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• 
  

• 
  Atlanta
  Atlanta ( /ətˈlæntə/, stressed /ætˈlæntə/, locally  /ætˈlænə/) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia with a 2010 population of 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest in the U.S. It is a major component of a growing southeastern megalopolis known as the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.
  Atlanta began as a settlement located at the terminus of a railroad line, and it was incorporated in 1845. Today, the city is a major business city and the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States (via highway, railroad, and air), with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Atlanta as an "alpha(-) world city." With a gross domestic product of US$270 billion, Atlanta's economy ranks 15th among world cities and sixth in the nation. The city is a center for services, finance, information technology, government, and higher education. Metro Atlanta contains the country's third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and is the world headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, The Home Depot, AT&T Mobility, UPS, and Delta Air Lines. As of 2010, Atlanta is the seventh most visited city in the United States, with over 35 million visitors per year.
  
  wn.com/Atlanta
• Dean Gardens
  Dean Gardens is one of the largest homes in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of its completion in 1992, the 32,000 square foot, 15 bedroom house was the largest in Atlanta. The former owner, Larry Dean, who made his fortune in software, spent $30 million on its construction, plus $1.5 million a year on its upkeep.
  The house was first put up for sale in 1994, two years after its completion. Since that time, it attracted media notoriety for having gone unsold for 17 years. Reasons why it never sold include its' so-called, "Liberace-meets-Napoleon design," which include pink themes, a Moroccan theater, 24-karat-gold sinks, a Hawaiian-art gallery, a 1950s-style dance hall, French Empire-style furniture, 13 fireplaces and a 24-seat dining room with a wall-sized aquarium called, the "Predator Tank."
  Dean Gardens was finally sold in 2010 to Tyler Perry, the Atlanta-based entertainment mogul, for $7.6 million, down from its original asking price of $40 million. Perry plans to level the property to build a more energy-efficient and sustainable residence.
  
  wn.com/Dean_Gardens
• 
  Louisiana
  Louisiana (ⁱ/luːˌiːziˈænə/ or ⁱ/ˌluːziˈænə/; French: État de Louisiane, [lwizjan] ( listen); Louisiana Creole: Léta de la Lwizyàn) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, and the largest by land area is Cameron Parish.
  Much of the state was formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. These contain a rich southern biota; typical examples include birds such as ibis and egrets. There are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a natural process in the landscape, and has produced extensive areas of longleaf pine forest and wet savannas. These support an exceptionally large number of plant species including many species of orchids and carnivorus plants.
  
  wn.com/Louisiana
• 
  New Orleans
  New Orleans ( /nuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally /nuː ˈɔrlənz/ or /ˈnɔrlənz/; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ( listen)) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city proper was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,214,932.
  The city is named after Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France, and is well known for its distinct French Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" in America.
  
  wn.com/New_Orleans
• 
  Philadelphia
  Philadelphia ( /ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə/) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,526,006 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Philadelphia is also the commercial, cultural, and educational center of the Delaware Valley, home to 6 million people and the country's fifth-largest metropolitan area. The Philadelphia metropolitan division consists of five counties in Pennsylvania and has a population of 4,008,994. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia are Philly and The City of Brotherly Love, the latter of which comes from the literal meaning of the city's name in Greek (Greek: Φιλαδέλφεια ([pʰilaˈdelpʰeːa], Modern Greek: [filaˈðelfia]) "brotherly love", compounded from philos (φίλος) "loving", and adelphos (ἀδελφός) "brother").
  
  wn.com/Philadelphia
• 
  Walt Disney World
  Coordinates: 28°25′7″N 81°34′52″W / 28.41861°N 81.58111°W / 28.41861; -81.58111
  The Walt Disney World Resort (also known informally as Disney World) is the world's most-visited entertainment resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, approximately 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of 30,080 acres (12,173 ha; 47 sq mi) and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels (excluding eight more that are on-site, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company), including a campground, two spas and physical fitness centers, five golf courses, and other recreational venues and entertainment.
  The resort was originally developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s to supplement Disneyland in California. In addition to hotels and a theme park similar to Disneyland, Walt's original plans for the resort also included an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow", a planned city that would serve as a test bed for new innovations for city living. After extensive lobbying, the Government of Florida created the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special government district that essentially gave the Disney Company the standard powers and autonomy of an incorporated city. Walt died in 1966 before his original plans were fully realized.
  
  wn.com/Walt_Disney_World

• 
  Alex Cross
  Alex Cross is a fictional character and the protagonist of a series of books by novelist James Patterson.
  Cross is a detective and psychologist living and working in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, D.C. He worked in the homicide division of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD), but eventually becomes a Senior Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After his stint with the FBI, Alex returns to private psychology practice, but continues to consult for the MPD and the FBI as needed, ultimately rejoining the MPD as a special consultant to the Major Case Squad.
  As portrayed by Patterson, Cross is a hopeful but rational man of generally deep emotions. He is a model father and quite empathetic in dealing with the public. Despite the fact that he is well-educated and makes a decent living, he chooses to live in the Southeast quadrant of D.C. He is very involved in the community, most notably volunteering at St. Anthony's Parish in his neighborhood.
  
  wn.com/Alex_Cross
• 
  Alfonso Ribeiro
  Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, television director, dancer, game show host, and comedian. Ribeiro is best known for his role as Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and host of GSN show Catch 21. He has also received attention for his performance in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid and his appearance as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial also featuring Michael Jackson.
  Ribeiro was born in New York City to Joy and Michael Ribeiro. His parents are from Trinidad and Tobago.
  Ribeiro married Robin Stapler in 2002, after they met on the set of In the House in 1999. Divorce papers were filed August 9, 2006 in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple share joint custody of their daughter, Sienna Ribeiro. Ribeiro is currently in a relationship with Angela Unkrich.
  Ribeiro began his career at the age of eight. He first gained recognition in 1983, when he played a leading role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid. He received positive reviews for his performance, and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. He also appeared in one of Michael Jackson's Pepsi television commercials as a dancer in 1984. The same year, Ribeiro was cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons.
  
  wn.com/Alfonso_Ribeiro
• 
  Barack Obama
  
  
  Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.
  Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
  Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.
  
  wn.com/Barack_Obama
• Chip Fields
  Laverne "Chip" Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, (born August 5, 1951) is an American singer, actress, television director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Penny Gordon's abusive birth mother in a four-part episode of the 1970s sitcom Good Times.
  In 1973, shortly after her divorce from record producer Phil Spector, Ronnie Spector reformed the world-famous girl group The Ronettes. After recruiting Chip and vocalist Diane Linton (and later Denise Edwards), "Ronnie And The Ronettes" made their debut at Richard Nader's "Rock and Roll Revival" show at Madison Square Garden. Later that year, Ronnie signed with Buddha Records and recorded two singles: 1973's "Go Out and Get It" and 1974's "I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine" (as Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes), a remake of a song recorded by the original line-up. After the two singles failed to chart, Ronnie went solo, and the "new" Ronettes with Chip and Denise disbanded.
  
  wn.com/Chip_Fields
• 
  Cicely Tyson
  Cicely Tyson (born December 19, 1933) is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots.
  Tyson was born and raised in Harlem, New York, the daughter of Theodosia, a domestic, and William Tyson, her father, who worked as a carpenter, a painter, or any other jobs he could find. Her parents were immigrants from the island of Nevis of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies; Her father arrived in New York City at the age of 21 and was processed at Ellis Island on August 4, 1919. Tyson married legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis on November 26, 1981. The ceremony was conducted by Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at the home of actor Bill Cosby. Tyson and Davis divorced in 1988. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. On May 17, 2009, Tyson received an honorary degree from Morehouse College, an all-male college.
  Tyson was discovered or found by a photographer for Ebony magazine and became a popular fashion model. Her first credited film role was in Carib Gold in 1956, but she went on to do television such as the celebrated series East Side/West Side and the soap opera The Guiding Light. In 1961, Tyson appeared in the original cast of French playwright Jean Genet's The Blacks, the longest running off-Broadway non-musical of the decade, running for 1,408 performances. The original cast also featured James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Louis Gossett, Jr., Godfrey Cambridge, Maya Angelou and Charles Gordone. She appeared with Sammy Davis, Jr. in the film A Man Called Adam (film) (1966) and starred in the film version of Graham Greene's The Comedians (1967). Tyson had a featured role in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) and was in a segment of the movie Roots.
  
  wn.com/Cicely_Tyson
• 
  Eddie Cibrian
  Edward Carl "Eddie" Cibrian ( /ˈsɪbriən/ SIB-ree-ən; born June 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his television role as patriarch Cole Deschanel on Sunset Beach, which gained popularity for the actor in the 1990's. He has appeared as Jesse Cardoza in CSI: Miami, Jimmy Doherty on Third Watch and Russell Varon in the cult classic Invasion.
  Cibrian, an only child, was born in Burbank, California, the son of Hortensia, an office manager, and Carl Cibrian, a banker. He is of Cuban descent.
  Cibrian starred in The Young and the Restless, Baywatch Nights, Sunset Beach as Cole Deschanel, Third Watch as womanizing New York City firefighter Jimmy Doherty, Tilt as rising poker star Eddie Towne, and Invasion as Everglades park ranger Russell Varon. He also guest-starred in Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Criminal Minds and Beverly Hills, 90210. His movie credits include Living Out Loud, But I'm a Cheerleader, and The Cave.
  Besides his acting career, he also sang in the soul-pop boy band 3Deep from 1998 to 2001 along with Young and The Restless costar and real-life best friend Joshua Morrow and Canadian singer CJ Huyer.
  
  wn.com/Eddie_Cibrian
• 
  Gabrielle Union
  Gabrielle Monique Union (born October 26, 1972) is an American actress and former model. Among her notable roles is as the cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the film Bring it On. Union starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the blockbuster film Bad Boys II and played a medical doctor in the CBS drama series City of Angels. She starred with LL Cool J in Deliver Us from Eva in 2003.
  Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the daughter of Theresa (née Glass), a former dancer, social worker, and phone company manager, and Sylvester C. Union, an AT&T manager and military sergeant. She was raised Catholic. At the age of eight, her family moved to Pleasanton, California, where she grew up and attended Foothill High School. In high school, Union was an all-star point guard in basketball and a year-round athlete, also playing in soccer and ran track.
  Union attended the University of Nebraska before moving on to Cuesta College. She eventually transferred to UCLA and earned a degree in sociology. While studying there, she interned at the Judith Fontaine Modeling & Talent Agency to earn extra academic credits. Invited by the agency's owner, Judith Fontaine, Union started working as a model to pay off college loans.
  
  wn.com/Gabrielle_Union
• Goldie Taylor
  Goldie Taylor (July 18, 1968 in East St. Louis, Illinois) is an American author and opinion writer based in Atlanta, Georgia.
  Taylor was born in University City, Missouri but raised in East St. Louis, Illinois. Her father was murdered on November 5, 1973 when she was 5, leaving her mother Mary to raise her and her siblings alone. She attended public schools in the metro St. Louis area before moving to Atlanta and graduating from Cross Keys High School in 1986. Taylor was an active duty US Marine trained in Public Affairs Broadcasting at Fort Ben Harrison, Indiana. She received an honorary discharge upon the discovery of medical issues that prevented her from continuing service. Divorced and a single parent, Taylor gained admission to Emory University in Atlanta where she studied Political Science and International Affairs.
  Volunteering for her first political campaign in 1993, Taylor worked as an unpaid deputy press secretary for Michael Lomax’s Atlanta mayoral campaign. In the time since, she has worked as a communications director, field organizer and media consultant for various political candidates at the local, state and federal level. She retired as a consultant in 2009 after serving as Director of Communications for then state senator M. Kasim Reed. Reed was sworn in as Mayor of Atlanta in January 2010. Prior to retiring from politics, Taylor considered running for public office twice, qualifying for 4th District Congress in Georgia in 1996.
  
  wn.com/Goldie_Taylor
• 
  Idris Elba
  Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba (born 6 September 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. He grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including Ultraviolet and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. He is known for playing Russell "Stringer" Bell, a Baltimore drug lord and aspiring businessman, in HBO's critically acclaimed show The Wire. Elba is a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis/Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist.
  In 2009, Elba appeared on a six-episode arc of the American sitcom The Office, playing Charles Miner, Michael Scott's new boss. In 2010, he appeared in the action film The Losers in the role of Roque, the second-in-command of a black-ops team. The same year, he appeared in the thriller Takers. Elba plays the title role of Detective John Luther in the BBC television show Luther that aired on BBC One, which has finished its second series. Elba has won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of DCI Luther.
  
  wn.com/Idris_Elba
• 
  James Patterson
  James B. Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross. Patterson also wrote the Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, and Witch & Wizard series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, nonfiction and romance novels.
  After Patterson retired from advertising in 1996, he devoted his time to writing. The novels featuring his character Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington D.C. Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation who now works as a private psychologist and government consultant, are his most popular and the top-selling U.S. detective series in the past ten years. Patterson has written 71 novels in 33 years.^{[citation needed]} He has had 19 consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels, and holds The New York Times record for most bestselling hardcover fiction titles by a single author, a total of 63, which is also a Guinness World Record. As the world's best-selling author (250 million copies in total worldwide), his novels account for one in 17 of all hardcover novels sold in the United States; in recent years his novels have sold more copies than those of Stephen King, John Grisham and Dan Brown combined.
  
  wn.com/James_Patterson
• 
  Jamie Kennedy
  James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American comedian, rapper, and actor.
  Kennedy, the youngest of six children, was born in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family is of Irish descent and he was raised Roman Catholic. He attended and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1988. After high school, Kennedy began his career as a Hollywood extra and honed his skills at voice impersonations.
  Kennedy used his voice acting skills to create a false persona, screen agent "Marty Power". Posing as Marty Power over the telephone, he attracted the attention of real agents and managers who would later book his performances. He came to prominence in the late 1990s for playing Randy Meeks in the Scream film. He has also performed minor roles in other Hollywood films in recent years, and most often appears opposite actor Kal Penn including Malibu's Most Wanted, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Son of the Mask. His lead role as Tim Avery in Son of the Mask earned him a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor.
  
  wn.com/Jamie_Kennedy
• 
  Janet Jackson
  Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years. The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.
  After signing a recording contract with A&M in 1982, she came to prominence following the release of her third studio album Control (1986). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover appeal in popular music. In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her records, choreography, music videos, and prominence on radio airplay and MTV, she was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.
  
  wn.com/Janet_Jackson
• Jill Scott
  Dependency or dependent may refer to:
  without one, in the case of independent forms
  Among monastic orders, the term denotes the relation of a monastic community with a newer community which it has established elsewhere. The relationship can be that of an abbey with a priory composed of the monks who originated from the first house. In that situation, the abbot remains the ultimate authority for the affairs of the dependent priory, which is considered an extension of the founding house. This relationship will end at such time as the daughter community might become fully autonomous and an abbey in its own right.
  Smaller monasteries of nuns within a monastic congregation can make a bond with a monastery of monks within the same division of the Order, whereby the two are affiliated, and the monks guarantee pastoral care of the nuns. In this sense, the women's house is considered a dependency on that of the men.
  
  wn.com/Jill_Scott
• 
  John Singleton
  John Daniel Singleton (born January 6, 1968) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. A native of South Los Angeles, many of his early films consider the implications of inner-city violence like the critically acclaimed and popular Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning and Baby Boy. He branched out into mainstream territory with the blockbuster 2 Fast 2 Furious and Four Brothers.
  Singleton was born in Los Angeles, the son of Sheila Ward-Johnson, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and Danny Singleton, a real estate agent, mortgage broker, and financial planner. He attended Pasadena City College and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He graduated from USC in 1990, and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Singleton was enrolled in the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing program under Margaret Mehring and her now famous curriculum. The program was designed to take students directly into the Hollywood system as proficient writer/directors.
  
  wn.com/John_Singleton
• Kim Fields
  Kim Victoria Fields (born May 12, 1969) is an American actress, singer and television director. She is known for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, and as Regine Hunter on the Fox sitcom Living Single. She is the daughter of actress/director Chip Fields and the older sister of actress Alexis Fields.
  Before appearing on Facts of Life, Fields starred on a short-lived sitcom called Baby, I'm Back and appeared in a commercial for Mrs. Butterworth's pancake syrup. She later appeared on Good Times as a friend of Penny Gordon Woods. Her real life mother, Chip Fields, starred on Good Times as the mother of Janet Jackson's character, Penny. Yet mother and daughter Fields never starred in the same episodes. Kim's episodes on Good Times were "The Snow Storm" and "The Physical".
  Fields' most remembered role was that of Tootie on the sitcom The Facts of Life. From 1979 to 1988, she played Tootie Ramsey on the show. Even decades later, many still recognize her catchphrase, "We are in trou-ble!" She was also known for the braces she wore on the series for five seasons. When the show began filming, Fields was so short that the producers put her in roller skates during the first season so that they could avoid difficult camera angles. Ironically, she had lost a role as Arnold Jackson's girlfriend on The Facts of Life's parent show, Diff'rent Strokes, because she was taller than Gary Coleman, who played Arnold.
  
  wn.com/Kim_Fields
• 
  Lee Daniels
  Lee Louis Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American actor, film producer, and director. He produced Monster's Ball and directed the film Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards.
  Daniels was born on Christmas Eve, 1959, in Philadelphia and attended Radnor High School. After graduating, Daniels attended Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. He began his career in entertainment as a casting director and manager after a chance meeting with a Hollywood producer, working on such projects as Under the Cherry Moon and Purple Rain. He continued managing talent, including several Academy Award nominees and winners. The documentary My Big Break features Daniels early in his career when he was managing actor Wes Bentley who starred as Ricky Fitts in American Beauty. In the documentary a dynamic Daniels animatedly comments on Bentley's reluctance to capitalize on his newfound celebrity status. Lee has a sister Joyce Daniels Fennell from Philadelphia. Daniels and Joyce's father, Officer William Daniels, is from West Philadelphia. When he arrived in Hollywood, Daniels first worked for a nursing agency, then created his own agency at age 21. He sold his agency for approx $2 million and went to work as a production assistant. Later, he realized he had not paid taxes on his income but paid them off in time.
  
  wn.com/Lee_Daniels
• Mabel Simmons
  Mabel Simmons, commonly known as Madea, is a comedic fictional character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. The character is a (6'5"), overweight, older woman who embodies the Mammy archetype. She is quite argumentative and is willing to threaten people with her gun, but generally does not get in trouble since she is a nightmare for the police. She has a unique accent, with catch phrases such as "Heller, how ya dern?" or "Halleluyer praise da lort!" Despite her aggressive manner, the character is usually used to teach a lesson.
  Although Madea is featured as a costarring role in most of Perry's plays and films, including Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Meet the Browns, Madea Goes to Jail, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, and most recently, Madea's Big Happy Family, she is not the protagonist, but the comic relief. Despite this, she is often a title character. The only exceptions are the films Madea Goes To Jail and Madea's Big Happy Family in which she is the main character.
  
  wn.com/Mabel_Simmons
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  Malik Yoba
  Abdul-Malik Kashie Yoba (born September 17, 1967), better known by his stage name Malik Yoba, is an American actor and occasional singer. He is perhaps best known for his starring role as NYPD Detective J.C. Williams on the FOX police drama series New York Undercover or as Yul Brenner in Cool Runnings. Currently, he appears as former FBI Special Agent Bill Harken on the Syfy drama series Alphas.
  Brother : Dmitry Malik. The fourth of six children (one of his brothers is famous singer Na Nah Yobta), Yoba was born in Bronx, New York, the son of Mahmoudah Young (née Lanier) and Abdullah Yoba. Yoba, who is African American, was raised as a Muslim. He is divorced from Cat Wilson, a model and actress, and has three children from previous relationships.
  In 1994, Yoba began his role as NYPD Detective J.C. Williams on the popular FOX police drama series New York Undercover, opposite fellow actor Michael DeLorenzo. Yoba and DeLorenzo (who is of Puerto Rican descent) made television history, as the series was the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in the starring roles. Yoba's work on New York Undercover earned him three consecutive NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (in 1996, 1997, and 1998). The series was cancelled in 1998, with Yoba as the only actor to appear in all 89 episodes.
  
  wn.com/Malik_Yoba
• 
  Mantan Moreland
  Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 - September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
  Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus.^{[citation needed]} By the late 1920s, he had made his way through vaudeville, working with various shows and revues, performing on Broadway and touring Europe. Initially, Moreland appeared in low-budget "race movies" aimed at African-American audiences, but as his comedic talents came to be recognized, he received roles in larger productions.
  Monogram Pictures signed Moreland to appear opposite Frankie Darro in the studio's popular action pictures. Moreland, with his bulging eyes and cackling laugh, quickly became a favorite supporting player in Hollywood movies. He is perhaps best known for his role as chauffeur Birmingham Brown in Monogram's Charlie Chan series. At the height of his career, Moreland received steady work from major film studios, as well as from independent producers who starred Moreland in low-budget, all-black-cast comedies.
  
  wn.com/Mantan_Moreland
• 
  Michele Norris
  Michele L. Norris (English pronunciation: /ˈmiːʃɛl ˈnɔrɪs/ MEE-shel NOR-iss; born September 7, 1961) is an American radio journalist and current host of the National Public Radio (NPR) evening news program All Things Considered since December 9, 2002. She is the first African American female host for NPR.
  Norris was born in Minnesota to Betty and Belvin Norris Jr. She attended Washburn High School in Minneapolis, and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she studied electrical engineering, and later the University of Minnesota where she received an honorary degree in journalism in 2005.
  Norris was a correspondent for ABC News from 1993 to 2002. She wrote for The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times. In 1990, while at The Washington Post, Norris received the Livingston Award for articles she wrote about the life of a six-year-old boy who lived with a crack-addicted mother in a crack house. In 2002, Norris won an Emmy Award. In 2009 the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) awarded Norris its Journalist of the Year award.
  
  wn.com/Michele_Norris
• 
  Morgan Freeman
  Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Unforgiven, Glory, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Batman Begins, March of the Penguins, The Bucket List, Wanted, The Dark Knight, and RED.
  Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. His family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois. Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, later named Threadgill Elementary School, in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.
  
  wn.com/Morgan_Freeman
• Ntozake Shange
  Ntozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism.
  Shange is best known for the Obie Award-winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.
  She also wrote Betsey Brown, a novel about an African American girl who runs away from home. Among her honors and awards are fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, and a Pushcart Prize. Shange lives in Brooklyn.
  Ntozake Shange (en-to-zaki shong-gay) phonetic key from http://www.filmreference.com/film/63/Ntozoke-Shange.html
  Shange was born Paulette L. Williams in Trenton, New Jersey to an upper-middle-class family. Her father, Paul T. Williams, was an Air Force surgeon, and her mother, Eloise Williams, was an educator and a psychiatric social worker. When she was 8, Shange's family moved to the racially segregated city of St. Louis. As a result of the Brown v. Board of Education court decision, Shange was bused to a white school where she endured racism and racist attacks.
  
  wn.com/Ntozake_Shange
• 
  Oprah Winfrey
  Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.
  Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
  
  wn.com/Oprah_Winfrey
• 
  Rebecca Romijn
  Rebecca Alie Romijn ( /roʊˈmeɪn/ roh-MAYN; Dutch: [roːˈmɛin], born November 6, 1972, formerly Romijn-Stamos) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.
  Romijn was born in Berkeley, California, United States. Her mother, Elizabeth (née Kuizenga), is a Community College teacher of English as a Second Language and textbook author, and her father, Jaap Romijn, is a custom furniture maker. Her father is a native of Barneveld, the Netherlands, and her mother is an American of half Dutch descent; she met Romijn's father while staying in the Netherlands on a teen-age exchange program. Romijn's maternal grandfather, Dr. Henry Bernard Kuizenga, was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor. When questioned about always being glamourous and beautiful on the Ellen Show, Romijn revealed that as a child in her early teens she was in fact an insecure 'drama geek', and as a result of her growth spurt she suffered from scoliosis and was constantly in pain. Many sources say that she was once nicknamed the "Jolly Blonde Giant" because of her 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) height, but she has admitted to making that up "for a laugh". While studying music (voice) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she became involved with fashion modeling and eventually moved to Paris for more than two years.
  
  wn.com/Rebecca_Romijn
• 
  Sharon Leal
  Sharon Ann Leal (born October 17, 1972 or 1979) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in movies such as Dreamgirls, Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too? and her roles on the television shows Legacy, The Guiding Light, Boston Public, and Hellcats.
  Leal was born in Tucson, Arizona to a Filipino mother and an African American father. Her adoptive father, Jesse Leal, was a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and a police officer at Clark Air Base, Philippines;now he is a substitute teacher in the canutillo area he married Leal's mother in 1976 and legally adopted Leal. Leal's mother, a housewife, later re-married to Elmer Manankil, the father of Leal's younger sister, Kristina.^{[citation needed]}
  Former Guiding Light co-star Yvonna Wright has said that she and Leal are close friends; the two starred together in a community production of Dreamgirls in their hometown.
  Leal's career began with the role of Dahlia Crede in the CBS daytime serial Guiding Light. Later, she joined the Broadway company of Rent. Soon after, she was cast as Mimi for the San Francisco leg of the first national tour of Rent. Leal also appeared on the 1999 original cast recording of the Off-Broadway musical Bright Lights, Big City alongside Patrick Wilson and Jesse L. Martin. She also appeared on the 2001 cast recording of Making Tracks.
  
  wn.com/Sharon_Leal
• 
  Spike Lee
  Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.
  Lee's movies have examined race relations, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award. He has also received two Academy Award nominations.
  Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Carroll (née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician and composer. Lee moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York when he was a small child. (The Fort Greene neighborhood is home to Lee's production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, and other Lee-owned or related businesses.) As a child, his mother nicknamed him "Spike." In Brooklyn, he attended John Dewey High School. Lee enrolled in Morehouse College where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communication from Morehouse College. He then enrolled in New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television.
  
  wn.com/Spike_Lee
• Tasha Smith
  Tasha Smith (born February 28, 1971) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous movies and plays.
  Tasha Smith is most recently known for her portrayal in "For Better or Worse" TBS Tyler Perry Series. Smith started a perfume launch titled "US" that is available in boutiques and at SimplyTasha.com
  Smith is known for her role in Daddy's Little Girls, a Tyler Perry-directed movie, where she played the villain Jennifer. She next starred in Perry's Why Did I Get Married? alongside Janet Jackson and Jill Scott.
  Smith has appeared on America's Next Top Model as an acting coach and helping the models with different scenes. Smith also has her own acting workshop, Tasha Smith's Acting Workshop {TSAW}, in which she helps and coaches many aspiring actors.
  Tasha Smith was born in Camden, New Jersey, and was raised by a single mother. She has an identical twin sister named Sidra Smith who currently lives in Atlanta.
  In an interview with Essence magazine, Smith stated that she was once a heavy drug abuser. Smith said, "I used to do drugs every day. I used between the ages of 19 and 25." She confessed to having smoked "two packs of cigarettes a day", to having "[marijuana] every day" and to "[using] cocaine three times a week. She attributed her victory over drugs to "the grace of God" .
  
  wn.com/Tasha_Smith
• 
  Thandie Newton
  Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton (born 6 November 1972) is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W.
  Newton was born in London, the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean health-care worker and Nick Newton, a laboratory technician and artist. Her birthplace has been incorrectly reported to be Zambia in some biographies, but she has confirmed in interviews that she was born in London, during a two-week trip by her parents. The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa or Swazi, and "Thandie" is pronounced /ˈtændi/ TAN-dee in English. According to Newton, her mother is a Shona princess. Regarding her childhood, Newton remarked at a TED conference: "From about the age of 5, I was aware that I didn't fit. I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly." Raised in London and Penzance, Cornwall, she studied dance at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and at sixteen, while recovering from a back injury, she successfully auditioned for her first film role. She then went on to study social anthropology at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1992 to 1995, where she achieved a 2:1.
  
  wn.com/Thandie_Newton
• 
  Touré
  Touré (born Touré Neblett, March 20, 1971) is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality based in New York City. He is the host of Fuse's Hiphop Shop and On the Record. He is also a contributor to MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show and serves on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.
  While a student at Emory University, Touré founded the black student newspaper, The Fire This Time. He dropped out of college in 1992 and became an intern at Rolling Stone magazine but was fired after a few months. Weeks later he was asked to write record reviews and then feature stories. His first feature was about Run-DMC. Since 1997, he has been a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, writing primarily about hip hop. In April 2011 he wrote the Rolling Stone cover story about Adele.^{[volume & issue needed]}
  Touré has written four books: The Portable Promised Land (2003), a collection of short stories, Soul City (2004), a magical realist novel about life in an African-American Utopia, and Never Drank the Kool-Aid (2006), a collection of his published writing between 1994 and 2005. In September 2011 Free Press published Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?, a look at modern Black identity that includes a forward by Michael Eric Dyson and excerpts from over 100 interviews with notable people like Jesse Jackson.
  
  wn.com/Touré
• 
  Tyler Perry
  Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry, Jr.; September 14, 1969) is an American actor, director, screen and playwright, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. In 2011, Forbes named him the highest paid man in entertainment, earning $130 million between May 2010 and 2011.
  Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Emmitt Perry, Jr. His family consisted of three siblings, his mother, Willie Maxine Perry (née Campbell), and his father, Emmitt Perry, Sr., a carpenter. Perry once said his father's "only answer to everything was to beat it out of you". As a child, Perry once went so far as to attempt suicide in an effort to escape his father's beatings. In contrast to his father, his mother took him to church each week, where he sensed a certain refuge and contentment. At age 16, he had his first name legally changed from Emmitt to Tyler in an effort to distance himself from his father.
  
  wn.com/Tyler_Perry
• Wikipedia Persondata
  wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata
• 
  Will Smith
  Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards.
  In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for nearly six years (1990–1996) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. In the mid-1990s, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office and the only one to have eight consecutive films in which he starred open at #1 spot in the domestic box office tally.
  
  wn.com/Will_Smith
• Willie Best
  William "Willie" Best (May 27, 1916 – February 27, 1962), sometimes known as Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor.
  Best was one of the first well-known African American film actors and comedians, although his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is today sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77 of them, an unusual feat for a bit player.
  A native of Sunflower, Mississippi, Best had arrived in Hollywood as chauffeur for a vacationing couple, and began his performing career with a traveling show in southern California. He became a regular character actor in Hollywood films after a talent scout discovered him on stage.
  Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940s. Although several sources state that for years he was only billed as “Sleep n’ Eat,” Best received credit under this moniker instead of his real name in only five movies: his first film as a bit player (Harold Lloyd’s Feet First) and his next four films that followed (The Monster Walks (1932); Kentucky Kernels and West of the Pecos (both 1934) and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)). He thereafter usually received credit as “Willie Best” or “William Best.”
  
  wn.com/Willie_Best

Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013)

Actors

• Brandy Norwood
• Jurnee Smollett
• Kim Kardashian
• Vanessa Williams
• Eric West

Director

• Tyler Perry

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• timeline:
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