name	La Vie En Rose
director	Olivier Dahan
producer	Alain Goldman
writer	Isabelle SobelmanOlivier Dahan
starring	Marion CotillardGérard DepardieuSylvie Testud
music	Christopher GunningÉdith Piaf
cinematography	Tetsuo Nagata
editing	Richard Marizy
studio	Légende Films
distributor	Picturehouse (USA)
released
runtime	140 minutes
country
language	FrenchEnglish
budget	$25 million
gross	$86,274,793 }}

''La Vie En Rose'' (, literally ''Life in Pink''; released in France as ''La Môme'', referring to Piaf's nickname "La Môme Piaf," (meaning "baby bird, birdie, little bird") is a 2007 Franco-Canadian biographical film about the life of French chanteuse Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title ''La Vie en Rose'' comes from Piaf's signature song. The film won five Césars, including one for Best Actress, and Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance, marking the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role. She is also the first French actress to win a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe for a foreign language role. It also became the first French film to win more than one Oscar; the other being for Makeup.

Plot

The film's narrative structure is a largely non-linear series of key events from the life of Édith Piaf, many of which the audience ultimately learns are evoked as flashbacks from within Édith's own memory as she dies. Despite the fractured narrative approach, the film is anchored at the beginning by predominance of elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death, poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien" ''(No, I don't regret a thing'').

The film opens with Édith as a small child in 1918, crying on a stoop after being teased by other children on the streets of Paris. Her mother stands across the alley singing, busking for change. Édith's mother writes to her child's father, the acrobat, who is fighting in the trenches of World War I battlefields, informing him that she is leaving Édith with her mother so she can pursue the life of the artist. Her father returns to Paris and scoops up a sick Édith, then in turn leaves the child with his own mother, who is a madam of a bordello in Normandy. Now living as a child in a brothel, surrounded by the often brutal and demeaning business of prostitution, Édith is taken under the wing of the women there, especially Titine, a young troubled redhead who becomes emotionally attached to the little girl. Titine sings to, plays with, and tenderly cares for Édith through travails including an episode of keratitis-induced blindness that is healed through their prayers to St. Thérèse.

Years later, Édith's father returns for her. Despite anguished protests from both Titine and Édith, he takes the child away to join him as he works as a circus acrobat. As Édith is outside cleaning up after dinner one night, she watches a fire eater practicing, and in the flames sees an apparition of St Thérèse, who assures her that she will always be with her—a belief that she carries with her for the rest of her life.

When Édith is nine years old, her father leaves the circus after an argument with the manager and begins performing on the streets of Paris. During a lackluster performance of her father's contortionist skills while Édith holds a hat for coins, a passerby asks if Édith is part of the show and, with prompting by her father to "do something" so the half-interested audience doesn't leave, she spontaneously sings "La Marseillaise" with raw emotion, mesmerizing the street crowd.

Years later, a nightclub owner named Louis Leplée approaches Édith while she sings (and drinks) on the streets of Montmartre for supper money with her friend Mômone. He invites her to his club for an informal audition. Impressed, he hires her, after creating for diminutive Édith a stage surname of Piaf, a colloquialism for sparrow.

Soon, Leplée is shot dead, suspected by the police to be due to Édith's connections to the mafia through the pimp who has demanded a large portion of her street singing earnings. When Édith next attempts a show at a low grade cabaret, she is jeered and shouted off the stage by a hostile crowd, but she soon meets her next mentor—Raymond Asso, a songwriter and accompanist. He enlivens her performances by teaching her to gesture with her "great hands" while singing, and works with her on enunciation and other aspects of stage presence, including how to battle her initial fierce bouts of stage fright that almost prevent her from taking the stage for her first music hall performance.

While performing in New York City, Édith meets Marcel Cerdan, a fellow French national who is a boxer competing for the World Champion title. Though she quickly learns from him that he has a wife, who runs their pig farm while he's away, Édith tells Mômone that she is falling in love with Marcel. The affair that ensues, while supposedly secret, results in the playing of "La Vie En Rose" being played for Marcel wherever he goes. The morning after Édith has persuaded Marcel to fly to her from Paris to join her in New York, she wakes up to his kiss. She joyfully hurries to get him coffee and her gift to him of a watch, while she mocks and exasperatedly shouts at her oddly subdued entourage as they listlessly stand around her apartment. They finally break the news to her that Marcel's plane crashed. Édith hysterically searches for the ghost of Marcel that was lounging on her bed just a few moments before, crying out the name of her lost lover.

The narrative bookends these scenes from Édith's middle life with repeated vignettes of an aged-looking Édith with frizzy red hair, being nursed and tended to. She spends much of her time sitting in a chair by the lakeside, and when she stands, she has the stooped posture and slowness of a much older person. Another set of fractured memories shows Édith with short curly hair, plastered to her face like she is feverish, singing on stage and collapsing while she tries to sing, a moment when Édith herself realizes that her body is betraying her, when she is hosting a party at a Parisian bistro, and topples a bottle of champagne because of her developing arthritis, and to the morphine addiction that ultimately plays a large role in her demise, as she injects the drug with a young lover in her bedroom.

After her husband persuades her to enter rehabilitation for her addiction, she travels to California with him Jacques Pills and the audience sees the sober but manic-by-nature Édith being driven around in a convertible, laughing, joking, teasing her compatriots and generally being the life of the party, until she takes the wheel and promptly drives into a joshua tree. The hilarity is uninterrupted as Édith gets out and pretends to hitchhike—the whole episode appearing to be a metaphor for her lifelong frantic efforts to be happy and distracted by entertaining others, through all manner of disasters.

Years later, Piaf, now frail and hunched, squabbles with her entourage about whether or not she will be able to perform at the Olympia. No one but Édith thinks that she will be ready to attempt the feat, but she ultimately faces this reality herself. Then, a new songwriter and arranger shows up with a song, "Je ne regrette rien", and Édith exclaims: "You're marvelous! Exactly what I've been waiting for. It's incredible. It's me! That's my life, it's me." She announces that she will indeed perform it at the Olympia.

Memories from prior to and during her last performance, when she collapses onstage, are interwoven through the film, foreshadowing the tragic end to a stellar but prematurely ended stage life. The memories appear to almost haunt Piaf. In one series, prior to what turns out to be her last performance, Édith is finally ready to go onstage after a series of delays, when she asks for the cross necklace that she always wears. As her staff rush away to get it, she sits and, in her quiet solitude, experiences more memories of her past, and after Édith puts on the retrieved cross and shuffles out onto the stage, the film presents more flashbacks as she is singing one of her signature songs, "Je ne regrette rien."

She relives a sunny day on a beach with her knitting, when an older Édith with an obvious stoop graciously answers the simple and polite questions of an interviewer: what is her favorite color? (blue), her favorite food? (pot roast), and then more poignant questions that she also answers without hesitation, again showing the longings of her life. If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be? "Love." To a young girl? "Love." To a child? "Love."

As though he is carrying a swaddled infant, Louis easily carries Édith, tiny and wasted away at the age of 47, into her bedroom and tucks her into bed, while the subtitle removes any illusions that this is other than the last day of her life. She is afraid. She says she cannot remember things, but has a disjointed series of memories of the kind of small moments that somehow define all our lives more than the "big moments" do—scrambled and fragmentary as a dying person might experience—her mother commenting on her "wild eyes," her father giving her a gift of a doll, and thoughts of her own dead child, Marcelle.

The film ends not with a death scene, which is implied, but with Édith performing "Je ne regrette rien" at the Olympia.

Cast

Marion Cotillard as Édith Piaf

Gérard Depardieu as Louis Leplée

Sylvie Testud as Mômone (Simone Berteaut)

Jean-Pierre Martins as Marcel Cerdan

Emmanuelle Seigner as Titine

Pascal Greggory as Louis Barrier

Catherine Allégret as Louise Gassion

Jean-Paul Rouve as Louis Gassion

Clotilde Courau as Anetta Gassion

Marie-Armelle Deguy as Marguerite Monnot

Marc Barbé as Raymond Asso

Caroline Raynaud as Ginou

Pavlína Němcová as American journalist

Harry Hadden-Paton as Doug Davis

Production

Four songs were entirely performed by "Parigote" singer Jil Aigrot: "Mon Homme" ''(My Man)'', "Les Mômes de la Cloche" ''(The kids of the bell)'', "Mon Légionnaire" ''(My legionary)'', "Les Hiboux" ''(Owls)'' as well as the third verse and chorus of "L'Accordéoniste" ''(The accordionist)'' and the first chorus of "Padam Padam". Only parts of these last two songs were sung because they were sung while Piaf/Cotillard was fatigued and collapsed on stage. Apart from that, "La Marseillaise" is performed by child singer Cassandre Berger (lip-synched by Pauline Burlet, who plays the young Édith in the film), and Mistinguett's "Mon Homme" ''(My Man)'' and "Il m'a vue nue" ''(He saw me naked)'' (sung in part by Emmanuelle Seigner) also appear. Recordings of Piaf are also used.

The movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.

Box office performance

In theaters, the film grossed US$81,945,871 worldwide – $10,072,300 in the United States and Canada and $71,873,571 elsewhere in the world. In Francophone countries including Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia, the film grossed a total of $42,014,775.

This film became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (behind ''Amélie'' and ''Brotherhood of the Wolf'').

Critical reception

The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. In particular, critics praised the lifelike and deeply emotional performance of lead actress Marion Cotillard, culminating in her Oscar win for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Critic A.O Scott of ''The New York Times'', while unimpressed with the film itself, was still rather impressed with Cotillard's performance: "It is hard not to admire Ms. Cotillard for the discipline and ferocity she brings to the role." Carino Chocano of the ''Los Angeles Times'' opined that "Marion Cotillard is astonishing as the troubled singer in a technically virtuosic and emotionally resonant performance..." Richard Nilsen from ''Arizona Republic'' was even more enthusiastic, writing "don't bother voting. Just give the Oscar to Marion Cotillard now. As the chanteuse Édith Piaf in ''La Vie en rose'', her acting is the most astonishing I've seen in years."

Awards

Marion Cotillard won seven Best Actress Awards for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in ''La Vie en Rose'':

The Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Motion Picture (musical or comedy)

The Prix Lumière (equivalent to the Golden Globe in France) for Best Actress

The Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival

The BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The César Award (equivalent to the Oscars in France) for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Czech Lion (equivalent to the Oscars in the Czech Republic) Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Other awards include:

The César for Best Production Design (Olivier Raoux)

The César for Best Photography (Tetsuo Nagata)

The César for Best Sound (Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard, Marc Doisne and Jean-Paul Hurier)

The César for Best Costume Design (Marit Allen)

Nominated for a further six Césars for Best Film, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best editing.

The Academy Award for Makeup.

The BAFTA Awards for Best Makeup, Costume Design and Film Music.

Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language at the BAFTAs.

Nominated for Academy Award for Costume Design.

Nominated for Satellite Award for Best Editing.

Nominated for 2008 Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score.

The Czech Lion for Best Film score.

References

External links

Interview with Olivier Dahan

Interview with Marion Cotillard

Category:2007 films Category:French films Category:Canadian films Category:French-language films Category:English-language films Category:2000s drama films Category:2000s musical films Category:Best Makeup Academy Award winners Category:Biographical films Category:Canadian drama films Category:Films directed by Olivier Dahan Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Actress César Award winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance Category:Films set in the 1910s Category:Films set in the 1920s Category:Films set in the 1930s Category:Films set in the 1940s Category:Films set in the 1950s Category:Films set in the 1960s Category:Films shot in the Czech Republic Category:French drama films Category:Nonlinear narrative films

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name	Grace Jones
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Grace Mendoza
born	May 19, 1948
origin	Spanish Town, Jamaica
occupation	actress, singer/songwriter, model, artist
genre	Pop, R&B;, dance-pop, synthpop, rock, New Wave, reggae, electronic, disco
years active	1976–present
label	Island Records, Manhattan Records, Capitol Records, Wall of Sound, PIAS Recordings
instrument	Vocals
quote	}}

Grace Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. In 1981, her "Pull Up to the Bumper" spent seven weeks at #2 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, and became a Top 5 single on the U.S. R&B; chart. Although she has yet to become a truly mainstream recording artist in the United States, much of Jones's musical output is very popular in American clubs as many of the singles were hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. Jones was able to find mainstream success in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, scoring a number of Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart. Jones's most notable albums are ''Warm Leatherette'', ''Nightclubbing'' and ''Slave to the Rhythm'', while her biggest hits (other than "Pull Up to the Bumper") are "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)", "Private Life", "Slave to the Rhythm" and "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)". During the 1970s, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively. During this era she regularly went to the New York City nightclub Studio 54.

Jones is also an actress. Her acting occasionally overshadowed her musical output in America; but not in Europe, where her profile as a recording artist was much higher. She appeared in some low-budget films in the 1970s and early 1980s. Her work as an actress in mainstream film began in the 1984 fantasy-action film ''Conan the Destroyer'' alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 1985 James Bond movie ''A View to a Kill''. In 1986 she played a vampire in ''Vamp'', and both acted in and contributed a song to the 1992 film ''Boomerang'' with Eddie Murphy. In 2001, she appeared in ''Wolf Girl'' alongside Tim Curry.

Life and career

Background and early career

Grace Jones was born in Spanish Town, the daughter of Marjorie and Robert W. Jones, who was a politician and Apostolic clergyman. Her parents took Grace and her brothers, Chris and Noel Jones, and relocated to Syracuse in 1965. Before becoming a successful model in New York City and Paris, Jones studied theatre at Onondaga Community College. In the 1973 film ''Gordon's War'', Jones played the role of Mary, a Harlem drug courier.

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits and a large gay following. The three disco-oriented albums she recorded – ''Portfolio'' (1977), ''Fame'' (1978), and ''Muse'' (1979) – generated considerable success in that market. These albums consisted of pop melodies set to a disco beat, such as "On Your Knees" or "Do or Die" and standards such as "What I Did for Love" from musical ''A Chorus Line'', Jacques Prévert's "Autumn Leaves", "Send in the Clowns" from Stephen Sondheim's ''A Little Night Music'' and Édith Piaf's signature tune "La Vie en rose". During this period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively. Jones also accompanied him to New York City nightclub Studio 54 on many occasions. The colourful artwork and design for Jones' three first albums and accompanying single releases were created by another of Warhol's longtime collaborators, Richard Bernstein, arguably best known for his many cover illustrations for ''Interview Magazine'' in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, she appeared with French model and singer Amanda Lear in the controversial six-episode Italian TV series ''Stryx''.

Early 1980s: Compass Point Studios period

At the beginning of the 1980s, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music to create a different style for herself. Still with Island, and now working with producers Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars, and recording at Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, she released the acclaimed album ''Warm Leatherette'' in 1980. This included re-imaginings of songs by The Pretenders ("Private Life"), Roxy Music ("Love Is the Drug"), Tom Petty ("Breakdown"), The Normal ("Warm Leatherette") and Smokey Robinson ("The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"). The record met with even greater success than her previous disco albums and the song "Private Life" was her first to enter UK Singles Chart, still remaining one of her highest-charting singles in that country. Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual makeover, created in partnership with stylist Jean-Paul Goude. Jones adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. The cover photographs of ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' exemplified this new identity.

1981 saw the release of ''Nightclubbing'', a rapid follow-up to ''Warm Leatherette''. Jones chose a number of well-known hits to reinterpret, including The Police's "Demolition Man", Iggy Pop's and David Bowie's "Nightclubbing" and Ástor Piazzolla's "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)". The latter would become one of the Jones's most recognisable tunes and the self-penned, post-disco dance track "Pull Up to the Bumper", which spent seven weeks at #2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart, and became a Top 5 single on the U.S. R&B; chart when released as a single in the fall of 1981. However, both ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' albums also included a few tracks co-written by Jones herself, such as "A Rolling Stone" and "Feel Up". In the UK, ''Nightclubbing'' claimed the number one slot on music magazine New Musical Express' Album of the Year listing. In 1981, Jones, appearing alongside noted psychotherapist Sonja Vetter, caused a controversy slapping chat show host Russell Harty across the face live on air after he turned to interview other guests and she felt she was being ignored. This topped a 2006 BBC poll of the most-shocking British TV chat show moments.

In 1981 and 1982, Jones toured the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia and the US with her ''One Man Show'', a performance art/pop theatre presentation devised by Jean-Paul Goude and Jones herself, in which she performed tracks from the albums ''Portfolio'', ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' dressed in elaborate costumes and masks – in the opening sequence as a gorilla – and alongside a series of Grace Jones lookalikes. A video version, filmed live in London and New York City and completed with some studio footage, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long-Form Music Video next year. Her collaboration with Blackwell, Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars continued with the dub reggae-influenced album ''Living My Life'' (1982), which featured the self-penned "My Jamaican Guy", sung in patois and a cover of "The Apple Stretching" by Melvin Van Peebles. In 1984, Jones's work as an actress in mainstream film began, with the role of Zula, the Amazon, in ''Conan the Destroyer'' alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and former NBA player Wilt Chamberlain. She next landed the role of May Day in the fourteenth James Bond movie ''A View to a Kill'' (1985).

Late 1980s and 1990s

In the mid-1980s, she worked with Trevor Horn and Bruce Woolley for the conceptual musical collage ''Slave to the Rhythm'', which was released in the fall of 1985. The well-received album consisted of several re-workings of the title track, which is arguably the most popular song ever delivered by Grace Jones. Although never charted in the USA, the single did well in the UK, peaking at number 12. ''Slave to the Rhythm'', together with ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' albums, is now recognised as one of Grace Jones's best works. In December, her first retrospective album was released. ''Island Life'' collected most of the singles from her 1977 debut up to recent 1985 hits. It included new versions of "Love Is the Drug" and "Pull Up to the Bumper," which were re-issued and charted again. Her next studio release, the first album after leaving the Island Records label, was ''Inside Story'' (1986), on which she worked with Nile Rodgers. It produced her last Billboard Hot 100 hit to date, "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)", one of several songs she co-wrote with Bruce Woolley.

She sang vocals along with Simon Le Bon in the international top 10 dance-pop hit "Election Day", which Le Bon's then band Arcadia released in October 1985. She appeared in the 1986 vampire film ''Vamp'' where she played a queen vampire.

Her ninth studio album, ''Bulletproof Heart'' (1989), spawned the Number 1 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play hit "Love on Top of Love (Killer Kiss)", produced by C+C Music Factory's David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The second and the final single, "Amado Mio", was a cover version of the song used in 1946 film ''Gilda'' and originally performed by Rita Hayworth. ''Bulletproof Heart'' met with lukewarm reception. In 1992 Jones appeared in Eddie Murphy film ''Boomerang'', for which she also contributed the song "7 Day Weekend" to its soundtrack, and released two more singles in 1993: "Evilmainya", recorded for the film ''Freddie as F.R.O.7'', and "Sexdrive". She recorded two albums during the 1990s, but they remain unreleased thus far. In 1994, she was due to release an electro album titled ''Black Marilyn'' with artwork featuring the singer as Marilyn Monroe; in 1998, she was scheduled to release an album entitled ''Force of Nature'', on which she worked with trip hop musician Tricky. The release of ''Force of Nature'' was cancelled due to a disagreement between them and only a white label 12" single featuring two dance mixes of "Hurricane (Cradle to the Grave)" was issued; a slowed-down version of this song became the title track of her comeback album released ten years later. In 1999 she appeared in an episode of the ''Beastmaster'' television series as the Umpatra Warrior.

Recent career

In 2000, Jones cut "The Perfect Crime"(to the show "Crime Perfeito"), an up-tempo song for Danish TV written by the composer duo Floppy M. aka Jacob Duus & Kåre Jacobsen. A year later, she appeared alongside Tim Curry in ''Wolf Girl'' (also known as ''Blood Moon''), as a transvestite circus performer named Christoph/Christine. On 28 May 2002, she performed onstage in Modena, Italy with Italian opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during his annual ''Pavarotti and Friends'' concert to support the UN refugee agency's programs for Angolan refugees in Zambia. Together they performed the aria "Pourquoi me réveiller?" from Jules Massenet's opera ''Werther''. In November 2004, Jones sang her hit "Slave to the Rhythm" at a tribute concert for record producer Trevor Horn at London's Wembley Arena. In April 2005 Jones raised a controversy, when she was accused of verbally abusing a Eurostar train manager in a quarrel over a ticket upgrade, and she either was escorted off the train or left of her own accord, later saying that she had been mistreated. In February 2006, Jones was the celebrity runway model for Diesel's show in New York.

Producer Ivor Guest confirmed that he and Jones had completed recording her new album in 2007. Other participants on the album included the original Compass Point All Stars line-up, including Sly and Robbie, Mikey Chung and Wally Badarou, joined by Brian Eno, Bruce Woolley, Tricky and Tony Allen. The ''Hurricane'' album (initially to be titled ''Corporate Cannibal'') was released on 27 October 2008, on Wall of Sound/PIAS Records, meeting with positive reviews. "Corporate Cannibal" became the album's lead single, with its music video directed by Nick Hooker. Jones embarked on a concert tour at the end of 08 and beginning of 09, and appeared at Secret Garden Party and Latitude Festival to promote the new album. The video for the second single, "Williams' Blood", used live footage from the Hurricane Tour. Grace Jones also collaborated with the avant-garde poet Brigitte Fontaine on a duet named " Soufi" from Fontaine's latest album 'Prohibition' released in the fall 2009, and produced by Ivor Guest. On 26 April 2010 Grace Jones performed at Royal Albert Hall, receiving rave reviews. ''A One Man Show'' was released on DVD, as ''Grace Jones – Live in Concert'', in 2010 with 3 bonus videoclips ("Slave to the Rhythm", "Love Is the Drug" and "Crush"). "Love You to Life", the third single off ''Hurricane'', was released on 2 May 2010. Grace Jones collaborated again with the French avant-garde poet Brigitte Fontaine on two tracks (Dancefloor and La Caravane) on Fontaine's 2011 release entitled "L'un n'empêche pas l'autre". (This album also produced by Ivor Guest). Jones performed at the opening ceremony of the 61st FIFA Congress.

Style, image and voice

In the late 1970s, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes, created in partnership with stylist Jean-Paul Goude. She would also exemplify the so-called "flat top" hairstyle in many of her concerts in the 1970s, which would become popular among black men in the 1980s. Her first album cover to feature this hairstyle was 1980's ''Warm Leatherette''. Her strong visual presence was an advantage for her music videos and concert tours. In her concert performances, she adopted various personas and wore outlandish costumes, particularly during her years with Goude. One such performance was at the Paradise Garage in 1985, for which she collaborated with visual artist Keith Haring for her costume. Haring painted her body in tribal patterns and fitted her with wire armour. The muralist also painted her body for the video to "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)" and the 1986 vampire film ''Vamp''. Grace Jones's striking appearance, height (5'10½" or 1.79 m), and manner influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s. To this day, she is known for her unique look at least as much as she is for her music and has been an inspiration for numerous other artists, including Annie Lennox and Lady Gaga.

Jones is a contralto. Although her image became equally as notable as her voice, she is a highly stylised vocalist.

Personal life

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, Jones was in a relationship with a French graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude, with whom she has a son, Paulo. Her engagement with Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren was cancelled and in 1996 she married Atila Altunbay.

Discography

''Portfolio'' (1977)

''Fame'' (1978)

''Muse'' (1979)

''Warm Leatherette'' (1980)

''Nightclubbing'' (1981)

''Living My Life'' (1982)

''Slave to the Rhythm'' (1985)

''Inside Story'' (1986)

''Bulletproof Heart'' (1989)

''Hurricane'' (2008)

Filmography

Movies

1973: ''Gordon's War''

1976: ''Let's Make a Dirty Movie''

1976: ''Colt 38 Special Squad''

1979: ''Army of Lovers or Revolution of the Perverts'' (documentary)

1981: ''Deadly Vengeance''

1984: ''Made in France'' (documentary)

1984: ''Conan the Destroyer''

1985: ''A View to a Kill''

1986: ''Vamp''

1987: ''Straight to Hell''

1987: ''Siesta''

1990: ''Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol'' (documentary)

1992: ''Boomerang''

1995: ''Cyber Bandits''

1998: ''McCinsey's Island''

1999: ''Palmer's Pick Up''

2006: ''No Place Like Home''

2008: ''Falco – Verdammt, Wir Leben Noch!''

2008: ''Chelsea on the Rocks''

Television work

1978: ''Stryx''

1982: ''A One Man Show''

1988: ''Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special''

1999: ''Beastmaster''

2001: ''Wolf Girl''

2001: ''Shaka Zulu: The Citadel''

Awards and nominations

Jones is a three-time Saturn Award nominee, a Grammy nominee, an MTV Video Music Awards nominee, a Razzie Award nominee and a Q Awards winner. She has also ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll.

Saturn Awards

1985: Best Supporting Actress for ''Conan the Destroyer'' (Nomination)

1986: Best Supporting Actress for ''A View to a Kill'' (Nomination)

1987: Best Supporting Actress for ''Vamp'' (Nomination)

Grammy Awards

1983: Best Long Form Music Video for her ''A One Man Show'' (Nomination)

MTV Video Music Award

1986: Best Female Video for "Slave to the Rhythm" (Nomination)

Razzie Awards

1987: Worst Supporting Actress for ''Siesta'' (Nomination)

Q Music Award

2008: Q Idol (Winner)

References

External links

Grace Jones official website

Official Grace Jones page at MySpace

Grace Jones fan blog

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:American contraltos Category:American disco musicians Category:American female models Category:American female singers Category:American house musicians Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Androgyny Category:American disco musicians Category:English-language singers Category:Female New Wave singers Category:French-language singers Category:American people of Jamaican descent Category:Jamaican female models Category:Jamaican female singers Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United States Category:People from Saint Catherine Parish Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:ZTT Records artists

da:Grace Jones de:Grace Jones es:Grace Jones fr:Grace Jones hr:Grace Jones id:Grace Jones it:Grace Jones ht:Grace Jones hu:Grace Jones nl:Grace Jones ja:グレイス・ジョーンズ no:Grace Jones nn:Grace Jones pl:Grace Jones pt:Grace Jones ru:Джонс, Грейс sl:Grace Jones sr:Грејс Џоунс fi:Grace Jones sv:Grace Jones

name	Audrey Hepburn
birth name	Audrey Kathleen Ruston
birth date	May 04, 1929
birth place
death date	January 20, 1993
death place
death cause	Appendiceal cancer
resting place	Tolochenaz Cemetery, Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland
occupation	Actress, humanitarian
years active	1948–92
nationality	British
other names
website
spouse
partner
children
parents
awards	List of awards and honours }}

Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 192920 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. Redefining glamour with "elfin" features and a waif-like figure that inspired designs by Hubert de Givenchy, she was inducted in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, and ranked, by the American Film Institute, as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema.

Born in Ixelles, Belgium, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem during the Second World War. In Arnhem, she studied ballet before moving to London in 1948 where she continued to train in ballet while working as a photographer's model. Upon deciding to pursue a career in acting, she performed as a chorus girl in various West End musical theatre productions. After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play ''Gigi'', Hepburn gained instant Hollywood stardom for playing the Academy Award-winning lead role in ''Roman Holiday'' (1953). Later performing in ''Sabrina'' (1954), ''The Nun's Story'' (1959), ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961), ''Charade'' (1963), ''My Fair Lady'' (1964) and ''Wait Until Dark'' (1967), Hepburn became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age who received nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs as well as winning a Tony Award for her theatrical performance in the 1954 Broadway play ''Ondine''. Hepburn remains one of few entertainers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.

Although she appeared in fewer films as her life went on, Hepburn devoted much of her later life to UNICEF. Her war-time struggles inspired her passion for humanitarian work and, although Hepburn had contributed to the organisation since the 1950s, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 1993, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland, aged 63.

Early life

Audrey Kathleen Ruston, later double-barrelled by her father to the surname Hepburn-Ruston, was born on Rue Keyenveld (or Keienveldstraat in Dutch) in Ixelles (or Elsene in Dutch), a municipality in Brussels, Belgium. Hepburn, the only child of Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1889–1980), an English banker of Irish descent, and his second wife Ella, baroness van Heemstra (1900–1984), a Dutch aristocrat, had two half-brothers: Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander "Alex" Quarles van Ufford (1920–1979) and Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford (1924–2010), by her mother's first marriage. Although born in Belgium, Hepburn had British citizenship and attended school in England as a child. Hepburn's father's job with a British insurance company meant that the family often travelled between Belgium, England, and the Netherlands. From 1935 to 1938, Hepburn was educated at Miss Rigden's School, an independent girls' school in the village of Elham, Kent, in the southeast of England.

Childhood and adolescence in World War II

Hepburn's parents, members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s (according to Unity Mitford, a friend of Ella van Heemstra and a follower of Adolf Hitler), divorced in 1935 when her father, a Nazi sympathiser, left the family. Her father's abandonment left her in a traumatic state. Years later, she located him in Dublin, Ireland, through the Red Cross. Although he remained emotionally detached, Hepburn remained in contact and supported him financially until his death.

Moving to their grandfather's home in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 1939, her mother relocated her and her two half-brothers in the belief that the Netherlands would protect them from German attack. While in Arnhem, Hepburn attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945 where she trained in ballet alongside the standard school curriculum. After the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Hepburn adopted the pseudonym Edda van Heemstra, a derivative of her mother's name "Ella," modifying her mother's documents because an "English sounding" name was considered dangerous during the German occupation. Her mother also felt that the name Audrey may have indicated her British roots too strongly – an unwanted asset particularly as it could have attracted the attention of occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or deportation.

By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She had secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch resistance. She later said, "The best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performances." After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse and Arnhem was subsequently devastated by Allied artillery fire under Operation Market Garden. During the Dutch famine that followed in the winter of 1944, the Germans blocked the resupply routes of the Netherlands’ already-limited food and fuel supplies as retaliation in railway strikes hindered German occupation. People starved and froze to death in the streets; Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits. One way that Hepburn passed the time was by drawing; some of her childhood artwork can be seen today.

Hepburn's half-brother, Ian van Ufford, spent time in a German labour camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anæmia, respiratory problems, and œdema. Hepburn, in 1991, commented, "I have memories. More than once I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I remember, very sharply, one little boy standing with his parents on the platform, very pale, very blond, wearing a coat that was much too big for him, and he stepped on to the train. I was a child observing a child."

When the country was liberated, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration trucks followed. Hepburn said in an interview that she fell ill from putting too much sugar in her oatmeal and eating an entire can of condensed milk. Hepburn's war-time experiences sparked her devotion to UNICEF, an international humanitarian organisation, in her later career.

Career

Career beginnings and early roles

After the war ended in 1945, Hepburn left the Arnhem Conservatory and moved to Amsterdam, where she took ballet lessons with Sonia Gaskell. Hepburn appeared as a stewardess in a short tourism film for KLM, before travelling with her mother to London. Gaskell provided an introduction to Marie Rambert, and Hepburn studied ballet at the Ballet Rambert, supporting herself with part-time work as a model. Hepburn eventually asked Rambert about her future; Rambert assured her that she could continue to work there and have a great career, but the fact that she was relatively tall (1.7m / 5 ft 7) coupled with her poor nutrition during the war would keep her from becoming a prima ballerina. Hepburn trusted Rambert's assessment and decided to pursue acting, a career in which she at least had the chance to excel. After Hepburn became a star, Rambert said in an interview, "She was a wonderful learner. If she had wanted to persevere, she might have become an outstanding ballerina."

Hepburn's mother worked menial jobs in order to support them and Hepburn needed to find employment. Since she had trained to become a performer all her life, acting seemed a sensible career. She said, "I needed the money; it paid ₤3 more than ballet jobs." Her acting career began with the educational film ''Dutch in Seven Lessons'' (1948). As a London chorus girl, she played in the musical theatre productions ''High Button Shoes'' (1948) at the London Hippodrome and Cecil Landeau's musical revues ''Sauce Tartare'' (1949) and ''Sauce Piquante'' (1950) at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. Her theatre work, however, revealed that her voice was not strong and needed to be developed. Hepburn, therefore, took elocution lessons with the actor Felix Aylmer. Hepburn was spotted by a scout for Paramount Pictures during her work in the West End. She registered with the casting officers of British film studios while working in the West End to appear in small minor roles in the 1951 films ''One Wild Oat'', ''Laughter in Paradise'', ''Young Wives' Tale'' and ''The Lavender Hill Mob''.

During the filming of ''Monte Carlo Baby'' (1951), French novelist Colette appeared on set, choosing Hepburn to play the title character in the Broadway play ''Gigi''. Upon first sight of Hepburn, Colette whispered, "Voilà," indicating Hepburn, "there's your Gigi." Opening on 24 November 1951 at the Fulton Theatre, the play ran for 219 performances finishing on 31 May 1952. Hepburn's performance earned her a Theatre World Award. Hepburn's subsequent first significant film performance was in Thorold Dickinson's ''The Secret People'' (1952), in which, Hepburn played a prodigious ballerina; Hepburn performed all of her own dancing sequences.

''Roman Holiday'' and increased popularity

Hepburn's first starring role was in the Italian-set ''Roman Holiday'' (1953) as Princess Ann, a "bored and sheltered" European princess who, after escaping her guardians, falls in love with American newsman Gregory Peck. Producers initially wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role but after Hepburn's screen test, director William Wyler was so impressed that he cast her in the lead. Following the screen test, the camera kept rolling while Hepburn, displaying her ability, candidly answered questions, relaxed and unaware that she was still being filmed. Wyler later commented, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence and talent. She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting and we said, 'That's the girl!'" Originally, the film was to have had only Peck's name above its title in large font while she would receive "Introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming had been completed and Hepburn had won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, Peck suggested to Wyler that he elevate her to equal billing so her name appeared before the title and in type as large as his. Due to the instant celebrity that came with ''Roman Holiday'', Hepburn spawned what became known as the Audrey Hepburn "look" while her illustration was placed on the September 1953 cover of ''TIME'' magazine. Hepburn garnered critical and commercial acclaim for her portrayal of the incognito princess and supplemented her Academy Award win with her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. A. H. Weiler noted in ''The New York Times'' that although "she is not precisely a newcomer to films, [Hepburn,] who is being starred for the first time as Princess Ann, is a slender, elfin and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike in her profound appreciation of newly found, simple pleasures and love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgement of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future." In allowing her to become a star, Hepburn later called ''Roman Holiday'' her dearest movie. Returning to the New York stage after filming ''Roman Holiday'' for four months, Hepburn performed in ''Gigi'' for eight months. The play was performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in its last month. She was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.

Following ''Roman Holiday'', she starred in Billy Wilder's romantic Cinderella-story comedy ''Sabrina'' (1954) where wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of their chauffeur's innocent daughter (Hepburn). For her performance, she was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actress while winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role the same year. The uncredited Hubert de Givenchy was responsible for many of Hepburn's outfits in the film. Initially disappointed, Givenchy noted that, upon being told that the actress would be"Miss Hepburn," he had expected Katharine Hepburn. When faced with this actress, he told Hepburn he had little time to spare. Nevertheless, she knew exactly how she wanted to look and asked to view his latest collection. Their collaboration in ''Sabrina'' developed into a life-long friendship and partnership; she was often a muse for many of his designs and her style became renowned internationally.

Hepburn also began another collaboration that year, this time with actor/writer/producer Mel Ferrer. After starring with him as the water spirit in ''Ondine'' on Broadway, Hepburn married Ferrer, and their sometimes tumultuous partnership would last for the better part of the next fifteen years. Her performance won her the 1954 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, the same year she won the Academy Award for ''Roman Holiday''. Hepburn, therefore, stands as one of three actresses to receive the Academy and Tony Awards for Best Actress in the same year (the others being Shirley Booth and Ellen Burstyn). By the mid-1950s, Hepburn was not only one of the biggest motion picture stars in Hollywood, but also a major fashion influence. Her gamine and elfin appearance and widely recognised sense of chic were both admired and imitated. In 1955, she was awarded the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite – Female. Hepburn was asked to play Anne Frank's counterpart in both the Broadway and film adaptations of Frank's life. Hepburn, however, who was born the same year as Frank, found herself "emotionally incapable" of the task, and at almost thirty years old, too old. The role was eventually given to Susan Strasberg and Millie Perkins in the play and film respectively.

Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, she went on to star in a series of successful films during the remainder of the decade, including her BAFTA- and Golden Globe-nominated role as Natasha Rostova in ''War and Peace'' (1956), an adaptation of the Tolstoy novel set during the Napoleonic wars with Mel Ferrer and Henry Fonda. The year 1957 saw her debut in musical film titled ''Funny Face'' which saw her perform alongside Fred Astaire; she also starred alongside Gary Cooper and Maurice Chevalier in the romantic comedy ''Love in the Afternoon''. ''The Nun's Story'' (1959), in which she starred alongside Peter Finch, accrued her third Academy Award nomination and earned her another BAFTA Award. ''Films in Review'' stated that her performance "will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen." Reportedly, she spent hours in convents and with members of the Church to bring truth to her portrayal: "I gave more time, energy and thought to this than to any of my previous screen performances." Subsequently, she starred with Anthony Perkins in the romantic adventure ''Green Mansions'' (1959) where Perkins, a young man, meets "a girl of the forest" (Hepburn) and falls in love with her. In 1960, she appeared alongside Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in her only western film ''The Unforgiven'' for which she received lukewarm reception.

''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' and continued stardom

Three months after the birth of her son, Sean, in 1960, Hepburn began work on Blake Edwards' ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961), a film very loosely based on the Truman Capote novella. The film was drastically changed from the original version. Capote disapproved of many changes and proclaimed that Hepburn was "grossly miscast" as Holly Golightly, a quirky New York call girl, a role he had envisioned for Marilyn Monroe. Hepburn's portrayal of Golightly was adapted from the original: "I can't play a hooker," she admitted to Marty Jurow, co-producer of the film. Despite the lack of sexual innuendo in her character, her portrayal was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Actress and became an iconic character in American cinema. Often considered her defining role, Holly Golightly, Hepburn's high fashion style and sophistication within the film became synonymous with her. She named the role "the jazziest of my career" yet admitted that, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did." The little black dress which is worn by Hepburn in the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the twentieth century and perhaps the most famous little black dress of all time.

Playing opposite Shirley MacLaine and James Garner, her next role was in William Wyler's lesbian-themed drama ''The Children's Hour'' (1961) which saw Hepburn and MacLaine play teachers whose lives become troubled after a student accuses them of being lesbians. The film was one of Hollywood's earliest treatments of the subject of lesbianism, and perhaps due to this and the illiberal state of society, the film and Hepburn's performance went seemingly unnoticed both critically and commercially. Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'', however, noted that "it is not too well acted" with the exception of Hepburn who "gives the impression of being sensitive and pure" of its "muted theme" while ''Variety'' magazine also complemented Hepburn's "soft sensitivity, marvellous projection and emotional understatement" adding that Hepburn and MacLaine "beautifully complement each other."

Her only film with Cary Grant came in the comic thriller ''Charade'' (1963). Hepburn, who plays Regina Lampert, finds herself pursued by several men (including Grant) who chase the fortune her murdered husband had stolen. The role earned her third and final competitive BAFTA Award and accrued another Golden Globe nomination. Grant (59 years old at the time), who had previously withdrawn from the starring male lead roles in ''Roman Holiday'' and ''Sabrina'', was sensitive about the age difference between Hepburn (at age 34) and him, making him uncomfortable about the romantic interplay. To satisfy his concerns, the filmmakers agreed to change the screenplay so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his. Grant, however, loved to humour Hepburn and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn."

''Paris When It Sizzles'' (1964) reteamed Hepburn with William Holden nearly ten years after ''Sabrina''. The screwball comedy set in Paris saw Hepburn as Gabrielle Simpson, the young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter (Holden) who aids his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum", was "uniformly panned"; Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems: Holden tried, without success, to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress; that, combined with his alcoholism made the situation a challenge. Hepburn did not help matters: after principal photography began, she demanded the dismissal of cinematographer Claude Renoir after seeing what she felt were unflattering dailies. Superstitious, she insisted on dressing room 55 because that was her lucky number (she had dressing room 55 for ''Roman Holiday'' and ''Breakfast at Tiffany’s''). She insisted that Givenchy, her long-time designer, be given a credit in the film for her perfume.

''My Fair Lady''

"Not since ''Gone with the Wind'' has a motion picture created such universal excitement as ''My Fair Lady''", wrote ''Soundstage'' magazine in 1964, yet Hepburn's landing the role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 George Cukor film adaptation of the stage musical sparked controversy. Firstly, by producer Jack Warner, the decision had been made to cast someone other than Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, for fear that Andrews's then-limited film experience would prevent the film's success. Initially refusing, Hepburn asked Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it was either her or Elizabeth Taylor who would receive the part, she accepted the role. Secondly, the casting of Hepburn, a non-singer, in a major musical created further friction. Deemed below par, Hepburn's originally recorded vocals were replaced with those of Marni Nixon. Upset, she reportedly stormed off the set, yet returned early the next day to apologise for her "wicked" behaviour. In the finished film, Hepburn's only singing vocals remain in one line in the song "I Could Have Danced All Night," on a section of the song "Just You Wait" and in the entirety of its reprise. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the recent releases of the film, yet only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD. When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones, Hepburn frowned and said, "You could tell, couldn't you? And there was Rex, recording all his songs as he acted ... next time —" She bit her lip to prevent her saying more. The controversy reached its height during the 1964–65 Academy Awards season, when despite the film's accumulation of eight out of a possible twelve awards, Hepburn was left nomination-less in the Best Actress category while Andrews was nominated for ''Mary Poppins'' (1964), and won it. The media tried to play up a rivalry between the two actresses, even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed and got along well. Despite such strife, many critics greatly applauded Hepburn's performance. "The happiest thing about [''My Fair Lady'']," wrote Bosley Crowther in The New York Times "is that Audrey Hepburn superbly justifies the decision of Jack Warner to get her to play the title role." Gene Ringgold of ''Soundstage'' also commented that "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages" while adding, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice." Although initially feeling that she was badly miscast, her co-star Rex Harrison, as Higgins, also called Hepburn his favourite leading lady.

In the heist comedy ''How to Steal a Million'' (1966), she played Nicole, the daughter of a famous art collector whose collection consists entirely of forgeries. Fearing her father's exposure, Nicole sets out to steal one of his priceless statues with the help of Simon Dermott (Peter O'Toole). In 1967, she starred in two films: ''Two for the Road'' and ''Wait Until Dark''. The former, a non-linear and innovative British comedy drama, traces the course of a troubled marriage. Director Stanley Donen said that Hepburn was more free and happy than he had ever seen her, and he credited that to Albert Finney. The latter was an edgy thriller in which Hepburn demonstrated her acting range by playing the part of a terrorised blind woman. It was a difficult film, but despite its being produced by Mel Ferrer, filmed on the brink of their divorce, and losing fifteen pounds under the stress, Hepburn earned a fifth Academy Award nomination. On the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, and she had a lot to laugh about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favourite star twenty-three years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem.

Departure from cinema and final entertainment-related projects

From 1967 onward, after fifteen highly successful years in film, Hepburn decided to devote more time to her family and acted only occasionally.

She attempted a comeback in 1976, co-starring with Sean Connery, in the period piece ''Robin and Marian'', which was moderately successful. In 1979, Hepburn took the lead role of Elizabeth Roffe in the international production of ''Bloodline'', re-teaming with director Terence Young (''Wait Until Dark''). She shared top billing with co-stars Ben Gazzara, James Mason and Romy Schneider. Author Sidney Sheldon revised his novel when it was reissued to tie into the film, making her character a much older woman to better match the actress's age. The film, an international intrigue amid the jet-set, was a critical and box office failure.

Hepburn's last starring role in a cinematic film was with Ben Gazzara in the 1981 comedy ''They All Laughed'', directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film was overshadowed by the murder of one of its stars, Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten; the film was released after Stratten's death but only in limited runs. In 1987, she co-starred with Robert Wagner in a tongue-in-cheek made-for-television caper film, ''Love Among Thieves'', which borrowed elements from several of Hepburn's films, most notably ''Charade'' and ''How to Steal a Million''.

After finishing her last role in a motion picture in 1988, a cameo appearance as an angel in Steven Spielberg's ''Always'', Hepburn completed only two more entertainment-related projects, both critically acclaimed. ''Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn'' was a PBS documentary television series, her final performance before cameras filmed on location in seven countries in the spring and summer of 1990. A one-hour special preceded the series, debuting in March 1991, while the series commenced the day after her death (21 January 1993). For the series's debut, Hepburn was posthumously awarded the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming. Recorded in 1992, her spoken word album, ''Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales'', features readings of classic children's stories and earned her a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. She remains one of the few entertainers to win Grammy and Emmy Awards posthumously.

Contributions to UNICEF

Just after filming the cameo appearance for ''Always'' (1989), Hepburn was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier by her wide knowledge of languages; besides being naturally bilingual in English and Dutch, Audrey also was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first field mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children and had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, [and] [sic] not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering".

In August 1988, Hepburn went to Turkey on an immunisation campaign. She called Turkey "the loveliest example" of UNICEF's capabilities. Of the trip, she said, "the army gave us their trucks, the fishmongers gave their wagons for the vaccines, and once the date was set, it took ten days to vaccinate the whole country. Not bad". In October, Hepburn went to South America. In Venezuela and Ecuador, Hepburn told the United States Congress, "I saw tiny mountain communities, slums, and shantytowns receive water systems for the first time by some miracle – and the miracle is UNICEF. I watched boys build their own schoolhouse with bricks and cement provided by UNICEF".

Hepburn toured Central America in February 1989, and met with leaders in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In April, Hepburn visited Sudan with Wolders as part of a mission called "Operation Lifeline". Because of civil war, food from aid agencies had been cut off. The mission was to ferry food to southern Sudan. Hepburn said, "I saw but one glaring truth: These are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies for which there is only one man-made solution – peace". In October, Hepburn and Wolders went to Bangladesh. John Isaac, a UN photographer, said, "Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her – she was like the Pied Piper".

In October 1990, Hepburn went to Vietnam in an effort to collaborate with the government for national UNICEF-supported immunisation and clean water programmes.

In September 1992, four months before she died, Hepburn went to Somalia. Hepburn called it "apocalyptic" and said, "I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, but I have seen nothing like this – so much worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn't prepared for this". "The earth is red – an extraordinary sight – that deep terracotta red. And you see the villages, displacement camps and compounds, and the earth is all rippled around them like an ocean bed. And those were the graves. There are graves everywhere. Along the road, around the paths that you take, along the riverbeds, near every camp – there are graves everywhere". Though scarred by what she had seen, Hepburn still had hope. "Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicisation of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanisation of politics". "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist. I have seen the miracle of water which UNICEF has helped to make a reality. Where for centuries young girls and women had to walk for miles to get water, now they have clean drinking water near their homes. Water is life, and clean water now means health for the children of this village". "People in these places don't know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognise the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF their faces light up, because they know that something is happening. In the Sudan, for example, they call a water pump UNICEF".

In 1992, United States President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.

Personal life

Romances, marriages, children and miscarriages

In 1952, Hepburn was engaged to the young James Hanson, whom she had known since her London dancing days. She called it "love at first sight"; however, after having her wedding dress fitted and the date set, she decided the marriage would not work because the demands of their careers would keep them apart most of the time. She issued a statement about her decision, saying, "When I get married, I want to be ''really'' married." In the early 1950s, she also dated future ''Hair'' producer Michael Butler. Hepburn and Gregory Peck bonded during the filming of ''Roman Holiday'' (1953) and there were rumours that they were romantically involved; both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you're going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry it beyond the set." They did however become lifelong friends. During the filming of ''Sabrina'' (1954), Hepburn and the already-married William Holden became romantically involved. She hoped to marry him and have children, but she broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy. Although a common perception that Bogart and Hepburn (both starred in ''Sabrina'' together) did not get along, Hepburn commented that, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."

At a cocktail party hosted by Gregory Peck, Hepburn met American actor Mel Ferrer. Ferrer recalled that, "We began talking about theatre; she knew all about the La Jolla Playhouse Summer Theatre, where Greg Peck and I had been co-producing plays. She also said she'd seen me three times in the movie ''Lili''. Finally, she said she'd like to do a play with me, and she asked me to send her a likely play if I found one." Ferrer, vying for Hepburn to take the title role, sent her the script for the play ''Ondine''. She agreed and rehearsals started in January 1954. Eight months later, on 24 September 1954, after meeting, working together and falling in love, the pair were married while preparing to star together in the film ''War and Peace'' (1955). Before having their only son, Hepburn had two miscarriages in March 1955 and in 1959. The latter occurred when filming ''The Unforgiven'' (1960) where breaking her back after falling off a horse and onto a rock resulted in hospital stay and miscarriage induced by physical and mental stress. Hepburn, therefore, took a year off work in order to successfully have a child. Sean Hepburn Ferrer, their son, whose godfather was the novelist A. J. Cronin who resided near Hepburn in Lucerne, was born on 17 July 1960. Despite the insistence from gossip columns that the marriage would not last, Hepburn claimed that she and her husband were inseparable and very happy together yet admitting that he had a bad temper. Ferrer was rumoured to be too controlling of Hepburn and had been referred to by others as being her Svengali – an accusation that Hepburn laughed off. William Holden was quoted as saying, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her". Despite their marriage of 14 years, the pair lasted until 5 December 1968, separated and divorced. Their son believed that Hepburn had stayed in the marriage too long. In June 2008, Mel Ferrer died of heart failure at the age of ninety.

She met Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti on a cruise and fell in love with him on a trip to Greek ruins. She believed she would have more children, and possibly stop working. She married him on 18 January 1969 and aged 40, she gave birth to their son Luca Dotti on 8 February 1970. When pregnant with Luca in 1969, Hepburn was more careful, resting for months and passing the time by painting before delivering him by caesarean section. Hepburn had her final miscarriage in 1974. although Dotti loved Hepburn and was well liked by Sean, who called him "fun", he began having affairs with younger women. The marriage lasted thirteen years and ended in 1982 when Hepburn felt Luca and Sean were old enough to handle life with a single mother. Although Hepburn broke off all contact with Ferrer (she only spoke to him twice more in the remainder of her life), she remained in touch with Dotti for the benefit of Luca. In October 2007, Andrea Dotti died from complications of a colonoscopy.

From 1980 until her death, Hepburn lived and was romantically involved with Dutch actor Robert Wolders who was the widower of actress Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce from Dotti was final, Wolders and she started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, she called the nine years she had spent him the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough," she said in an interview with American journalist Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married; Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally.

Pets

While resting at home from her first miscarriage, Mel Ferrer brought her the fawn from the movie ''Green Mansions'' to keep as a pet. They called him Ip (short for Pippin). Hepburn had several pets, including a Yorkshire Terrier named Mr. Famous, who was hit by a car and killed. To cheer her up, Mel Ferrer got her another Yorkshire named Assam of Assam. She also kept Ip; they made a bed for him out of a bathtub. Her son Sean also had a Cocker Spaniel named Cokey. When Hepburn was older, she had two Jack Russell Terriers.

Miscellaneous

One year after Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F. Kennedy, Hepburn, the President's favourite actress, sang "Happy Birthday, Dear Jack" to him, on what turned out to be his final birthday (29 May 1963). Hepburn is associated with the poem "Time-Tested Beauty Tips" (although the author is humourist Sam Levenson), which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, "For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day", and, "For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry".

Death

Upon return from Somalia to Switzerland in the autumn of 1992, Hepburn began suffering from abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so decided to have herself examined while on a trip to Los Angeles, California in October. On 1 November, Hepburn checked in at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with her family. Doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix, a very rare form of cancer belonging to a group of cancers known as pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). Having grown slowly over several years, the cancer had metastasised, not as a tumour, but as a thin coating over her small intestine. After performing surgery, the doctors put Hepburn through 5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an obstruction and medication was not enough to dull the pain. She underwent further surgery on 1 December. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far to be removed fully.

After coming to terms with the gravity of Hepburn's illness, her family decided to return home to Switzerland in order to celebrate her last Christmas. Because Hepburn was unable to fly on commercial aircraft, Hubert de Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from Los Angeles to Geneva. Hepburn died in her sleep of appendiceal cancer, on the evening of 20 January 1993, at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. After her death, Gregory Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.

Funeral services were held at the village church of Tolochenaz, Switzerland, on 24 January 1993. Maurice Eindiguer, the same pastor who wed Hepburn and Mel Ferrer and baptised her son Sean in 1960, presided over her funeral while Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, of UNICEF, delivered a eulogy. Many family members and friends attended the funeral, including her sons, partner Robert Wolders, brother Ian Quarles von Ufford, ex-husbands Andrea Dotti and Mel Ferrer, Hubert de Givenchy, executives of UNICEF, and fellow actors Alain Delon and Roger Moore. The same day as her funeral, Hepburn was interred at the Tolochenaz Cemetery, a small cemetery that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.

Legacy

Hepburn's legacy as an actress and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named Hepburn third among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. Even in her last years, she remained a visible presence in the film world. She received a tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1991 and was a frequent presenter at the Academy Awards. She was the recipient of four posthumous awards including the 1993 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and competitive Grammy and Emmy Awards. She has been the subject of many biographies since her death and the 2000 dramatisation of her life titled ''The Audrey Hepburn Story'' which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and Emmy Rossum as the older and younger Hepburn respectively. The film concludes with footage of the real Audrey Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF.

Hepburn's image is widely used in advertising campaigns across the world. In Japan, a series of commercials used colourised and digitally enhanced clips of Hepburn in ''Roman Holiday'' to advertise Kirin black tea. In the United States, Hepburn was featured in a Gap commercial which ran from 7 September 2006, to 5 October 2006. It used clips of her dancing from ''Funny Face'', set to AC/DC's "Back in Black", with the tagline "It's Back – The Skinny Black Pant". To celebrate its "Keep it Simple" campaign, the Gap made a sizeable donation to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

Hepburn has been considered a gay icon.

Style

Hepburn's stardom created her status as a fashion icon, exercising fashion both in her lifetime while continuing to influence fashion today. She appeared on the covers of ''Vogue'' and ''Harper's Bazaar''. Her style was partially the result of the meeting with the couturier Hubert de Givenchy during the filming of ''Sabrina'' in 1954 who designed her dresses for the film. Givenchy remained Hepburn's friend and ambassador, and she his muse throughout her life. He was always amazed that, even after many years of collaboration: "Her measurements have not changed an inch in thirty-five years." To which Audrey replied, "I have many things in common with Hubert. We like the same things." She agreed to model again, on occasions, to present the creations of her friend. In 1988, when he presented his summer collection in Paris, she said, "Wherever I am in the world, he is still there. For a bouquet, a telegram [...] he is a man who does not disperse into worldliness. He has time for those he loves." The designer drew her outfits for many films and subsequently created a perfume for her titled L'Interdit (French for "The Forbidden"). The films in which he dressed Hepburn include ''Funny Face'', ''Love in the Afternoon'', ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', ''Paris When It Sizzles'', ''Charade'' and ''How to Steal a Million''. In the latter, actor Peter O'Toole tells Hepburn's character to "give Givenchy the night off", persuading her to dress as a cleaning lady. It would appear, from the chic cleaning lady's costume that she wears, that she did not take his advice. Hepburn later revealed that, "[Givenchy] gave me a look, a kind, a silhouette." She furthered, "He has always been the best and he stayed the best. Because he kept the spare style that I love. What is more beautiful than a simple sheath made an extraordinary way in a special fabric, and just two earrings?"

Fashion experts have said that Hepburn's longevity as a style icon was because she stuck with a look that suited her – "clean lines, simple yet bold accessories, minimalist palette." Voted the "most beautiful woman of all time" in a poll of beauty experts by Evian, Hepburn's fashion styles continue to be popular among women today. Contrary to her image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it; she preferred casual and comfortable clothes. In addition, she never considered herself to be attractive. She stated in a 1959 interview, "you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."

The "little black dress" from ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', designed by Givenchy, was sold at a Christie's auction on 5 December 2006 for £467,200 (approximately $920,000), almost seven times its £70,000 pre-sale estimate. This is the highest price paid for a dress from a film. The proceeds went to the City of Joy Aid charity to aid underprivileged children in India. The head of the charity said, "there are tears in my eyes. I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks and cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools". However, the dress auctioned by Christie's was not the one that Hepburn wore in the film. Of the two dresses that Hepburn did wear, one is held in the Givenchy archives while the other is displayed in the Museum of Costume in Madrid. A subsequent London auction of Hepburn's film wardrobe in December 2009 raised £270,200 ($437,000), including £60,000 for the black Chantilly lace cocktail gown from ''How to Steal a Million''. Half the proceeds were donated to All Children in School, a joint venture of The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and UNICEF.

Credits

Awards

See also

List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

Little black Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn (''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', 1961)

White floral Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn (Academy Awards, 1954)

References

Further reading

External links

of Hepburn (and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund)

Category:1929 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Anti-poverty advocates Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:British expatriates in Switzerland Category:Cancer deaths in Switzerland Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:Dutch nobility Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English humanitarians Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English people of Dutch descent Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English stage actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Barons of Heemstra Category:Miscarriage victims Category:People from Arnhem Category:People from Brussels Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Tony Award winners Category:UNICEF people

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name	Mark Hill
background	non_performing_personnel
alias	Artful
origin	Cwmbran, Wales
genre	UK garageR&B;House Music2-step garage
years active	1997–present
label	Workhouse Records
associated acts	ArtfulCraig DavidArtful DodgerThe stiX
website	http://www.artful.dj
notable instruments	Guitar, Keyboards, Drums }}

Mark Hill (born Mark Leslie Hill, 22 December 1972, Cwmbran, Wales) is a British recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He rose to fame as one half of the Artful Dodger and co-writer/producer of Craig David's multi platinum album, ''Born To Do It''. Since he began releasing music in 1997, Mark has achieved four Ivor Novello awards, a number one album, two number one singles and over 10 million records sales worldwide.

Early life

Mark got his first guitar at eight years old; he would play along to the radio and immerse himself in songs by artists such as Stevie Wonder and George Benson. Throughout his early years and teens Mark went on to play the drums in brass bands, rock bands and orchestras, but the plan was to study to become an architect. After persuasion from his music teacher and uncle to also study music (and with the prospect of a 7 year degree becoming less appealing) Mark moved to Southampton to study Music at university. After joining a band as a percussionist, he and the bass player from the band decided to go into business together by setting up a studio. It was through the brief trading period of the studio that Mark met future half of Artful Dodger, Pete Devereux. They produced several Speed Garage bootlegs, generating a huge buzz in local circles and Djing out regularly which is how they met Craig David.

Career

Artful Dodger recorded a song with Craig on vocals which was picked up by fellow Garage pioneers Dreem Team who championed it, getting a great reaction from underground audiences and Public Demand, who signed it up straight away. Relentless Records picked up on the buzz and put their weight behind Re-Rewind, signing the track from Public Demand and marketing the record. It was a big moment for both the label, Craig and the Artful Dodger when the track peaked at number two in the UK charts in 1999. The single sold extremely well and is considered by many to signify the cross over of Garage from the underground to the mainstream, still being played across TV, Radio and in clubs worldwide to this day.

Artful Dodger went from strength to strength after the success of Re-Rewind, with Movin' Too Fast (featuring Romina Johnson) being picked up by Locked On and Pete Tong's label FFRR snapping up "Woman Trouble" (featuring Craig David and Robbie Craig,) and also the now classic album, It's All About the Stragglers.

2001 was a big year for Mark; now an award winning, chart topping producer and songwriter, he parted ways with Pete Devereux whilst promoting It's All About The Stragglers and turned his hand to a new project, a short-lived publishing company which sadly suffered due to the sharp rise of illegal downloading at that time. Undeterred, Mark continued to work on his own music whilst seeking out new talent and after a brief time starting a label under Universal Records he bought a house in Ibiza and set up his studio there. Mark fell in love with Ibiza and started working with Craig David on his second album, whilst enjoying the Balearic lifestyle and Djing on the island. With a keen ear still on the emerging talent of the UK, Mark decided to put his skills to use by forming The stiX, a live band featuring Michelle Escoffery, Lifford and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Mark took a break from music and enjoyed his personal life, getting married and having two children which is his proudest achievement to date. Focussing on other business ventures, Mark had almost resigned music to merely a hobby until he fell in love with being in the studio again.

Fast forward to 2011 and Mark is back as Artful, releasing new music on his own label Workhouse Records

Discography

Albums

''Rewind'' (March 2000) Mix CD

''It's All About the Stragglers'' (November 2001) #18 UK

Singles

All of their subsequent hit singles have also been collaborations: {|class="wikitable" !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Title !Chart positions !rowspan="2"| Album |- ! width="107"| UK Singles Chart |- |rowspan="2"|1997 | "The Revenge of Popeye" |align="center"| - | rowspan="4" align="center"|non-album single |- | "Something" (featuring Craig David) |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="3"|1998 | "If You Love Me" - ''By Mark Hill'' |align="center"| - |- | "The Messenger" |align="center"| - |- | "What You Gonna Do" (featuring Craig David) |align="center"| 2 |rowspan="10"|''It's All About the Stragglers'' |- |rowspan="2"|1999 | "Movin' Too Fast" (featuring Romina Johnson) |align="center"| 2 |- | "Re-Rewind" (featuring Craig David) |align="center"| 2 |- |rowspan="4"|2000 | "Woman Trouble" (featuring Craig David) |align="center"| 6 |- | "Movin' Too Fast (Remix)" (featuring Romina Johnson) |align="center"| 2 |- | "Woman Trouble" (featuring Robbie Craig and Craig David) |align="center"| 6 |- | "Please Don't Turn Me On" (featuring Lifford) |align="center"| 4 |- |rowspan="3"|2001 | "Think About Me" (featuring Michelle Escoffery) |align="center"| 11 |- | "TwentyFourSeven" (featuring Melanie Blatt) |align="center"| 6 |- | "It Ain't Enough" (Dreem Teem Coco Star vs Artful Dodger) |align="center"| 20 |- |rowspan="1"|2002 | "Ladies" (featuring General Levy and Roachie) |align="center"| - |rowspan="3" align="center"|non-album single |- |rowspan="1"|2003 | "Ruff Neck Sound" (featuring Richie Dan and Sevi G) |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="1"|2006 | "Flex" (featuring Vula) |align="center"| - |}

References

Category:Possible cut-and-paste moves Category:1972 births Category:Living people

name	Kuh Ledesma
birth date	March 16, 1955
birth place	Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
education	Nurse
occupation	Filipino pop and jazz artist
children	Isabella
years active	1980-present
website	KuhLedesma.net }}

Kuh Ledesma (born March 16, 1955) is a popular Filipino pop and jazz singer. She is known in the Philippines as the "Pop Diva". Kuh Ledesma has been performing for 25 years in the music industry which encompasses more than 300 concerts, numerous awards in the Philippines, and 18 albums in the Philippine recording industry. She was the first Filipino singer to become a recipient of the Salem Music Awards in London in March 1989. In 1997 she released her international debut album ''Precious'' in collaboration with the best American and Filipino songwriters, arrangers and musicians.

Personal

Kuh Ledesma was born Maria Socorro Ledesma on March 16, 1955 in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines with an Arab lineage.

Ledesma was married to Luisito "Louie" Gonzalez (President Elpidio Quirino's grandson). Gonzalez’s mother Vicky Quirino, daughter of the former President, married shipping magnate Francisco Delgado after the death of his first wife. Ledesma's former husband Gonzalez voluntarily surrendered to the NBI on July 16, 2008, after an arrest warrant for murder and physical injuries was issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 Judge Thelma Medina amid the Court of Appeals' review of the case. Gonzalez was held for the killing of his step brother Federico Delgado on March 10, 2007, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds.

Ledesma has a daughter named Isabella Gonzalez, who is also a recording artist.

Ledesma is a born-again Christian.

Career

Philippine and international music industry

Ledesma's career in music began when she joined the ''Lastiko'' band (formerly known as ''Ensalada'' band) in Bacolod while she was still a Nursing student at Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod. Ledesma and her bandmates Toto Gentica and Jet Montelibano later went to Manila to form the ''Music & Magic'' band which became pivotal for her career. She later received the lead role in the pop ballet ''Rama Hari'' by Alice Reyes. She eventually went solo with ''Dito Ba?'', Ledesma's first hit song.

1980s

In the 1980s, Ledesma has performed during solo concerts at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the Araneta Coliseum, PICC and the Philippine Folk Arts Theater.

In 1982, Ledesma launched an all-Filipino concert, ''Ako ay Pilipino'' (I am a Filipino) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that featured a repertoire of ethnic sounds, classic ''kundimans'' and beautiful pop songs, tapping into the rich node of indigenous art and contemporary pop music to produce alternative approaches to songs. Her show eventually became a television special followed by two albums. This was immediately followed by another production at the CCP, ''Inspired Madness'' in 1983, which was created in collaboration with Philippine film director Peque Gallaga and musical director Ryan Cayabyab.

During the political ambience of the 1980s, Ledesma paid tribute to Ninoy Aquino at the end of one of her shows at the CCP by singing her a cappella rendition of ''Impossible Dream'' and ''You'll Never Walk Alone'' (Hindi Ka Nagiisa). From 1984 to 1986, Ledesma joined the Apo Hiking Society in ''Ang Pinoy Nga Naman (1, 2, and 3)'' at the Folk Arts Theater.

In March 1989, Kuh Ledesma was chosen as the first Philippine singer to be the recipient of the Salem Music Awards after competing against other top singers from Asia at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

1990s

In the 1990s, Ledesma had a series of concerts with foreign artists Noel Pointer, Jack Jones, Kenny Rankin, The Platters and Michel Legrand followed by other concerts with popular Philippine song artists such as Regine Velasquez (U.S. tour, 1999), Pops Fernandez and Jaya (''Power of Two'', 1999). After Ledesma's four-night concert with the jazz violinist, Noel Pointer, she released the album, ''The Voice, The Violin''. Ledesma was also one of the judges in the coronation night of the Miss Universe 1991. In February 1994, Ledesma had the ''Two of Hearts'' concert with balladeer Jack Jones. During 1995's Valentine's season, she performed with Kenny Rankin. Ledesma started the new millennium in a Valentine show with The Platters. In 2002, Ledesma had Valentine presentation with Michel Legrand.

Ledesma has her own production company ''Headline Concepts'' and built concert venues such as the ''Music Museum'' (a combined theater-restaurant built in 1988 at Greenhills, Manila) and the ''Republic of Malate''. ''The Republic of Malate'' is a facility located along Mabini Street in Manila, which houses a restaurant, a bar, a watering hole, a game room, a tobacco area a dance club and a theater. However, ''The Republic of Malate'' was destroyed by a fire in November 2001. Ledesma has plans of rebuilding the facility.

Kuh Ledesma had a regular monthly television special called Akuhstic Café which is a musical travelogue that presented viewers the urban night life of Metro Manila by visiting clubs, lounges and concerts. Akuhstic Café was a grand finalist in the Asian Television Awards in Singapore for best musical program.

In April 1997, Ledesma became the featured artist of the ‘’Muling Aawit ang Pasig’’, a benefit concert of former Philippine First Lady Ming Ramos for the restoration of the Pasig River.

In 1998, the centennial year of Philippine Independence, after producing a Valentine concert at Fort Santiago, Manila, Ledesma was commissioned by the National Centennial Commission to stage a three-night centennial concert of the year, ''Lahi…Kami ang Pilipino'' which was held the Expo Center at the former Clark Airforce Base.

2000s

Ledesma also owns ''Bravo Records'', a music recording studio. Ledesma is known for building careers of new talented singers.

Ledesma celebrated her 25th year in the music industry by holding a series of shows at the ''Captain's Bar'' of the Mandarin Oriental Manila (''Kuh Ledesma Presents''). Ledesma has a goal of publishing a book of photographs to chronicle her career.

Kuh Ledesma is also a member of the ''Artista Para Sa Pagbabago'' (Artists for Change), an organization of artists, environmentalists and businessmen. She was also the president of the Restaurant Owners Association of Malate.

During the 2001 Philippine national elections, Ledesma was chosen by the PINATUBO (Pinag-isang Lakas Tungo sa Pagbabago) Party as a first nominee for congress. The PINATUBO Party has the goal of alleviating poverty in the Philippines through grass-roots development.

Apart from performing and producing concerts and special shows, Ledesma also travels widely in the Philippines and abroad to deliver values formation lectures, and inspirational and motivational talks.

Philippine cinematography

Ledesma has appeared in films such as ''Oro, Plata, Mata'', ''Tinimbang ang Langit'', ''The Year of Living Dangerously''.

Philippine theater

Ledesma performed in ''Rama Hari'' and ''Kapinangan''.

Philippine television

Ledesma produced several TV specials including the award-winning program, ''Kuh by Special Arrangement''. She was also a co-host in the Sunday variety show ''A.S.A.P. Mania''.

She will star in her first TV Soap, Bituin on ABS-CBN to premiere in September 2002, Endless Love on GMA Network to premiere in June 2010.

International performances

In March 1990, Ledesma appeared as a guest performer in a Gilbert Becaud's television show in Paris where she sang ''Bulaklak'' (The Flower) in three languages (Filipino, English and French). In July 1990, she was the Philippine's representative-performer at the international television special, ''Earth 90'' in Tokyo, Japan. ''Earth 90'' was a show that celebrated the importance of the environment and was aired simultaneously around 80 countries. Ledesma was then on stage with artists such as Olivia Newton-John and John Denver. On the same year, Ledesma also joined the ''NHK-KAYO'' parade in Tokyo.

In 1991, Ledesma accepted the invitation to become a member of the panel of judges during the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in Las Vegas, U.S.A.

In 1982, Ledesma was chosen by international director Peter Weir to play the role of ''Tiger Lily'' in the film, ''The Year of Living Dangerously'', to work with actors Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver.

After becoming a model for Lux soap in the Philippines from 1984 to 1990, Ledesma also appeared in a series of print ads and television commercials for Lux in Singapore from 1988 to 1989, and in Indonesia in 1992.

In 2009, she went on her very first tour called ''A Love Affair'', with her daughter Isabella to New Zealand where she had series concerts. The purpose of the concert was raise money for the ''Philippine Orphanage''.

2010, Kuh will be working on her first inspirational album ''Walking on Water'' and a dance/chill remix of all her hits ''Klub Icon''.

Discography

Studio Albums

1980 Kuh

1981 Kuh's Magic

1981 The Love Songs of Kuh

1982 Just You

1983 Ako Ay Pilipino

1984 I Think I’m In Love

1985 Unforgettable

1986 Too Marvelous For Words

1987 Feeling

1987 My First Christmas Album

1989 Lihim

1991 Ba’t Mahihiyang Sabihin

1992 Night and Day

1994 The Voice and the Violin with Noel Pointer

1997 Precious

1999 Akuhstic

2000 Duet with Me

2003 Diva2Diva with Zsa Zsa Padilla

2007 K

2010 Walking on Water

Compilation Albums

1989 A Long Long Time Ago

1989 Dito Ba

1996 The Best of Kuh

2006 Till I Met You

2006 Silver Series

2010 Klub Icon

2010 18 Greatest Hits

See also

Danny Barcelona

Gabe Baltazar

Rico J. Puno

References

External links

Kuh Ledesma photographs at Flickr.com, retrieved on: July 21, 2007

Category:People from Negros Occidental Category:Filipino pop singers Category:Filipino female singers Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Filipino Protestants Category:Filipino people of Arab descent

es:Kuh Ledesma nl:Kuh Ledesma tl:Kuh Ledesma