helm of Givenchy at the Stade de France. The collection received high praise within the fashion media.^{[citation needed]} Some of Galliano's designs for Givenchy were licensed to Vogue Patterns.^[9] Less than two years later, on 14 October 1996, LVMH moved Galliano to Christian Dior, replacing Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré.^[10] The vacancy at Givenchy was filled by another British designer, Alexander McQueen. His first couture show for Dior coincided with the label's 50th anniversary, on January 20, 1997.

Dior[link]

John Galliano design for Dior, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, 2011.

He has been quoted as identifying his love of theatre and femininity as central to his creations: "my role is to seduce", he has said, and has gone so far as recreating some of Dior's period clothing for Madonna in Evita. He has also credited Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers as an influence.^[11]

Suspension and dismissal[link]

On 25 February 2011, Dior announced that it had suspended Galliano following his arrest over an alleged anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris bar.^[12] The same day, Paris-based citizen journalism site Citizenside received video of Galliano on a similar rant in the same bar the previous December. In the video a drunk Galliano hurls anti-semitic rants at a group of Italian women and declares "I love Hitler... People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers would all be fucking gassed." This incident happened just before Paris Fashion Week for Autumn/Winter 2011-12.

The video was licensed to British tabloid newspaper The Sun, which published the video on its website.^[13] After his comments he was impersonated on Saturday Night Live by Taran Killam.

Natalie Portman, a Jerusalem-born American actress who is Jewish and whose great-grandparents died at Auschwitz, had an endorsement contract with Dior for its Miss Dior Cherie fragrance. In a statement, she expressed "disgust" at Galliano's anti-semitic comments.^[14] Portman said: “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today...I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful.”^[15] Not everyone in the fashion industry shared Portman's disgust. Stylist and costume designer Patricia Field defended Galliano by sending an email to 500 friends, blogs and media. She dismissed Galliano's rants as "theatre." Later, in a phone interview with Women's Wear Daily, she described Galliano’s videotaped behaviour as “farce” and said she was bewildered that people in the fashion community have not recognised it as such. "It's theatre ... It's farce. But people in fashion don’t recognise the farce in it. All of a sudden they don't know him. But it's OK when it's Mel Brooks's The Producers singing 'Springtime for Hitler'”, Field added.^[16] Another model for Dior, French actress Eva Green, said of the incident: "Sometimes, you can make mistakes. I don't think he's anti-semitic. I'm Jewish. I don't think he has anything against the Jews. I think it's more that he was probably a bit drunk."^[17]

On 1 March 2011, Dior announced that it had begun procedures of dismissal for Galliano, with Dior's chief executive Sidney Toledano stating, "I very firmly condemn what was said by John Galliano".^[18] After the incident Galliano's popular personal website was jammed and made unavailable for visitors.^[19] Galliano denied the allegations through his attorney,^[18] and has launched a defamation lawsuit against the couple accusing him of antisemitism.^[20] Various rumours have also surfaced stating that he was set up. "From the very first day of Fashion Week, many editors have been saying that Dior wanted to get rid of him and that a plot like this would save it from having to pay him a reported £17 million", said Marcellous L. Jones, editor-in-chief of fashion web magazine TheFashionInsider.com.^[21] Dior announced it will continue to support the Galliano brand financially due to license despite his previous scandal involving alleged anti-semitic remarks.^[22]

Criminal charges[link]

It was reported on 2 March 2011 that Galliano was to face trial in Paris for allegedly "making racist comments to customers in a café".^[23] He had reportedly apologised "unreservedly" for his behavior, while Dior described the comments in the video as "odious". According to the Financial Times, "if found guilty, Galliano could face up to six months in prison and a fine of €22,500."^[24] (around US$31,000). The Daily Telegraph reported that it is believed Galliano has now left France and he was reported to be attending a rehabilitation facility, most likely The Meadows in Arizona."^[25] A Paris court ordered that he stand trial on charges of "public insults based on the origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" against three people.^[26] The trial commenced on 22 June 2011.^[27][28]

On September 8, 2011, he was found guilty of making anti-Semitic remarks. John Galliano has been sentenced to pay a total of €6,000 (US$8,400) in suspended fines after a French court found him guilty of giving public insults on account of race.^[29]

Honours[link]

Galliano was awarded British Designer of the Year in 1987, 1994 and 1995. In 1997, he shared the award with Alexander McQueen, his successor at Givenchy.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List^[30] for his services to the Fashion Industry as a Fashion Designer. He received his CBE on 27 November 2001 at Buckingham Palace in London, England.

He was awarded the RDI in 2002 for his contribution to the fashion industry.

He has appeared on The Independent on Sunday's 2007 "pink list" for being one of "the most influential gay people in Britain."^[31]

In 2009, Galliano received the French Legion of Honour, previously awarded to such fashion luminaries as Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Azzedine Alaïa and Suzy Menkes, to name a few.^[32]

Personal[link]

In interviews Galliano has given his full name as Juan Carlos Antonio Galliano-Guillén.^[3] Galliano shared his Paris home with his long-term boyfriend Alexis Roche, a style consultant. Galliano became a familiar figure on the streets of Le Marais, an area of Paris popular with gays and also the city’s Jewish community.

See also[link]

• John Galliano's Spring-Summer 2004 Haute Couture collection

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of John Galliano S.A., a company that no longer employs Mr. Galliano
• John Galliano designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• IQONS portrait of Galliano
• British Design Museum
• "Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php. 

Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola, November 7, 2010
Born	Sofia Carmina Coppola (1971-05-14) May 14, 1971 (age 41) New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence	Napa Valley, California
Education	Mills College
Alma mater	California Institute of the Arts
Occupation	Director, producer, screenwriter, actress
Years active	1972–present
Influenced by	Francis Ford Coppola, Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Bogdanovich, François Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni, Bob Fosse, John Hughes
Home town	Los Angeles, California
Spouse	Spike Jonze (1999-2003)(divorced) Thomas Mars (2011-present)
Children	2
Parents	Francis Ford Coppola (father) Eleanor Coppola (mother)
Family	Gian-Carlo Coppola (brother) Roman Coppola (brother) Jason Schwartzman (cousin) Robert Schwartzman (cousin) Nicolas Cage (cousin) Marc Coppola (cousin) Christopher Coppola (cousin) Talia Shire (aunt)

Sofia Carmina Coppola ( /ˈkoʊpələ/ KOH-pə-lə; born May 14, 1971) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actress. In 2003, she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman (and first American woman) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing. In 2010, with Somewhere, she became the first American woman (and fourth American filmmaker) to win the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.^[1]

Early life[link]

Coppola was born in New York City, New York, the youngest child and only daughter of set decorator/artist Eleanor Coppola (née Neil) and director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather and Apocalypse Now), granddaughter of the composer Carmine Coppola, sister of Roman Coppola and Gian-Carlo Coppola, niece of her father's siblings August Coppola and Talia Shire, and a cousin of Nicolas Cage, Jason Schwartzman and Robert Carmine.^[2] When she was just 14 years old, her brother Gian-Carlo was killed in a boating accident. She attended high school at St. Helena High School and graduated class of 1990. She later went to Mills College and the California Institute of the Arts, and interned with Chanel when she was fifteen years old.^[3][4] After dropping out, Coppola started a clothing line called Milkfed that is now sold exclusively in Japan.^[5]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Coppola's acting career, frequently described as based largely upon nepotism,^[6][7][8] began as an infant: she made background appearances in seven of her father's films. The best known of these early roles is her appearance in The Godfather as the baby boy in the christening scene.^[9][10] She is also seen in her father's film The Outsiders in a scene where Matt Dillon, Tommy Howell, and Ralph Macchio are eating at a Dairy Queen before the famous burning church scene.

Frankenweenie (1984) was the first film she performed in that was not associated with her father. However, it often goes unnoted due to her stage name, "Domino", which she adopted at the time because she thought it was glamorous.^[11]

In 1986, Coppola was cast as Kathleen Turner's sister, Nancy Kelcher, in Peggy Sue Got Married. The film was directed by her father, Francis Ford Coppola, and costarred her cousin, Nicolas Cage.

The 1989 short film entitled Life Without Zoe was released as part of a tripartite anthology film, New York Stories. It was written by Sofia Coppola and her father, Francis Ford Coppola (who also directed the film).

Her best-known acting role is Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III (1990), a significant role for which she was cast by her father after Winona Ryder fell ill. Her critically panned performance (for which she was named "Worst Supporting Actress" and "Worst New Star" at the 1990 Golden Raspberry Awards) effectively ended her acting career, save for appearances in the 1992 independent film Inside Monkey Zetterland, and in the background of films by her friends and family. In 1999, she appeared as Saché in George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. She has since been quoted as saying she wasn't hurt by the criticism from her role in The Godfather Part III, because she never especially wanted an acting career.^[12]

Coppola can also be seen in several music videos from the 1990s, appearing in The Black Crowes' "Sometimes Salvation", Madonna's "Deeper and Deeper", and the Chemical Brothers' "Elektrobank", which was directed by her future husband Spike Jonze.

Filmmaking[link]

Her first three films were Lick the Star (1998), The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003). Lost in Translation won the Academy Award for her original screenplay and three Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture. Alongside Lina Wertmüller and Jane Campion, Coppola became the third female director to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing. Her win for best original screenplay in 2003 made her a third-generation Oscar winner. In 2004, Coppola was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[13]

Coppola in 2003.

Coppola's next film was the biopic Marie Antoinette, adapted from the biography by British historian Antonia Fraser. Kirsten Dunst plays the title character, who marries King Louis XVI, played by Jason Schwartzman, Coppola's cousin. It débuted at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival^[14] where, despite boos in the audience, it received a standing ovation.^[15] Critics were divided.

Her most recent film is the semi-autobiographical Somewhere (2010). The movie was filmed at Chateau Marmont. The plot focuses on a "bad boy" actor portrayed by Stephen Dorff who is forced to reevaluate his life when his daughter, played by Elle Fanning, arrives unexpectedly.^[16] In November 2010, Coppola was interviewed by Joel Coen, who professed his admiration of Coppola's work, at the DGA screening of Somewhere in New York City.^[17]

Coppola's next film will deal with the Bling Ring, a group of California teenagers who burglarized the homes of several celebrities over 2008 and 2009, stealing around $3 million in cash and belongings.^[18] Emma Watson,^[19] Taissa Farmiga^[20] and Leslie Mann^[21] are starring in the film, which will begin shooting during the spring of 2012.

Television[link]

In the mid-1990s, she and best friend Zoe Cassavetes helmed the short-lived series Hi Octane on Comedy Central which spotlit performers in underground music. The show was cancelled after 4 episodes.^[22]

In December 2008, Coppola's first commercial premiered during an episode of Gossip Girl. The advertisement which she directed for the Christian Dior fragrance Miss Dior Chérie which was shot in France with model Maryna Linchuk was very well received and continues to be popular on YouTube.^[23]

Modeling[link]

At the beginning of the 1990s, she was often featured in girl-oriented magazines like Seventeen and YM. In 1998, she cofounded the clothing line Milk Fed in Japan with friend Stephanie Hayman in cooperation with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon.

In 2002, fashion designer Marc Jacobs hand-picked the actress/director to be the face of his house's fragrance. The campaign involved photographs of her shot by photographer Juergen Teller in his signature grainy style.

Awards[link]

Coppola was nominated for three Academy Awards for her 2003 film Lost in Translation, in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay. She would go on to win for Best Original Screenplay, but lost the other two nominations to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Her nomination for Best Director made her the first American woman in history to be nominated in that category, and the third overall, after Lina Wertmüller and Jane Campion. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the fourth woman to be nominated, and the first to win the award. Coppola, however, remains the youngest woman to be nominated in the Best Director category.

Her win for Best Original Screenplay resulted in her family becoming the second three-generation Oscar winning family, her grandfather Carmine Coppola and her father Francis Ford Coppola having previously won Oscars. The first family to achieve this feat was the Huston family: Walter, John, and Anjelica.

For her work on Lost in Translation, Coppola also won a Best Screenplay Golden Globe and received a BAFTA nomination.

On September 11, 2010, Somewhere won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the 67th Venice Film Festival.^[24]

Personal life[link]

In 1999, Coppola married director Spike Jonze, whom she had first met in 1992; they divorced in 2003.

Coppola lives in Paris. She described her love for the city and her favorite places there, "The Palais-Royal, the Tuileries Garden, the Musee D'Orsay. You can tell I love the city, right? It's a filmmaker's dream there; the colors are beautiful!"^[25] There, in Paris, on Tuesday, November 28, 2006, Coppola gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Romy, who is named in honor of her brother Roman. The child's father is Thomas Mars, lead singer of the French rock band Phoenix.^[26] Coppola first met Mars while producing the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides.^[27] They have since collaborated on Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette^[28] and her fourth film Somewhere.^[29]

On December 10, 2009, Mars confirmed that Coppola was pregnant with their second child.^[30] A second daughter named Cosima was born in New York City on May 18, 2010.^[31]

Coppola and Mars were married on August 27, 2011 at a wedding at her family's villa in Bernalda, Italy.^[32]

Filmography[link]

Director[link]

Films[link]

• The Virgin Suicides (1999)
• Lost in Translation (2003)
• Marie Antoinette (2006)
• Somewhere (2010)
• The Bling Ring (2013)

Short-films[link]

• Lick the Star (1998)

Music videos[link]

• Shine by Walt Mink (1993)
• This Here Giraffe by The Flaming Lips (1996)
• Playground Love by Air (2000)
• City Girl by Kevin Shields (2003)
• I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself by The White Stripes (2003)

Advertisement[link]

• Miss Dior Chérie fragrance for Christian Dior starring Maryna Linchuk (2008)
• City of Light fragrance for Christian Dior starring Natalie Portman (2010)
• Marni collection for H&M starring Imogen Poots (2012)

Actress[link]

Films[link]

Music videos[link]

• "Mildred Pierce" by Sonic Youth (1990) - directed by Dave Markey
• "Deeper and Deeper" by Madonna (1992) - directed by Bobby Woods
• "Sometimes Salvation" by The Black Crowes (1992) - directed by Stéphane Sednaoui
• "Elektrobank" by The Chemical Brothers (1997) - directed by Spike Jonze
• "Funky Squaredance" by Phoenix (2002) - directed by Roman Coppola

See also[link]

• Coppola family tree

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Coppola Smart Mob New York Times Magazine cover article
• Sofia Coppola at the Internet Movie Database
• Milk fed. - Coppola's Japanese fashion label
• Sofia Mini - Coppola's Canned Wine
• So fine, Sofia - Wine Review
• KCRW's The Treatment:Sofia Coppola
• Sofia Coppola Interview with Clubplanet
• "Sofia Coppola's Style" - Sofia Coppola's Style

Natalie Portman
Portman at the premiere of Black Swan during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎) (1981-06-09) June 9, 1981 (age 31) Jerusalem, Israel
Alma mater	Harvard College, A.B. 2003
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Agent	International Creative Management, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Spouse	Benjamin Millepied (2012–present)
Children	1
Notes [1]

Natalie Hershlag^[2][3] (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎; born June 9, 1981), better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but mainstream success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005).^[4] In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while still working as an actress.^[5] She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.

In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.^[4] In 2005, Portman received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for the drama Closer. She won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance, and a Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in V for Vendetta (2006). She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). In May 2008, she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury.^[6] Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.^[7] Portman directed a segment of the collective film New York, I Love You.

In 2011, Portman won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, Independent Spirit Awards, and the BAFTA Award for her lead performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.

Early life[link]

Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel.^[8][9][10] She is the only child of Shelley (née Stevens), an American homemaker who works as Portman's agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli citizen who is a fertility specialist and gynecologist.^[11][12][13] Portman's maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants to the United States, from Austria and Russia (her mother's family had changed their surname from "Edelstein" to "Stevens").^[14] Her paternal ancestors were Jews who moved to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather, whose parents died at Auschwitz, was an economics professor in Israel, and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II.^[15][16]

Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training.^[13] Portman, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel,^[17] has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."^[15]

Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D.C., but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990.^{[4][18][19][20]}

Education[link]

In Washington, D.C., Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Portman learned to speak Hebrew^[21] in addition to English, and attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York.^[22] She graduated from Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island, in 1999.^[23][24][25] Portman skipped the premiere of her film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace so she could study for her high school final exams.^[26]

In 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard College with a A.B. degree in psychology.^{[25][27][28][29]} "I don't care if [college] ruins my career," she told the New York Post. "I'd rather be smart than a movie star."^[30][31] At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant.^[32][33] While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House^[34] and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an essay critical of Israeli actions toward Palestinians.^[35]

Portman took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004.^[36] In March 2006, she was a guest lecturer at a Columbia University course in terrorism and counterterrorism, where she spoke about her film V for Vendetta.^[37]

Portman has professed an interest in foreign languages since childhood and has studied French,^[38] Japanese,^[38] German,^[39] and Arabic.^[40]

As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper, "A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar", co-authored with scientists Ian Hurley and Jonathan Woodward, was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search.^[41] In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation during Object Permanence: Data from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy" during her psychology studies at Harvard.^[42][43] This publication placed Portman among a very small number of professional actors with a defined Erdős–Bacon number.^[42][44][45]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Portman started dancing lessons at age four^[4] and performed in local troupes. At the age of ten, a Revlon agent asked her to become a child model,^[4][46] but she turned down the offer to focus on acting. In a magazine interview, Portman said that she was "different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid."^[47]

Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. When she was ten, she auditioned for the Off-Broadway show Ruthless!, a musical about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play. Portman and future pop star Britney Spears were chosen as the understudies for star Laura Bell Bundy.^[36] In 1994, she auditioned for the role of a child who befriends a middle-aged hitman in Luc Besson's film, Léon (aka The Professional). Soon after getting the part, she took her grandmother's maiden name "Portman" as her stage name, in the interest of privacy and to protect her family's identity.^[4][48] Léon opened on November 18, 1994, marking her feature film debut. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television.

1995–99[link]

During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls.^[4] She was the first choice to play Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, but producers felt her age wasn't suitable.^[46] In 1997, Portman played the role of Anne Frank in a Broadway adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Also in 1997, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first film, The Phantom Menace, began filming in June 1997 and opened in May 1999.^[4][49] Following production on The Phantom Menace, she initially turned down a lead role in the film Anywhere but Here after learning it would involve a sex scene, but director Wayne Wang and actress Susan Sarandon (who played Portman's mother in the film) demanded a rewrite of the script. Portman was shown a new draft, and she decided to accept the role.^[4] The film opened in late 1999, and she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann August.^[50] Critic Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon called Portman "astonishing" and said that "[u]nlike any number of actresses her age, she's neither too maudlin nor too plucky."^[51] She then signed on to play the lead role of a teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is, which opened in April 2000.

2000–05[link]

Amos Gitai with Hana Laszlo and Natalie Portman on the set of Free Zone, (2005)

After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard University to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology.^[4] She said in a 1999 interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying.^[52] During the summer break from June to September 2000, Portman filmed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in Sydney, along with additional production in London.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols; she played the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.^[4] The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.^[53] That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the 2001 comedy Zoolander. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.^[4]

In 2004, Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer.^[4] Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her performance as Alice in Closer earned her a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[54][55]

The final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, was released on May 19, 2005. The film was the highest grossing domestic film of the year,^[56] and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Miloš Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman had not seen any of her work but thought she looked like a Goya painting, so he requested a meeting.^[57]

2006–09[link]

Portman at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival (jury member)

Portman hosted Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006.^[58] In a SNL Digital Short, she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flavor Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on marijuana and cocaine.^[59] The song, titled "Natalie's Rap," was released – alongside other sketches from the show – in 2009 on Incredibad, an album by the Lonely Island.^[60] In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).

V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and she famously had her head shaved.^[61]

Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance and mentioned that the main character, who recruits Evey to join an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".^[62]

Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."^[61] In late 2006, Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson co-starred. She was named one of the hottest women of film and TV by Blender Magazine.^[63]

In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman... but she's not coasting on her looks... She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table."^[64] Portman voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend Darcy in the episode "Little Big Girl" of The Simpsons' 18th season.^[65]

She appeared in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry.^[66] Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman. In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury,^[6] and in 2009, she starred opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the drama film Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film of the same name.^[67]

In 2008, Portman at age 27 made her directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival. "Eve", a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along on her grandmother's romantic date, was screened out of competition. Portman said she had always had a fascination with the older generation, and drew inspiration for the character from her own grandmother.^[68]

2010–present[link]

Portman being interviewed at the premiere of No Strings Attached, January 11, 2011

Portman played a veteran ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film Black Swan,^[69] a role of which critic Kurt Loder wrote: "Portman gives one of her most compelling performances in this film, which is saying something."^[70] To prepare for the role, she went through five to eight hours of dance training each day for six months and lost 20 pounds.^[71] In 2011, she won both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress.^[72][73]

After Portman's Oscar win, controversy arose over who performed the bulk of the on-screen dancing in Black Swan.^[74] Sarah Lane, one of Portman's dancing doubles in the film, claimed that Portman performed only about 5 percent of the full-body shots, adding that she was asked by the film’s producers not to speak publicly about it during the Oscar season.^[75] Director Aronofsky defended Portman by issuing a statement insisting that Portman performed 80 percent of the on-screen dancing in the movie.^[75]

Portman's next film was No Strings Attached, for which she was also an executive producer. It was released on January 21, 2011. She then starred in Your Highness, opposite James Franco and Danny McBride, and also played the role of Jane Foster in Kenneth Branagh's superhero film adaptation Thor.^[76] In 2010, Portman dropped out of the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet in the novel adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but she continues as producer.^[77]

In February 2012, it was reported that she had signed on for two Terrence Malick projects named Knight of Cups and Lawless, both planned for release within two years.^[78]

In April 2012, Portman starred in Paul McCartney's music video, "My Valentine" alongside Johnny Depp.^[79]

Social and political causes[link]

Portman at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, presenting Black Swan

Portman, who is an advocate for animal rights, has been a vegetarian since childhood.^[80] She became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.^[81] She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said.^[82] In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.^[83] During her pregnancy in 2011, Portman went off her vegan diet and returned to vegetarianism.^[84]

In 2007, Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film the documentary Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman christened a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play."^[85] Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids.^[86] She is also a member of the One Voice movement.^[87]

Portman has also supported antipoverty activities. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in developing countries.^[88] In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, she discussed microfinance.^[89] Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes," but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff."^[90]

In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday morning program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries.^[91] In fall 2007, she visited several university campuses, including Harvard, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.^[92]

In 2010, Portman's activist work and popularity with young people earned her a nomination for VH1's Do Something Awards, which is dedicated to honoring individuals who do good.^[93]

Portman is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and in the 2004 presidential race she campaigned for the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, Portman supported Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in the Democratic primaries. She later campaigned for the eventual Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, during the general election.^[94] However, in a 2008 interview, she also said: "I even like John McCain. I disagree with his war stance – which is a really big deal – but I think he's a very moral person."^[95]

Personal life[link]

In 2006, she said that she felt more Jewish in Israel and that she would like to raise her children Jewish: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner."^[96]

After starring in the video for his song "Carmensita", she began a relationship with American folk singer Devendra Banhart,^[97] which ended in September 2008.^[98]

Portman began dating ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied in 2009. The couple met while she was filming Black Swan, for which Millepied was the choreographer.^[99] In December 2010, Portman announced that she was engaged to Millepied and confirmed her pregnancy.^{[100][101][102]} Portman gave birth to their first child, a son named Aleph Portman-Millepied, in 2011.^[103][104] In February 2012, it was confirmed that Portman and Millepied had married in a private ceremony.^[105][106]

Filmography[link]

Portman at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Awards[link]

Portman at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011

References[link]