Revlon Incorporated

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: REV
Industry	Cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, personal care
Founded	1932
Founder(s)	Joseph & Charles Revson, Charles Lachman
Headquarters	New York City, New York, United States
Key people	Alan T. Ennis, President and CEO
Revenue	US$1.3 billion (2009)[1][2]
Operating income	US$170.8 million (2009)[1][2]
Net income	US$821.20 million (2009)[2]
Total assets	US$794.20 million (2009)[2]
Employees	6,800
Parent	MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings: 60% (74% of votes) FMR Corp.: 20%
Website	http://www.revlon.com/ (US)

Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.

History[link]

Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name.^[3] Starting with a single product — a new type of nail enamel — the three founders pooled their resources and developed a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed a variety of new shades of opaque nail enamel. In 1937, Revlon started selling the polishes in department stores and drug stores. In six years, the company became a multimillion dollar organization. By 1940, Revlon offered an entire manicure line, and added lipstick to the collection. During World War II, Revlon created makeup and related products for the U.S. Army, which was honored in 1944 with the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence.

By the end of the war, Revlon was listed as one of America's top five cosmetic houses. Expanding its capabilities, the company bought Graef & Schmidt, a cutlery manufacturer seized by the government in 1943 because of German business ties. This acquisition made it possible for Revlon to produce its own manicure and pedicure instruments, instead of buying them from outside supply sources.

In November 1955, Revlon went public. The IPO price was $12 per share, but it reached $30 per share within 8 weeks.

In the 1960s, Revson segmented Revlon Inc into different divisions, each focusing on a different market. He borrowed this strategy from General Motors. Each division had its own target customer:

• Revlon, the largest and most popular-priced brand
• Princess Marcella Borghese, upscale/international
• Ultima II, premium
• Natural Wonder, juniors
• Moon Drops, dry skin
• Etherea, hypo-allergenic

In 1957, Revlon acquired Knomark, a shoe-polish company, and sold its shoe-polish line Esquire Shoe Polish in 1969. Other acquisitions, such as Ty-D-Bol, the maker of toilet cleansers, and a 27 percent interest in the Schick electric shaver company were soon discarded. Evan Picone, a women's sportswear manufacturer which came with a price tag of $12 million in 1962, was sold back to one of the original partners four years later for $1 million. However, the 1967 acquisition of U.S. Vitamin and Pharmaceutical Corporation made Revlon a leader in diabetes drugs.

The company began to market its products overseas at the end of the 1950s. By 1962, when Revlon debuted in Japan, there were subsidiaries in France, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Asia. Revlon's entrance into the Japanese market was typical of its international sales strategy. Instead of adapting its ads and using Japanese models, Revlon chose to use its basic U.S. advertising and models. Japanese women loved the American look, and the sales for 1962 came to almost $164 million.

In 1968, Revlon introduced Eterna27, the first cosmetic cream with an estrogen precursor called Progenitin (pregenolone acetate), as well as introducing the world's first American fashion designer fragrance, Norman Norell. Later, Revlon launched Braggi and Pub for men, and a line of wig maintenance products called Wig Wonder.

In 1970, Revlon acquired the Mitchum line of deodorants.

In 1973, Revlon introduced Charlie. Geared to the under-30 market, Charlie model Shelley Hack in Ralph Lauren clothes, personified the independent woman of the 1970s. This was the first perfume ad to feature a woman wearing pants. Charlie raised Revlon's net sales figures to $506 million for 1973 and almost $606 million the following year. Shelley Hack appeared on Oprah in 2007 to talk about the power of these Charlie print and commercial ads. Their follow-up fragrance, Jontue, became the number two best seller.

In 1973, model Lauren Hutton signed an exclusive modeling contact, agreeing to pose for Revlon's Ultima line for $400,000 for two years. She was featured on the cover of Newsweek for this ground-breaking cosmetics contract.^[4] Additionally, famed photographer Richard Avedon was signed on as the exclusive photographer for the brand - another cosmetics industry first.^[5]

In 1975, Charles Revson died. Michel Bergerac, who Revson had hired as President of the company, continued to expand the company holdings. Revlon acquired Coburn Optical Industries, an Oklahoma-based manufacturer of ophthalmic and optical processing equipment and supplies. Barnes-Hind, the largest U.S. marketer of hard contact lens solutions, was bought in 1976 and strengthened Revlon's share of the eye-care market. Revlon purchased Armour Pharmaceutical Company, a division of Armour and Company, from The Greyhound Corporation in 1977. Other acquisitions included the Lewis-Howe Company, makers of Tums antacid in 1978. These health-care operations helped sales figures to pass the $1 billion mark in 1977, bringing total sales to $1.7 billion in 1979.

In the mid-1980s, Revlon lost ground to Estée Lauder. Estee Lauder spent millions of dollars on numerous magazine ads featuring Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova, shot by famed Chicago fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski. Revlon's share dropped from 20 percent to 10 percent of department store cosmetics sales. Sales at the drugstore also declined as Revlon lost shares to Noxell's Cover Girl brand. Revlon compensated with more acquisitions; Max Factor, Ellen Betrix, Charles of the Ritz, Germaine Monteil, Almay, Fermodyl, Lancaster, Aziza, and Halston. The 1977 acquisition of Carlos Colomer, a Spanish professional beauty supply distributor, brought Fermodyl and Roux and helped introduce Revlon to the world of ethnic care: Creme of Nature, Realistic, Lovely Color and Milk and Honey. In 1983 the company attempted an unsuccessful hostile takeover of Gillette. In 1989, Revlon became one of the first companies to replace animal tests with alternative safety testing methods.^[6]

On November 5, 1985, at a price of $58 per share, totaling $2.7 billion, Revlon was sold to Pantry Pride (later renamed to Revlon Group, Inc.), a subsidiary of Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. The buyout--engineered with the help of junk bond king Michael P. Milken--saddled Revlon with a huge $2.9 billion debt load, which became an albatross around the company's neck for years to come. Pantry Pride Inc. offered to buy any or all of Revlon's 38.2 million outstanding shares for $47.5 a share when its street price stood at $45 a share. Initially rejected, he repeatedly raised his offer until it reached $53 a share while fighting Revlon's management every step of the way. Forstmann Little & Company swooped in at $56 a share, a brief public bidding war ensued, and Perelman triumphed with an offer of $58 a share. Perelman paid $1.8 billion to Revlon's shareholders, but he also paid $900 million of other costs associated with the purchase.^[7] Perelman had Revlon sell four divisions: two for $1 billion, the vision care division for $574 million, and the National Health Laboratories division which became a publicly owned corporation in 1988. Additional make-up lines were purchased for Revlon: Max Factor in 1987 and Betrix in 1989, later sold to Procter & Gamble in 1991.^[8] Also in 1991, Revlon sold the Clean & Clear brand to Johnson & Johnson.

In March 2011, Revlon acquired Mirage Cosmetics, makers of Sinful Colors nail products. ^[9]

Advertising[link]

Tram with Revlon advertising in Hong Kong, June 2007

Up until the 1940s, Revlon's magazine ads were drawn by hand and mostly in black and white. Beginning in 1945, Revlon began launching full-color photographic advertisements in major magazines and stores across the country. Revlon introduced matching nail polish and lipsticks with exotic and unique names. These ads were taken by the top fashion photographers of the day including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and John Rawlings. Some of these ads were for "Paint the Town Pink" and 1945's "Fatal Apple" with Dorian Leigh. In 1947 Revlon introduced "Bachelor's Carnation" and in 1948, "Sweet Talk".

In 1950, Revlon introduced a red lipstick and nail enamel called "Where's the Fire?" Revlon used the word "fire" again later in their "Fire and Ice" ads. One of the world's first supermodels, Dorian Leigh, starred in some of Revlon's most memorable advertisements of all time. In 1946, Dorian was covered in purple flowers and wrapped in a pale purple sheet for "Ultra Violet." In 1947, Dorian appeared in "Fashion Plate." In 1953, at the age of 36, she appeared in "Cherries in the Snow." Later that year she appeared in the legendary "Fire and Ice" ad shot by Richard Avedon. Originally, Dorian appeared in a tight, silver-beaded dress with an enormous red wrap. Her black hair had a silver swirl in it and she had her hands, with long red nails, positioned in front of her breasts. Charles Revson rejected Avedon's original ad as "too sexual."^[10] They re-shot the ad, this time with her open hand in front of one hip, the other in front of her cheek. The advertisement became Madison Avenue legend because of the full-page quiz next to the sensual ad. Almost 50 years later, in November 2010, Revlon re-created 1953's "Fire and Ice" magazine ad, this time with actress Jessica Biel. With this ad, Revlon announced they were issuing a limited edition Fire and Ice lipstick and nail color calling this campaign, "lips and tips."

Dorian Leigh's 15-years-younger red-headed sister, Suzy Parker, also shot numerous Revlon magazine ads in the 1950s. Charles Revson, who wanted to marry Dorian at some point, despised Suzy, and vice-versa. At one point, he refused to hire her anymore because Suzy complained about the "peanut" paycheck she received from Revlon. Richard Avedon, however, after photographing other models for a particular Revlon ad, would call in Suzy last minute, sometimes late at night, to do re-takes with him. This happened with "Stormy Pink," an ad Suzy shot very late at night with a wild white horse in the ocean. Avedon would then told Revson that it was not Suzy in the ad, but a model named "Bubbles" or another made-up name.^[11]

In 1970, Revlon became the first American cosmetics company to feature an African American model, Naomi Sims, in their advertising.^[12] Revlon was also noted for featuring models of a wide age range in the 1980s, including then 13-year-old Milla Jovovich and then 60-year-old Audrey Hepburn.^[13] Despite the successful campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s featuring models, in particular Cindy Crawford, Revlon decided to drop fashion models and focus on movie stars, among them Kate Bosworth, Jaime King, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Melanie Griffith, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Connelly, Beau Garrett, Jessica Biel, and Bond girls.^[14][15] In 2009, Australian supermodel Elle MacPherson became a new spokesmodel for the company. American actress Jessica Biel is the newest woman to model for the brand, first shown in advertisements in January 2010.^[16] (Main article: List of Revlon spokesmodels) In 2008, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman was hired as Revlon's Global Artistic Director, representing the company at runway shows and brand events and designing collections.^[17]

Philanthropy[link]

Becky Gulsvig at Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer

Revlon is a corporate sponsor of several charity projects. The largest of these is the Revlon Run Walk, a run and walk event held in New York and Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for breast and ovarian cancer. Revlon also supports other cancer charities such as Look Good Feel Better and the National Breast Cancer Coalition and operates a mobile mammography clinic in and around Oxford, North Carolina, where the company's primary manufacturing operations are located.^[18] In 1996 Revlon supported the development of a breast center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Renamed Revlon/UCLA Breast Center, the center is a well-known institute for treatment and research of breast cancer and other breast diseases and disorders. ^[19] A Revlon lip gloss shade whose proceeds support Revlon's cancer charities was also created in 2009.

In September 2010, Revlon, with global artistic director Gucci Westman and spokesmodel Halle Berry hosted an event at Fashion's Night Out in New York City to raise funds for the Jenesse Center, a Los Angeles organization for domestic violence victims.^[20] Revlon also hosted luncheons and various other events to benefit the center and partnered with online retailer Drugstore.com to donate portions of lipstick sales to the organization.^[21]

See also[link]

List of Revlon spokesmodels

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Revlon, Inc. Company Profile, Yahoo!
• Company History
• About Revlon Inc. in French / Au sujet de la Cie Revlon
• Revlon sales lifted by good duty-free performance

Emma Stone
Emma Stone in March 2012.
Born	Emily Jean Stone (1988-11-06) November 6, 1988 (age 23) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Other names	Riley Stone
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present

Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress.

Stone was a cast member of the TV series Drive, and made her feature film debut in the comedy Superbad (2007). She appeared in The House Bunny (2008) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). She then starred in the horror-comedy Zombieland and the indie comedy Paper Man in 2009. In 2010, Stone voiced the character Mazie in Marmaduke, and starred in the high school comedy Easy A, which earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. In 2011, she starred in the films Crazy, Stupid, Love. and The Help, both of which were well received by critics and commercial successes. Stone will play Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man film, a reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise.

Early life[link]

Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the daughter of Krista (née Yeager), a homemaker, and Jeff Stone, a contractor.^[1] She has a brother, who is two years her junior.^[2] Stone's paternal grandfather was of Swedish descent, and his family's surname was anglicized to "Stone" when immigrating to the U.S. through Ellis Island; some of her ancestors also lived in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.^[3]

While growing up, she was a member of the Valley Youth Theatre, a regional theater in Phoenix, Arizona, where she appeared in her first stage production, The Wind in the Willows, at the age of 11.^[4] Stone attended Sequoya Elementary School and then Cocopah Middle School for sixth grade. She was home schooled for two years, at which time she appeared in 16 productions at Valley Youth Theatre, including: A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail, The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, The Wiz, Titanic, Honk!, The Little Mermaid, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Alice in Wonderland, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,^[4][5] and performed with the theater's improv comedy troupe.^[6]

Stone attended Xavier College Preparatory,^[4] an all-girl Catholic high school, as a freshman for one semester. She gave a PowerPoint presentation to her parents, set to the Madonna song "Hollywood", to convince them to let her move to California for an acting career.^[7] She dropped out of high school, and in January 2004, moved with her mother to a Los Angeles apartment, at the age of 15.^[8] She was then home schooled, so that she could audition during the day.^[9]

Career[link]

2004–2011[link]

Stone at the Zombieland world premiere, 2009

Stone launched a career in television after winning the role of Laurie Partridge on In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004), a VH1 talent competition reality show.^[10] The resulting show, The New Partridge Family (2005), only produced a pilot episode. Stone next had appearances in the television series Medium, Malcolm in the Middle and Lucky Louie. In 2007, she had a regular role on the Fox drama Drive, playing Violet Trimble, until the series was cancelled. She also auditioned for Heroes, and overheard in the casting room "On a scale of 1 to 10, you are an 11" — the casting directors were referring to Hayden Panettiere, who was cast as Claire Bennet instead. Stone called this experience "rock bottom."^[11]

Stone made her feature film debut in the 2007 teen comedy Superbad, playing Jules, the love interest of lead character Seth (Jonah Hill). In 2008, she appeared in the comedy The Rocker, with Rainn Wilson. Stone played Amelia, the bass guitarist in a band featuring singer Teddy Geiger. Stone learned to play bass for the role. Also that year, Stone appeared in The House Bunny, starring Anna Faris, alongside Katharine McPhee, Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis, and Colin Hanks.^[12] Stone played the president of a sorority and sang on a single from the film, "I Know What Boys Like," a cover version of the 1982 song by The Waitresses.^[13]

In 2009, Stone appeared in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a romantic comedy directed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner.^[14] Stone played "The Ghost of Girlfriends Past," a takeoff of the Ghost of Christmas Past from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. She starred in the horror/comedy Zombieland, along with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. The project began shooting in Atlanta in February 2009.^[15] Stone played Wichita, a survivor/con artist from Wichita, Kansas, traveling across the U.S. with her younger sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).^[16] Stone also starred in Paper Man in 2009, alongside Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Lisa Kudrow, directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.^[17] She played Abby, a babysitter that Daniels' character hires after moving to Long Island.^[18] Stone began filming the independent comedy on November 11, 2008, in Montauk, New York, using well-known local locations.^[19]

Stone at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2010, Stone had a voice role in Marmaduke, a film adaptation of the long-running comic strip about a Great Dane.^[20] She voiced Marmaduke's friend, Mazie, a tomboyish Australian Shepherd.^[21] Stone landed her first leading role that year, starring with Amanda Bynes as a high school student in Easy A, a comedy directed by Will Gluck.^[22] Her character scandalizes her teachers and more conservative religious classmates after a false rumor circulates that she is sexually promiscuous.^[23] The script contrasts the novel The Scarlet Letter and its heroine, Hester Prynne, to the life of the protagonist in the film. Stone read the script before the project was optioned for production, and kept an eye on it along with her manager until preparations were made.^[24] She was attracted to the script because it was "funny and sweet" and her character was "fantastic from the first read" who was "fleshed [..] out so much in the script".^[24] When she found out that the film had gone into production, she met with Gluck to express her enthusiasm about the project.^[24] A few months later, the audition process started and Stone met again with Gluck to be one of the first actresses to audition.^[24] Stone was nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role.^[25]

Stone appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, and introduced Linkin Park. She stated in 2008 that she would eventually like to venture into film production, producing her own films, and that her dream was to appear on Saturday Night Live.^[12] Stone hosted the late-night sketch comedy show on October 23, 2010, and again on November 12, 2011.^[26][27]

Stone appeared in Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, and directed by Will Gluck. The sex comedy began filming in July 2010, in New York, and was released in July 2011.^[28] She also starred in Crazy, Stupid, Love. that year, alongside Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Marisa Tomei. The Warner Bros. film, about a husband (Carell) with marital problems and difficulties with his children, began shooting on April 16, 2010, in Los Angeles and was released on July 29, 2011.^[29] Stone starred in The Help, an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel of the same name, a period piece set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s, which was released in August 2011. She plays Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, an aspiring writer, and employed a Southern dialect for the role.^[18]

2012–present[link]

Stone at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012

Stone joined the voice cast of The Croods, a 3D computer animated caveman comedy by DreamWorks Animation. She will voice the role of Eep, the oldest daughter of Grug (Nicolas Cage) and Ugga (Catherine Keener). Ryan Reynolds voices Gy, the love interest to Stone's character.^[30] The film is scheduled for release on March 22, 2013.

She stars in the comedic short film, "Veronica," alongside Kieran Culkin, directed by Griffin Dunne.^[31] The short is a comedy segment that is part of the anthology film, Movie 43, featuring Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry, and others.^[32] The feature-film was produced by the Farrelly brothers^[1] and directed by Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill and Steve Carr.^[32]

Stone will star as the female lead in The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment of the Spider-Man film series.^[33] She plays Gwen Stacy, the 17-year-old love interest of Peter Parker.^[34] Marc Webb is directing the film, which has a release date of July 3, 2012.^[33] The film went into production in December 2010, and was scheduled to last through April 2011.^[35] Stone was considered for the lead in a reboot of 21 Jump Street, alongside Superbad co-star Jonah Hill.^[36] She did not take the role however, after signing on to Spider-Man.^[37]

Stone joined the cast of The Gangster Squad, a film by Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer. She will again play opposite Ryan Gosling in the ensemble crime drama, which also stars Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Peña. Stone plays Jean, a femme fatale caught in a love triangle with Gosling and Penn's character, mobster Mickey Cohen.^[38]

Stone will again work with writer/director Will Gluck, starring in and executive producing an untitled comedy for Screen Gems.^[39] The film studio has given Gluck and Stone full discretion in developing a new project, after the success of Easy A.^[40] She will also star in Little White Corvette, a comedy about a pair of would-be drug dealing siblings, written by Michael Diliberti.^[41] Stone will film the project in Miami in mid 2012.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Although known as a redhead, Stone is naturally a blonde. She landed her first role as a teenager after dyeing her hair dark brown.^[1] Film producer Judd Apatow had her change from a brunette to a redhead for her role in Superbad.^[6] She returned to blonde for her role in The Amazing Spider-Man.^[40]

She began dating actor Andrew Garfield after meeting him on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man.^[43][44]

Stone's low-pitched husky voice is a result of having baby colic, a condition of constant screaming as an infant, resulting in the development of nodules. She has calluses on her vocal cords as an adult.^[45]

Stone chose the name "Emma" when she registered for the Screen Actors Guild as the name "Emily Stone" was already taken. Her family and friends call her Emily.^[40]

Stone moved from Los Angeles to Greenwich Village, New York City in 2009.^[7]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

Rankings[link]

Discography[link]

• Katharine McPhee – "I Know What Boys Like" (2008), RCA – iTunes Store single with Emma Stone and Rumer Willis from The House Bunny, a cover version of the 1982 single by The Waitresses

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Emma Stone

• Emma Stone at the Internet Movie Database
• Emma Stone on Twitter

Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel
Born	Jessica Claire Biel (1982-03-03) March 3, 1982 (age 30) Ely, Minnesota, United States
Occupation	Actress, model, singer
Years active	1996–present
Partner	Justin Timberlake (2007–present; engaged)

Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3, 1982)^[1] is an American actress, model, and singer. Biel is known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven.

Early life[link]

Jessica Claire Biel was born in Ely, Minnesota. Her mother, Kimberly (née Conroe), is a homemaker and spiritual healer. Her father, Jonathan Biel, worked for GE and was also an entrepreneur and business consultant.^[2][3][4] She is of German, French, English, and Choctaw ancestry^[5] and has a younger brother, Justin, born in 1985.^[6][7] Biel's family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Texas, Connecticut, and Woodstock, Illinois, before finally settling in Boulder, Colorado. While growing up, Biel played soccer^[8] and also trained as a gymnast.^[4] From 2000 to 2002, she attended Tufts University.^[9]

Early work[link]

Biel initially trained to be a vocalist. At age nine, she appeared in several musical productions in her hometown, playing lead roles in productions such as Annie, The Sound of Music, and Beauty and the Beast.^[10] Biel auditioned for the a cappella choir the Tufts Amalgamates, but was not accepted.^[9]

At twelve, Biel attended The International Modeling and Talent Association conference in Los Angeles where she was discovered and signed by a talent agency. She began modeling for print advertisements, and appeared in commercials for products such as Dulux Paint and Pringles.^[2]

Biel also played the character Regrettal, a lead role in a low-budget musical short titled It's a Digital World. At fourteen, after auditioning for several television pilots, Biel was cast as Mary Camden, the second oldest child in the family drama 7th Heaven.

Career[link]

1997–2002[link]

Biel on board the USS Abraham Lincoln on June 18, 2004

Biel landed her first feature film role as Peter Fonda's granddaughter in the critically acclaimed drama Ulee's Gold, released in 1997. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award.^{[citation needed]} In spring 1998, during a break from filming 7th Heaven, she starred in I'll Be Home for Christmas, playing the love interest of Jonathan Taylor Thomas.^[10]

When she posed topless in the March 2000 issue of Gear magazine, Biel sparked considerable controversy, as she was still under 18 at the time of the shoot. Producers of 7th Heaven were outraged, and brought legal action against Gear.^[10] She later stated that she regrets the Gear shoot but considers it a learning experience.^[11]

In 2001, Biel played the love interest of Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the baseball-themed film Summer Catch. The next year, she starred as promiscuous college student Lara in the ensemble film The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel.

2003–2005[link]

Biel was cast in her first top-billing role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.^[12] The film met with negative reviews but it was a commercial success, scoring the number-one spot in its opening week and going on to earn more than $80 million in the U.S.^[12][13] In 2003, Biel began work on the third installment of the Blade film series, Blade: Trinity. Almost immediately after finishing it in 2004, she headed to Australia to shoot the action-thriller Stealth.^[14]

Biel also made a cameo appearance in the 2004 film Cellular.

Biel was cast in the role of Ellen Kishmore in the romantic comedy Elizabethtown. She then played the title character in the indie film London.

2006–present[link]

Biel at the 2005 Stealth premiere

Biel's film career blossomed^{[citation needed]} when she played a turn-of-the-century duchess in the period piece The Illusionist, co-starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti.

Biel played an Iraq War veteran in the 2006 film Home of the Brave, a drama about soldiers struggling to readjust to society after facing the hardships of war.

In Next, Biel played alongside Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. She then played in the summer comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, co-starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James.

In late 2007, Biel signed on to play a stripper in Powder Blue, alongside Forest Whitaker (who also produced the film), Ray Liotta and Patrick Swayze.

Biel with Josh Lucas on the Stealth set.

At the start of 2008, Biel shot Easy Virtue, an adaptation of the play by Noël Coward. Like the play, the film is set in the 1920s and Biel plays young widow Larita, who impulsively marries John Whittaker in France and must face her disapproving in-laws on returning to England. The film premiered in September 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[15] Critics praised Biel for her performance, with Todd McCarthy of Variety saying Biel "more than kept up" with veterans Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth and praising her "sparkling" performance.^[16][17] The Hollywood Reporter described her performance as "an irresistible force of nature — a kind, witty, supremely intelligent and beautiful woman who ... is capable of rejoinders that thoroughly undercut her opponent's withering criticism."^[18] Biel also performed two songs on the film's soundtrack, "Mad About the Boy" and "When the Going Gets Tough".

In 2009, Biel lent her voice to the animated science fiction film Planet 51.

In April 2008, Biel began working on the political satire Nailed, with Jake Gyllenhaal. The film centers around a woman who accidentally gets a nail lodged in her head, then travels to Washington D.C. to fight for better health care.

Biel performed the role of "Sarah Brown" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a fully staged concert production of Guys and Dolls during the 2009 season at the Hollywood Bowl.^[19][20] On the last night, she received a rousing standing ovation from 17,000 people.^[4] She subsequently landed a part in Lincoln Center Theater's two-week-long workshop of the musical version of the Pedro Almodóvar classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, along with Salma Hayek.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

Biel began dating singer and actor Justin Timberlake in January 2007.^[21][22] After four years together, the couple announced their split in March 2011.^[23][24] However, by fall 2011 the couple appeared to have reunited, and in late December 2011, Timberlake proposed to Biel in the mountains of Jackson, Wyoming.^[25][26][27]

Charity work[link]

On July 18, 2006, Biel participated in a charity auction to raise medical funds for Colorado teen Molly Bloom, who was injured in a limousine accident.^[28] John Schiffner of Fergus Falls, Minnesota successfully bid $30,000 to have lunch with Biel. "I promise I'm a cheap date," Biel quipped. Biel and Schiffner lunched at The Palm restaurant in Denver, Colorado^[29] on August 18, 2006.^[30]

In early 2007, Jessica co-founded the Make the Difference Network^[31] with her father and another business partner, Kent McBride.

In 2010, Biel climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with members of the United Nation Foundation to raise awareness of the global water crisis.^[32] That same year, Biel's humanitarian and charity work (as well as her popularity with young people) earned her a nomination for a Do Something Award.^[33]

Honors[link]

Awards[link]

• 1998: Young Artist Award — Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress in Ulee's Gold
• 2005: ShoWest Award Female Star of Tomorrow — 2005 ShoWest Convention
• 2007: Rising-Star Award — Palm Springs International Film Festival 2007 Gala Awards

[edit] Rankings

• Ranked No.99 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002).
• Ranked No.98 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties".(2003)
• Esquire magazine named her the "Sexiest Woman Alive" in a 2005 six-part series, with each month revealing a different body part and clue to the woman's identity.^[2]
• Ranked No.1 in Stuff magazine's "100 Sexiest Women" (2007).^[34]
• Ranked as No.5 on Maxim's Hot 100 for 2007^[35] and No.11 on Maxim's Top 100 for 2009.^[36]
• Ranked No.7 by AskMen.com readers in the list "Top 99 Women 2008."^[10]
• Ranked No.4 by FHM US magazine in their 2009 list of "100 Sexiest Women".^[7]

Filmography[link]

References[link]