Elaine Marie Benes /ˈbɛnɨs/ is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer. Julia Louis-Dreyfus received extensive critical acclaim for her performance as Elaine, winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards.

Elaine's debut[link]

Unlike her three close friends, Elaine is absent from the pilot episode. Previously the female role was supposed to be Claire, the waitress at Pete's Luncheonette played by Lee Garlington, but the luncheonette was replaced by Monk's Restaurant and Garlington was dropped from the role. Elaine first appears in the second episode, "The Stake Out," but in production order she appeared in a final scene eating M&Ms in "Male Unbonding." NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric, and demanded that creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David add a woman to the cast as a condition for commissioning the show, as revealed in the commentary on the Season 1 and 2 DVD. In addition to the first episode, Elaine did not appear in a two-part episode ("The Trip") and thus appears in fewer episodes than the other main characters.

Real-life inspiration[link]

After it was discovered that Jerry Seinfeld once dated writer and comedian Carol Leifer, speculation grew that Elaine was based upon Leifer, though that was later largely denied. Leifer, who wrote or co-wrote a number of episodes for the show, has said only some elements of the backstory of the character--that she and Seinfeld had dated and have remained good friends since the relationship ended--relate to her. She says some elements of the character of Elaine, especially her assertiveness, intelligence and sense of humor, are drawn from the off-screen personality of Julia Louis-Dreyfus herself. According to Seinfeld's biography (written by Jerry Oppenheimer), Elaine was based in part on Susan McNabb (who was dating Seinfeld when the character was created), though eventually named after friend and fellow comic Elayne Boosler. Also, the character was partially based on Monica Yates, the daughter of novelist Richard Yates. Larry David once dated Monica Yates, and the two remained good friends after they broke up.^[1]

Personality[link]

Elaine is normally intelligent and assertive, but also quite superficial. She is one of the boys, and despite the troubles they go through as a group, she remains the closest female friend to the main male cast throughout the entire series. Her traits are usually edgy and neurotic and she has a tendency to easily get angry with almost everyone. She has ruined her friends' ambitions, like throwing George's toupee out the window after trying to explain the irony behind it in "The Beard" or revealing what Jerry said in "The Cheever Letters" about the "panties her mother laid out for her".

Elaine is a serial dater, a trait lampooned in Season 7's "The Sponge", where she is desperate to buy a cache of discontinued contraceptive sponges before they are all bought up. She coins the word "spongeworthy" debating her then-boyfriend's prospects of intimacy at the expense of her inventory.^[2] Her neuroses often interfere with her relationships, leading to the premature end of a blossoming relationship. For example, in "The Stall", Elaine is dating Tony, a very good-looking athletic type. After a rock climbing accident mangles Tony's face, Elaine admits to Jerry that she can't date someone who isn't attractive and wonders how long she is obligated to stay with him post-accident. Later, in "The Couch" after proclaiming her love for new boyfriend Carl, she immediately ends the relationship upon learning that he does not share her opinions on abortion. Elaine also is attracted to men with lucrative jobs, particularly doctors.

Generally, her hair was long with curls or waves, but underwent changes since Season 4. By Season 7, her hairstyle had matured and had a more modern look for the rest of the series. It was shoulder length again by "The Little Kicks", and straightened once more from Season 8's "The Summer of George" to Season 9's "The Betrayal". There were a few episodes in which her hair had an effect on mostly her boyfriends. In Season 9's "The Strike", it was damaged when affected by steam. In "The Smelly Car" a valet made Jerry's car and Elaine's hair smell like body odor. In "The Movie" George describes Elaine as having "a big wall o' hair".^[3]

Her clothing is normally quite conservative. She usually wears formal dresses and whenever she's not at work, she'll wear her usual casual clothes. It is revealed by Peter Mehlman on audio commentary in "The Sponge" and "The Betrayal" that female fans favor the brown leather jacket that she wears from Season 7 on. Occasionally she is entirely out of her usual attire, as in "The Betrayal" (when she wears an Indian outfit and hairstyle) and "The Millennium" (in which she dons Mayan dress). Elaine also wears glasses at times, usually during work hours.

Although she is friends with George, Elaine tends to be combative with him. Still, Elaine does see him as a good friend: in "The Wife", he argues with Elaine over her love interest, who is threatening to kick him out of the health club. The depiction of Elaine as smarter and more successful than George was occasionally reversed for comic effect: In "The Opposite", George finds success and happiness doing the opposite of whatever his instincts tell him, while the normally successful Elaine falls on hard times. In "The Abstinence", George becomes smarter while not having sex, but Elaine gets dumber. In a few episodes Elaine and George work together, most notably in "The Revenge" and "The Cadillac".

She does sometimes go to Kramer for help. She asks him and Newman to help her get rid of a neighbor's dog in "The Engagement". In "The Slicer", she asks him first to lose power at her neighbors' house and also to feed the cat with meat. In "The Watch" she asks him to pose as her boyfriend so she can dump Dr. Reston, her controlling psychiatrist boyfriend. In "The Soup Nazi", she asks him to watch an armoire for her on the street until she can move it in the following day. The only conflict is in "The Seven" over a girl's bike in which Newman is the judge over the dispute.

Elaine is the only main character who does not own a car. In "The Busboy" (off camera) and "The Pothole" she borrows Jerry's, and in "The Wait Out" she borrows her friend Elise's car. In "The Burning" she borrows then-boyfriend David Puddy's. Also, it's revealed that she is a horrible driver who slams on the brakes and wildly steers the car.

Elaine also has a very refined taste in film, citing many movies, plays, and characters throughout the series. She has a particular affection for the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire, revealed first in "The Fusilli Jerry" the episode where Elaine first begins to see David Puddy and an utter dislike for The English Patient. She remarks sarcastically to Jerry (after he expresses surprise that she would date Puddy, who is a mechanic) that it's "such a huge turn off" for her when Puddy comes home "dripping with animal sexuality like Stanley Kowalski". In "The Pen", Elaine shows her love for the movie when she becomes unintentionally high on muscle relaxers and repeatedly screams "Stella" at a fancy awards dinner for Morty Seinfeld in Florida. (See also: Vincent's Picks and Sack Lunch)

In "The Boyfriend", Elaine reveals her disgust for smokers, which helps lead to a breakup with Keith Hernandez. Her dislike of smoking also leads to an argument with a fortune-teller in "The Suicide". However, in "The Calzone" and "The Foundation" she is seen smoking with a Cuban cigar. She is also seen smoking a cigar in "The Blood", but only to make herself look bad in front of the mother of the child she's babysitting.

Family[link]

Elaine is the only main character whose mother never appears. Benes' father, a gruff novelist named Alton Benes (portrayed by Lawrence Tierney), a character based on the novelist Richard Yates, was featured in the episode "The Jacket". He is an alcoholic and a war veteran, and is very well respected in the literary community. In the same episode, Elaine's father asks how her mother is; later, in "The Wait Out", Elaine reveals to David Lookner that her father left her and the rest of her family when she was nine years old.

Elaine has a sister, Gail, and a nephew who are first mentioned in "The Pick". In "The Wait Out", it is revealed that Gail lives in St. Louis. She also makes reference to a brother-in-law in "The Phone Message".

Elaine has a cousin, Holly, who appears in "The Wink". In this episode, reference is made to Elaine's Grandma Mema, from whom Holly inherited a set of cloth napkins.

In the first season episode "The Stock Tip", Elaine mentions she has an Uncle Pete. In "The Secret Code", she mentions another uncle who worked in the Texas School Book Depository with Lee Harvey Oswald.

In the 2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm Seinfeld reunion show, which takes place eleven years after Seinfeld's finale, it is revealed that Elaine has a daughter, Isabelle, through a sperm donation from Jerry.

Background and education[link]

Unlike Jerry, Kramer, and George, Elaine is not a native of New York, having grown up in the affluent Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, and is shown in the series to be a fan of the Baltimore Orioles. She attended finishing school, and completed her undergraduate education at Tufts University, revealed to be her safety school in "The Puerto Rican Day Parade", as a French Literature major. In "The Dog", she tells George she moved to New York in 1986, which, by coincidence, is the year Jerry moved into his apartment across the hall from Kramer (as seen in "The Betrayal"). She began dating Jerry later that same year.

Elaine's religion (if she has any) is never confirmed. At times, she appears to no have no religion, nor any interest in religion. For example, she expressed shock when her boyfriend, David Puddy, is revealed as a devout Christian. Also, she views saying "God bless you" as a "silly superstition" in "The Good Samaritan". On the other hand, she is seen making the sign of the cross before entering Jerry's apartment to retrieve a manuscript while it is being fumigated in "The Doodle", and crosses herself again in "The Betrayal" after turning her back on a Hindu altar (she non-verbally negates this action). This may suggest that Elaine was raised Catholic. Also, in multiple episodes, including "The Strong Box" and "The Wizard", she can be seen wearing a crucifix. In "The Pick", Elaine is horrified when she realizes she sent a Christmas card (which features her nipple) to "Sister Mary Catherine. Father Chelios."

Elaine is confirmed not to be Jewish in "The Postponement", when she talked to a rabbi about not being herself after finding out George got engaged before she did. She tells him she is not of his faith. Elaine also states that she's not Jewish in "The Fatigues."

Though her ethnicity is never made clear, the name Beneš (anglicized as Benes) is a common Czech surname. Her ethnicity is incorrectly assumed to be Hispanic in "The Wizard". In "The Wink", her cousin Holly repeatedly mentions a "Grandma Memma" who apparently shared a mutual dislike with Elaine's side of the family.

Elaine claims to have an IQ of 145 (although her scores range from 85 to 151).

Employment[link]

Elaine works several steady jobs throughout the show's entire run, mostly as a writer or editor.

• During season two to season five, she works at Pendant Publishing under her boss Mr. Lippman, where she served as a copy editor before losing her job at the end of the fifth season when the company went bankrupt, and a merger that would have saved the company was thwarted by a misunderstanding resulting from her penchant for chewy, speech-impairing Jujyfruit candies ("The Opposite").

• She later becomes a personal assistant to the eccentric and demanding Justin Pitt, starting in "The Chaperone", but later is fired when Pitt thinks she and Jerry are conspiring to kill him in "The Diplomat's Club". Her duties for Mr. Pitt included largely mundane tasks, such as buying socks for him or removing the salt crystals from his pretzel sticks (as featured in "The Mom & Pop Store").

• After her dismissal from this position, she meets J. Peterman on the street ("The Understudy") and becomes an editor at his J. Peterman Catalog, where she remains employed for the rest of the show's run. Starting in "The Foundation", she takes charge of the catalog when Peterman suffers a nervous breakdown and flees to Burma. She goes on a spending spree on the company account (she buys George an $8000 sable hat in "The Chicken Roaster"). Once Peterman returns to find an ineffective reshuffling of employees in "The Money" she is demoted back to her former position. She is also fired twice by Peterman: first when her penchant for poppy seed muffins cause her to fail a drug test in "The Shower Head" and then in "The English Patient" when she expresses her hatred for the movie The English Patient. She is able to recover her job by agreeing to live temporarily in a remote cave in the desert of Tunisia.

Romantic relationships[link]

Elaine has a string of boyfriends, most of whom appeared for only an episode or two.

Jerry[link]

• Elaine and Jerry had dated for a while before the show began. They began dating in 1986 (as revealed in "The Truth"; per "The Betrayal", this would have been shortly after Jerry moved into his apartment and shortly after Elaine herself first moved to New York, suggesting Jerry was her first New York boyfriend), then dated for three years up until 1990, indicating they began dating in mid-1986 and broke up in mid-1990 (however this theory on their period of time together before the show started is made a little strange when in the episode "The Deal" Elaine states the two only had sex 37 times together, and in the same episode Jerry states he thought it was 25 times. To assume the two only had sex 37 times (at most, as stated by them) in a 3 year span, although possible, seems incredibly far-fetched, not to mention their promiscuity on the rest of the show.) However, in two later episodes they consider making their relationship intimate again. In season 2's "The Deal", they create a set of rules whereby they can sleep together but remain only friends. However, their theory is ruined when Elaine is furious over Jerry giving her $182 as a birthday gift. In season 5's "The Mango", Jerry is shocked to discover that Elaine had faked her orgasms while they were together. Elaine isn't too concerned, but a bitter Jerry is unable to let it go and unsuccessfully demands another chance. Ultimately, as they are about to bitterly part ways, she finally agrees to give him another chance "to save the friendship". Though the friendship goes back to normal, the attempt fails as Jerry is unable to perform.

• The idea that Elaine and Jerry still have feelings for each other occasionally comes up in the series. In season 3's "The Tape", Elaine jokingly leaves a dirty message on Jerry's tape recorder which reignites Jerry's (along with George and Kramer) passion for Elaine. In the episode "The Fix-Up", Kramer stops an argument between Jerry and Elaine and tells them, "Can't you two see that you're in love with each other?" The two, however, dismiss it. In season 6's "The Mom & Pop Store", when Elaine is temporarily deafened by a big band music party, Jerry jokingly asks her to marry him. In season 7's "The Cadillac", after Elaine realizes that Jerry is financially successful, she begins to flirt with him incessantly. In season 8's "The Abstinence", Elaine abstains from sex with her boyfriend until he passes his medical exam. This results in such mental congestion that she becomes markedly less intelligent. She then begs Jerry to have sex with her, but he turns her down, saying that the situation was "too weird". However, this was likely just a desperate attempt from Elaine, as she then goes as far to ask if Kramer was home.

• In season 9's "The Serenity Now", Jerry's uninhibited and exaggerated emotional state causes him to ask Elaine to marry him. Shocked, she makes an excuse and leaves. She returns later to accept his proposal, but Jerry has by that time settled to his usual stable emotional state and says "I don't see it happening." In "The Finale", when they think their plane is about to crash, Elaine is about to say something, but the pilot is immediately able to steady the plane. Elaine later explained in court that she had been confessing that "I've always loved United Airlines." Jerry questioned Elaine about Puddy when she first started dating him and was disappointed she'd be dating his mechanic, telling her "You always want to know who your ex-girlfriend is dating".

In the reunion episode featured in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, it is revealed in the years since the finale Jerry has donated sperm to Elaine that results in her having a daughter. The daughter has taken to calling Jerry "Uncle Jerry", but by the episode's end, it is said she now refers to him as "daddy" - to the clear discomfort of Elaine and Jerry.

David Puddy[link]

• Elaine's longest relationship, besides that with Jerry, is with David Puddy (Patrick Warburton), an auto mechanic turned car salesman whom she dates starting in the latter half of season six and later for the majority of season nine. Puddy's personality and physicality contrast those of Elaine: he is of minimal intelligence and maturity, and of much greater bulk than Benes. Elaine and Puddy break-up and make-up repeatedly during their relationship, often doing so several times in one episode as demonstrated to extreme effect in "The Butter Shave" and "The Voice". It's also known that the phrase "Yeah, that's right" carried on to Elaine in which she uses the phrase a few times whenever she hangs around with Puddy. It is likely that Puddy does not have overly strong feelings for Elaine. This is shown in a few episodes. In "The Voice", Puddy claims he just likes to see her and have sex. In the same episode, when Elaine tells him that they're back together, he answers "Oh, no". In "The Finale", when Elaine is about to be taken away to jail, she emotionally tells Puddy to "not wait for her". Puddy answers back with a simple and casual, "Alright", leaving Elaine in shock and confusion. And the fact that they constantly break-up in various episodes explains that they can't maintain a long-term, loving relationship.

Men attracted to Elaine[link]

• Newman has a long-running crush on Elaine over the course of the series. Even though Jerry shows Elaine's "Christmas Card" in "The Pick", he reveals his feelings in "The Soul Mate" until "The Reverse Peephole" in which Elaine tries to get the fur coat but he is already in love with Svetlana.
• In "The Tape", George, Jerry, and Kramer become attracted to Elaine after hearing a joke erotic message that she recorded on a tape on which Jerry was recording one of his live shows.
• In "The Serenity Now", Elaine attracts the romantic attentions of both Mr. Lippman and his 13-year-old son, Adam. George tells her she has 'shiksa-appeal, the attraction Gentile women have over Jewish men ("Jewish men love the idea of meeting a woman that's not like their mother").
• In "The Cigar Store Indian", Elaine becomes the obsession of a nerdy television fanatic named Ricky whom she meets on the subway; he shows up at the Costanzas' home with a paper bouquet for her which he made out of Frank Costanza's copy of TV Guide (which Elaine had accidentally left with him). In a later episode, "The Pie", it is revealed that Ricky designed a mannequin in Elaine's likeness.
• In "The Big Salad", an office supply store clerk, Barry, who has become obsessed with Elaine constantly calls Jerry about a pencil order she placed for Mr. Pitt.
• In "The Contest", John F. Kennedy, Jr., who works out at the same gym as Elaine, lets her know through the countergirl that he would like to meet her. Elaine and John ride together briefly in a cab.
• In "The Jimmy", Elaine thinks she is being set up on date with a handsome man from the gym that she fancies, but instead she has unwittingly agreed to a date with a strange man named Jimmy who refers to himself in the third person.
• In "The Shoes", Elaine catches the eye of NBC president Russell Dalrymple by wearing a décolletage. Elaine breaks off the relationship after one date, sending Russell into an emotional spiral that causes him to quit his job and join Greenpeace to impress her. Russell's departure from NBC causes Jerry and George's pilot to be rejected, and it is implied at the end of "The Pilot" that Russell dies at sea during a Greenpeace mission.
• In "The Van Buren Boys", J. Peterman suggests that when Elaine writes the "romantic escapade" section of his autobiography, she can feel free to throw herself into the dialogue.

Other notable boyfriends[link]

• She dates baseball player (and Kramer and Newman's nemesis) Keith Hernandez in "The Boyfriend".
• She also dates Tim Whatley, a dentist who appears in several episodes, most notably "The Label Maker".
• Over several episodes in season 4, she dates "Crazy" Joe Davola, who is simultaneously stalking Jerry, unbeknownst to her until "The Opera".
• In "The Masseuse", she dates a man named Joel Rifkin, who shares the same name as a notorious serial killer.
• In "The Sniffing Accountant" she dates Jake Jarmel, an up and coming writer and star client of Pendant Publishing. She breaks up with him because of his reluctance to use exclamation points. They get back together in "The Opposite", but he breaks up with her for stopping to buy Jujyfruits after hearing he was in a car accident. Later, in "The Scofflaw", Elaine taunts Jarmel by wearing a pair of glasses that are identical to his—he's upset because he thought he had the only pair. She then gives them to Mr. Lippman, Jarmel's publisher, who inadvertently angers Jarmel by wearing them to a book promotion.
• In "The Bizarro Jerry", she dates Kevin, the nice, kind antithesis of Jerry whose friends Gene, Feldman and Vargas are polar opposites of George, Kramer and Newman, respectively, each described as coming from the backwards Bizarro World of Superman comics.
• In "The Stall", her boyfriend Tony, dubbed a male bimbo or "mimbo" by Jerry, becomes George's new idol.
• In "The Wallet" she dates her psychiatrist, Dr. Reston, who has such control over her she calls him her Svengali (but mispronounces it "Svenjolly").
• In "The Checks", her boyfriend Brett is so obsessed with the song "Desperado" that she feels ignored whenever the song comes on. She tries to find a song that they can share and comes up with "Witchy Woman", but it doesn't work. Both songs are by the Eagles.
• In "The Wizard", Elaine isn't sure if her new boyfriend Darryl is African-American or not and gets mixed signals when she tries to find out. Turns out he is white and thought Elaine was Hispanic.
• In "The Non-Fat Yogurt", Elaine dates Lloyd Braun. Since Lloyd works for the mayor, she tells him that the city would be a better place if everyone wore name tags. He mentions this to the mayor and the mayor eventually loses his election as a result.
• In "The Maestro", Elaine begins dating Bob Cobb, a conductor who insists on being calling "The Maestro". They eventually go to Tuscany together.
• In "The Junk Mail", Elaine dates Jack, the television pitchman for The Wiz.

Enemies[link]

Elaine's quick temper makes her several enemies and gets her into several confrontations over the years:

Sue Ellen Mischke[link]

• She has a long-running hatred and inferiority complex for former schoolmate and candy-bar heiress Sue Ellen Mischke. Elaine's nickname for Sue Ellen was "The Braless Wonder" because she never wore a bra in high school, which enticed Elaine's boyfriend to dump her for Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen appears in four episodes: in "The Caddy", she struts down the street wearing a bra as a top, causing Kramer to crash George's car; in "The Bottle Deposit", Elaine spends $20,000 on a set of golf clubs (owned by John F. Kennedy) for Mr. Peterman when she is caught in a vicious bidding war with Sue Ellen at an auction; in "The Abstinence", Elaine boasts to Sue Ellen about dating a doctor but then is made to look foolish when her boyfriend is completely useless during an emergency at the coffee shop; finally, in "The Betrayal", Elaine is so unhappy at receiving an "Unvitation" (a super-last-minute invitation) to Sue Ellen's wedding, that she travels all the way to India just to show up. It finally ended when George blurted out that Elaine "slept with the groom". Her comeuppance is Sue Ellen hurting her nose by ripping out her nose-pierced stud, which is band-aided at the beginning of the episode. (Note: "The Betrayal" aired in reverse chronological order where the episode began with the confrontation and ended with Jerry first moving into his apartment.)

Other enemies[link]

• Elaine conflicts with Frank Costanza on several occasions. Frank refers to her as "supercilious" in "The Chinese Woman". In The Cigar Store Indian, she angers him first by taking his TV Guide without asking and then by spilling her gyro on it. Then, in "The Little Kicks", she and Frank come to blows after George is arrested along with Elaine's co-worker Anna. Elaine says to Frank, "I could drop you like a bag of dirt." Frank replies, "You want a piece of me? You got it!" Later, when Jerry chides her for fighting with an old man, she says, "Hey, he wrote the check. I cashed it." suggesting that she won the fight.
• Her abortion argument with restaurateur Poppie gets him so angry that he loses control of his bladder in "The Couch" and again in "The Doorman."
• In "The Soup Nazi", Elaine refuses to abide by the rules of a strict soup stand owner nicknamed "The Soup Nazi" and thus becomes the subject of his ire. When she finds his secret recipes that he had accidentally left in an armoire, she hints that she will drive him out of business, gloating that he is "through!"
• In "The Summer of George", Elaine makes enemies out of her co-worker Sam (Molly Shannon). First, when Elaine criticizes Sam's way of walking ("It's like she's carrying invisible suitcases"), Sam gets furious and threatens revenge. Then, Raquel Welch (who was recently fired from a musical for dancing without swinging her arms), sees Elaine describing the walk to the police and thinks that Elaine is making fun of her and attacks her. Both events end up arousing Jerry, Kramer, George and even the police, because as Jerry tells Elaine, men love "catfights".
• In "The Understudy", after she thinks her Korean manicurists are making fun of her, she angers them by bringing in Frank Costanza, who is fluent in Korean, to eavesdrop on them.
• In "The Fire", Elaine reveals her hatred for her overly energetic and always-happy colleague Toby. Then, when Toby loses her pinky toe in an accident (caused by Jerry), an outpouring of office sympathy leads Toby to a major promotion instead of Elaine, who is more qualified.
• In "The Visa" she and Jerry anger Pakistani immigrant Babu after she fails to notice Babu's visa application among Jerry's mail that she is picking up for him.
• Elaine has had run-ins with her co-worker Peggy on a few occasions. In "The Susie", Peggy tells Elaine, who she thinks is a woman named Susie, that Elaine Benes is a "dolt" and a "disaster." Later, in "The Apology", Peggy thinks Elaine has germs, and in retaliation Elaine deliberately coughs on Peggy's doorknob, rubs her stapler in her armpit and rubs her keyboard on her rear end.
• Elaine makes a particular enemy of Chinese restaurants on no fewer than four different occasions. In "The Chinese Restaurant", she makes a fool of herself when she tries to bribe the waiter to get her a table faster. Then in "The Race", she gets "blacklisted" from a Chinese delivery restaurant for refusing food delivery, also getting her Communist boyfriend blacklisted as well. Finally, in "The Pothole", she pretends to live in a janitor's closet in a different apartment so that she can live inside the delivery zone of a certain Chinese restaurant. She was also once sued by a Chinese deliveryman named Ping for causing him to get in a bicycle accident in "The Virgin". This storyline falls out in "The Visa" and is left unresolved.
• In "The Package", it is revealed that Elaine's medical charts characterize her as a "difficult" patient, to such a degree that she cannot receive treatment for a rash because one doctor after another refuses to treat her.

Insecurities[link]

• In "The Andrea Doria", Elaine dates Alan, a "bad breaker-upper", who makes her feel insecure about having a big head.
• In "The Smelly Car", Elaine's boyfriend Carl is repulsed by her when her hair stinks of B.O. from riding in Jerry's car. She goes to extreme lengths to get the smell out but nothing works, and he continues to be grossed out.
• In "The Postponement", Elaine confides in a rabbi that she is jealous of George's engagement to Susan Ross because George would be getting married before she did and she considers George to be a loser. The Rabbi proceeds to tell everyone in Elaine's apartment complex and later on his cable TV show about Elaine's insecurity.

Influence/effect on others[link]

Elaine's charm and confidence contribute to her ability to influence others, often with disastrous consequences.

• In "The Chinese Woman", Jerry describes how Elaine has had a destructive effect on her relationship with her friend Noreen. It is revealed that over the course of their friendship, Elaine has convinced Noreen to join the army, go AWOL from the army, dump her "high talker" boyfriend, and dump her "long talker" boyfriend. Eventually, Kramer steps in and forbids Elaine to have any more contact with Noreen.
• In "The Muffin Tops", Elaine convinces her former boss Mr. Lippman to start his own business selling just "muffin tops". However, they soon run into problems when nobody will take the leftover stumps, and only by calling in "The Cleaner" (who turns out to be Newman) can they get rid of them.
• In "The Non-Fat Yogurt", Elaine suggests to Lloyd Braun, an advisor to Mayor Dinkins, that everyone in the city should wear name tags. Lloyd Braun suggests this idea to Dinkins and he likes it so much that he adds it to his campaign, subsequently leading to his loss in the mayoral elections. In "The Gum", it is revealed that Lloyd Braun also loses his job and later suffered a nervous breakdown.
• In "The Pilot," Russell Dalrymple's love for Elaine drives him to the point near the end of the show that he joins Greenpeace just to impress her and dies in the aftermath.

Physical moments[link]

• She often shoves a person and shouts "get out!" whenever she hears good news. It first appeared in "The Apartment" and goes on like a normal push. By "The Engagement", the show ramps it up as the tone of the humor changes, which allows Elaine to really shove a person into another room for comic effect, most memorably "The Engagement" with Jerry and "The Soup Nazi" with Kramer. Also, the most memorable moment is in "The Bizarro Jerry": she shoves Kevin to the ground, helping end her friendship with the bizarro group.
• She is a breathtakingly poor dancer. Her performance at a J. Peterman company party, the central plot theme of "The Little Kicks", causes George to describe it as "a full-bodied dry heave set to music." The moves are repeated in her bedroom in a short scene of the episode "The Slicer". Both clips appear in "The Clip Show, Pt. 1".^[4]
• In "The Doodle", she holds her breath looking for the manuscript she was meant to read and memorize for her appointment.

Reception[link]

The Seinfeld cast was placed sixth on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters.^[5]

Notes[link]

• Elaine is missing from "The Seinfeld Chronicles" and "The Trip", and she has minimal roles in "The Pitch", "The Ticket" and "The Butter Shave" because of maternity leave, making her the most absent of the four main characters.
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus's pregnancy is notable in seasons 3 and 8. In production order, she hides her growing belly in some subtle ways such as putting a pillow over her stomach when she sat down. Her stomach is noticeable from "The Subway" to "The Keys" in season 3 and from "The Pothole" to "The Summer of George" in season 8. It would later be referenced by the character of C.C. Babcock on The Nanny, who mentions seeing an episode where Elaine is "twelve months pregnant" and trying to hide it with a large handbag, while C.C.'s portrayer, Lauren Lane, was doing exactly the same thing since she was also pregnant herself.

Elaine's hairstyle changed in Season 7. It remained like that for the rest of the series.

• Patricia Heaton, Megan Mullally, and Rosie O'Donnell also auditioned for the part, and when it was offered to Louis-Dreyfus she wasn't sure if she should accept.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Elaine Benes

• Seinfeld at the Internet Movie Database
• Elaine on Seinfeldonline.com- Unofficial fan website.

This Awards and achievements succession box's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (April 2012)

Miley Cyrus
Cyrus at the 2012 People's Choice Awards
Background information
Birth name	Destiny Hope Cyrus
Born	(1992-11-23) November 23, 1992 (age 19) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.[1]
Genres	Pop,[2] country pop, dance, electropop, teen pop
Occupations	Actress, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Walt Disney, Hollywood
Associated acts	Hannah Montana, Billy Ray Cyrus, Demi Lovato
Website	MileyCyrus.com Signature of Miley Cyrus.

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.

Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She embarked upon the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful.

She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of Bolt's theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

She began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of The Time of Our Lives (2009), an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming The Last Song (2010), a coming-of-age drama film. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A." (2009). A studio album titled Can't Be Tamed was released in 2010 and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, "Can't Be Tamed", portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer. Cyrus ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100.^[3] For the 2011 Guinness World Records, she was named the “Most Charted Teenager” following her 29th US Billboard Hot 100 chart entry on November 7, 2009 with “Party in the USA”.^[4]

Early life[link]

Cyrus at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Letitia Jean "Tish"^[5] (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.^[6][7] Her parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things with her life. They gave her the nickname "Smiley", which was later shortened to "Miley", because she smiled so often as a baby.^[8] Cyrus suffers from a mild heart condition causing tachycardia which, though not dangerous, is often bothersome.^[9]

Against the wishes of her father's record company,^[10] Cyrus's parents secretly married a year after Cyrus's birth on December 28, 1993.^[7][11] Tish had two children from a previous relationship: Trace and Brandi. Billy Ray adopted Trace and Brandi when they were young.^[12] She has a half-brother, Christopher Cody, Billy Ray's son from a brief relationship, born the same year as Miley; he grew up with his mother in South Carolina.^[10] Tish and Billy Ray had two more children, Braison and Noah. Cyrus's godmother is entertainer Dolly Parton.^[13] Cyrus was very close to her paternal grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus.^[14] Cyrus has paid her grandfather several tributes since his death in 2006, including eventually changing her middle name to "Ray".^[15] According to Cyrus's father, "A lot of people say Miley changed her name to Miley Ray because of Billy Ray, but that's not true. She did that in honor of my dad, because the two of them just loved each other to pieces."^[9]

Cyrus grew up on a 500-acre (2.0 km²) farm in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville,^[16] and attended Heritage Elementary School.^[17] She was raised Christian and was baptized in a Southern Baptist church prior to moving to Hollywood in 2005. She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring.^[18] Several of Cyrus's siblings also eventually entered the entertainment business: Trace became a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station,^[19] Noah became an actress, and Brandi became a guitarist.^[20]

Career[link]

2001–05: Career beginnings[link]

In 2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada while her father filmed the television series Doc.^[21] Cyrus said watching her father film the show inspired her to pursue acting. After Billy Ray took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress."^[22] She began taking singing and acting classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.^[23] In her first role, Cyrus played a girl named Kylie on Doc.^[8] In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish.^[24]

At age 11, Cyrus learned about the casting for what became Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel children's television series about a school girl with a secret double life as a teen pop star. Cyrus sent in a tape auditioning for the show's best friend role, but received a call asking her to audition for the lead, "Chloe Stewart".^[1] After sending in a new tape and flying to Hollywood for further auditions,^[25] Cyrus was told that she was too young and too small for the part.^[25][26] However, her persistence and ability to sing in addition to act led the show's producers to invite her back for further auditions. Cyrus eventually received the lead, renamed "Miley Stewart" after herself, at the age of twelve.^[25] During this time, she also auditioned with Taylor Lautner for the feature film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D and it came down to her and another actress, but Cyrus started doing Hannah Montana instead.^[27]

As Cyrus's career took off, Tish Cyrus made several critical decisions regarding her daughter's representation. She signed Cyrus with Mitchell Gossett, director of the youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty. Gossett, who specializes in creating child stars, had arranged for Cyrus's auditions for Hannah Montana and is credited with "discovering" her.^[28][29] For Cyrus's music career, Tish followed the advice of Dolly Parton, Cyrus's godmother and a singer herself, and signed Cyrus with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group. "Dolly said the Moreys are people you can trust around your daughter," Tish Cyrus recalls, "and she said they have good morals, which is not always the case in this business."^[30] According to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, Parton's advice was "the best advice [Tish] could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter."^[30] Tish also recruited Billy Ray's business manager to manage her daughter's finances. Tish herself continues to co-manage or produce many of Cyrus's career decisions.^[30] For her education, Cyrus enrolled at Options for Youth Charter Schools^[31] and studied with a private tutor on the set of her television show.^[32]

[edit] 2006–07: Hannah Montana and Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus

Cyrus performing on the Best of Both Worlds Tour

Hannah Montana became an instant hit and propelled Cyrus to teen idol status, according to The Daily Telegraph.^[24] The series premiered on March 26, 2006, to the largest audience ever for a Disney Channel show^[33] and soon became one of the highest-rated series on basic cable, elevating Cyrus's wealth and fame along with it.^[34] Time magazine reports that Cyrus's "phenom[enal]" success is due partially to her talent and partially to "Disney learning to use its vast, multimedia holdings" and market Cyrus and Hannah Montana appropriately.^[35] Cyrus eventually became the first artist to have deals in television, film, consumer products, and music within The Walt Disney Company.^[28]

The first single was "The Best of Both Worlds", the theme song to Hannah Montana, which was released on March 28, 2006.^[36] "The Best of Both Worlds" is credited to "Hannah Montana", the pop star Cyrus portrays on the series by the same name. As with other songs credited to Montana, Cyrus typically dressed as the character when performing the song live.^[37] Cyrus's first release under her own name was a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", released on April 4, 2006, on the fourth edition of DisneyMania.^[38] Dressed as Hannah Montana, Cyrus opened for The Cheetah Girls on twenty dates of their The Party's Just Begun Tour, beginning on September 15, 2006.^[39] On October 24 of same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the soundtrack performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to "Hannah Montana" and one, a duet with her father titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.^[40]

Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, performing "Ready, Set, Don't Go" at the Kids' Inaugural: "We Are the Future." – January 19, 2009; Washington D.C.

The second season of Hannah Montana premiered on April 23, 2007, and ran until October 12, 2008.^[41] Cyrus signed a four-album deal with Disney-owned Hollywood Records and, on June 26, 2007, released a double-disc album. The first disc was the soundtrack to the second season of Hannah Montana, while the second, titled Meet Miley Cyrus, was Cyrus's debut album credited to her own name. The double-disc album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200^[42] and was later certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[43] Meet Miley Cyrus generated "See You Again", Cyrus's first single to be released under her own name and her first top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.^[44] In fall 2007, Cyrus launched her first tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, to promote Meet Miley Cyrus and the Hannah Montana soundtracks. With the Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, and Everlife as her opening acts, Cyrus toured from October 17, 2007, to January 31, 2008, with stops in the U.S. and Canada.^[45] Tickets sold out in minutes and were scalped for up to $2,500 and an average of $214, well above their $26–$65 face value.^[46] A Ticketmaster official commented, "Hell hath no fury like the parent of a child throwing a tantrum. People who have been in this business for a long time are watching what's happening, and they say there hasn't been a demand of this level or intensity since The Beatles or Elvis."^[47]

[edit] 2008–09: Breakout, transitions and film career launch

Cyrus at 2008 MTV Video Music Awards

After the end of the Best of Both Worlds Tour in January 2008, Walt Disney Pictures released Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, a 3D concert film of the tour, on February 1, 2008, for what was expected to be a one-week run. The film earned over $31 million^[48] at the box-office and an average of $42,000 per theater, twice the expected total, convincing Disney executives to extend the release for an indefinite run. "We don't want to turn away kids from the theaters who couldn't get into the concerts," said Chuck Viane, Disney's chief of distribution.^[49] The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records on March 11, 2008, and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.^[50]

On July 22, 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, titled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year."^[51] Cyrus co-wrote eight out of twelve songs on the album.^[51] "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer."^[52] The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart^[53] and its lead single, "7 Things", peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[54][55] She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April^[56] and the 2008 Teen Choice Awards by herself in August.^[57] Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated film Bolt, which was released on November 21, 2008, to critical acclaim.^[58] Cyrus also co-wrote and recorded the song "I Thought I Lost You" as a duet with John Travolta for the film, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.^[59] In September 2009, she participated in the charity single "Just Stand Up!" in support of the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer^[60] and in the City of Hope Benefit Concert in support of cancer research and training programs.^[61] She also became involved in Disney's Friends for Change, an environmentalist group, for which she recorded the charity single "Send It On" along with several other Disney Channel stars.^[62]

Cyrus performing on the Wonder World Tour

Cyrus had already begun transitioning to a more grown-up image in late 2008, when her representatives negotiated a deal for novelist Nicholas Sparks to write the screenplay and novel basis for a film that would serve as a star vehicle for Cyrus by introducing her to audiences older than the young fans she had gained through Hannah Montana.^[63] Sparks and co-writer Jeff Van Wie developed The Last Song.^[63] It was important to Cyrus that she not be type cast as a singer: "I didn't want to be a singer in another film. I don't want to do that anymore. You have no idea how many musicals show up on my door. I want to do something a little more serious."^[64] In March 2009, Cyrus published Miles to Go, a memoir co-written by Hilary Liftin chronicling her life through age sixteen.^[65] Cyrus starred as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie, released April 10, 2009. Both the film and its soundtrack, which contained twelve songs performed by Cyrus,^[66] achieved commercial success.^[67][68] The soundtrack's lead single, "The Climb", became a Top 40 hit in twelve countries^[69] and introduced Cyrus to listeners outside her typical teen pop audience.^[70] Cyrus had considered ending Hannah Montana after its third season, which finished production on June 5, 2009,^[71] but Disney retained and exercised its option for a fourth season.^[72]

Production on The Last Song lasted from June 15, 2009, to August 18, 2009.^[73] In between, Cyrus launched the third Hannah Montana soundtrack, recorded the extended play The Time of Our Lives (EP), and released the EP's lead single, "Party in the U.S.A."^[74] Cyrus said The Time of Our Lives "is a transitioning album. [...] really to introduce people to what I want my next record to sound like and with time I will be able to do that a little more."^[75] "Party in the U.S.A." debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for her best-ever ranking on the chart.^[76] The Time of Our Lives was released in conjunction with a clothing line co-designed by Cyrus and Max Azria for Walmart.^[77]

From September 14, 2009, to December 29, 2010, Cyrus toured on her Wonder World Tour to promote Breakout and The Time of Our Lives.^{[citation needed]} On December 7, 2009, Cyrus performed for Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, North West England.^[78]

[edit] 2010–2011: Can't Be Tamed, focus on film career, and Gypsy Heart Tour

Cyrus at 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards soundcheck.

Production on the fourth and final season of Hannah Montana began on January 18, 2010.^[79] In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Cyrus appeared on the charity singles "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti" and "Everybody Hurts".^[80][81] Her third studio album, Can't Be Tamed, was released on June 21, 2010. The album's first single is the title track, "Can't Be Tamed". The single was released for sale on May 18, 2010, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number eight.^[82] Cyrus's costumes and dances while promoting Can't Be Tamed were also considerably more provocative than previous performances, arousing media criticism.^[83] After releasing the album, Cyrus intends to take a break from the music industry in order to focus on her film career.^[84] She commented, "I've not taken, like, acting lessons or anything, but it doesn't mean I don't need to because I'm sure I do [...] I'm probably going to go book an acting coach."^[85] Cyrus has also decided to opt out of college for the same reason, saying "I'm a firm believer that you can go back at any age you want, because my Grandma went back to college at 62 [...] For right now, I really want to focus on my career. I've worked hard to get to where I am now, and I want to enjoy it while it lasts."^[86][87][88]

Cyrus starred in The Last Song, which was released on March 31, 2010, and received generally poor reviews, as did Cyrus's performance.^[89] Nonetheless, the film was commercially successful, grossing more than $88 million at the worldwide box office.^[90] According to box-office analyst Exhibitor Relations, the film marked "a successful transition to adult roles for Miley Cyrus."^[91] The fourth and final season of Hannah Montana began airing on Disney Channel on July 11, 2010, and was ended on January 16, 2011.^[92] Cyrus filmed two more films, LOL: Laughing Out Loud and So Undercover in 2010. In LOL, a remake of a 2008 French teen film of the same name, Cyrus plays "a daughter who is involved with all the wrong kids, doing drugs, failing school, but [...whose] mother has her on this perfect pedestal" and says "[She] just fell in love with the story."^[93] Cyrus' character loses her virginity, smokes cannabis, gets wasted and kisses two girlfriends on the lips.^[94] She will also star in So Undercover, an action comedy film. Cyrus will play the part of "a tough, street-smart private eye hired by the FBI to go undercover in a college sorority."^[95] She learned street fighting for the role.^[95]

Despite her earlier announcement that she'd be focusing more on acting in the future, in February 2011, Cyrus confirmed she had no films lineup and was going to go on tour.^[96] On April 29, 2011, Cyrus embarked on her international Gypsy Heart Tour in South America and ended the tour on July 2, 2011, in Australia. Cyrus hosted Saturday Night Live on March 5, 2011, where she performed in several sketches. She also sang a brief song about her several controversies, such as the bong incident, the photo of her friend and she eating a Twizzler, and the "pole dance" on a hotel pole at the Teen Choice Awards, stating "I'm sorry that I'm not perfect."^[97][98] In March 2011, father Billy Ray Cyrus confirmed on talk show, The View, that Cyrus had been in talks with producer Dr. Luke on a new album.^[99] In July 2011, it was announced that she would record her fourth studio album and she has no plans to sign onto any other film projects.^[100] However, it was reported on August 2, 2011, by Contact Music that Cyrus has signed on to star in a comedy in which she plays a woman who broke a promise to God.^[101]

Cyrus released on YouTube a remix of her song "Liberty Walk" in November 2011, dedicated to the Occupy movement, which she referred to as, "the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in."^[102]

[edit] 2012–present: LOL, So Undercover, and focus on music career

LOL came out on May 4th

In January 2012, it was announced that Cyrus would be on Punk'd. Cyrus would be on the show alongside friend and co-star in her new film So Undercover, Kelly Osbourne. Cyrus and Osbourne on an episode of the show would punk reality star and TV personality Khloé Kardashian Odom. They punk Khloe by having a young food delivery man pretends to get his family jewels caught in his zipper while using Miley's bathroom.^[103][104]

On January 24, the album Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International was released in honor of Bob Dylan, Cyrus covered Dylan's song "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" from his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks, in which she also made a music video.^[105] Cyrus's version of the song earned positive reviews from music critics.^{[106][107][108]}

In February, Cyrus dropped out of the animated comedy Hotel Transylvania, in which she was meant to play the role of Mavis, the daughter of Dracula who is voiced by Adam Sandler, the movie also stars Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, and David Spade.^[109] It was later announced that she will be replaced by fellow Disney star and friend Selena Gomez.^[110] She later announced that she dropped out of the film because she wanted to work on her music this year.^[111][112]

Earnings[link]

In 2008, Cyrus earned $25 million, up from her earnings of $18 million in 2007, and was ranked number 35 on Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list.^[113] Parade magazine reported she was the richest teenage celebrity and that her franchise would be worth approximately $1 billion by the end of the year.^[114] In 2009, Forbes ranked her #29 on the Celebrity 100 and reported she had earned a total of $25 million.^[115] Then Cyrus got ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100 ranking $48 million.^[3] From the $48 million she made between June 2009 to June 2010 made her the no. 4 highest earners under 30 and the youngest on the list.^[116] between June 2010 and June 2011, Cyrus earned $54 million.^[117]

From working on Hannah Montana, Cyrus got paid $15,000 per episode she did on the hit show, making her the 6th highest paid child star on television behind fellow Disney stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse and Keke Palmer with $20,000 for their shows. Also, she is behind friend and Disney star Selena Gomez that makes $25,000 per episode of her show, Nick star Miranda Cosgrove with $180,000 per episode of her show, and one time co-star Angus T. Jones that got paid $250,000 for each episode of his show.^[118] Though she had not got paid as much as other Disney stars,when she was 17 she was named #19 on the "Top 20 World's Richest Female Singers Of All Time" list with over $100 million in 5 years active throughout her career, which made her the youngest female artist on the list.^[119] In 2011, she was named #1 on the "Top 10 Richest Teens in Hollywood" with $120 million.^[120]

Personal life and image[link]

Cyrus on the Red Carpet at VH1 Divas 2009

A Christian, she was baptized in a Southern Baptist church in 2005.^[121]

In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux opened a YouTube account and began posting videos of what they called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together.^[122]

With Cyrus's increased success came increased media attention. In a May 2008 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Francois Navarre, the proprietor of the X17 photo agency, said Cyrus's market value had picked up considerably after the Vanity Fair photo controversy: "She's started to sell more. [...] It used to be $300, and now it's $2,000 for a picture."^[123] Estimates for a picture of the then-15 year old's first kiss ranged from $30,000 to $150,000.^[123] Navarre noted that Cyrus rarely behaved against her wholesome image or went out without a parent and stated, "She has people waiting for the moment she starts to be less traditional. [...] It's natural. Any teenager. But it's going to come very fast. [...] As soon as her mom lets her go out by herself. It's going to start to be interesting."^[123] Time magazine included her on the 2008 Time 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her write-up was written by former child star Donny Osmond, who warned, "As an idol to tweens the world over, singer-actress Miley Cyrus, 15, is riding a huge tidal wave at the pinnacle of her career; this is as it should be. I hope she enjoys it. [...] Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. [...] As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."^[124]

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday at Disneyland with a charity fundraiser for Youth Service America, a youth volunteer service organization.^{[125][126][127]}

In June 2009, Cyrus ended her nine-month relationship with model Justin Gaston shortly before flying to Georgia to film The Last Song.^[128] While filming later that month, Cyrus began dating her co-star in The Last Song, Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.^[129] She later called him her "first serious boyfriend".^[130] In August 2010, it was confirmed that her relationship with Hemsworth had ended.^[131][132] Cyrus and Hemsworth were seen together a month later, and were reportedly back together.^[133] It was announced in early November that the couple had split again.^[134] They have since rekindled their relationship.^[135]

At the end of 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist^[136] and the fifth best-selling singer overall.^[137] Also in 2009, at the age of sixteen, she became the youngest artist to have four number one albums on the charts.^[138]

Controversies[link]

Cyrus performing at the Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future concert in 2009.

In December 2007, a brief controversy emerged when photos Cyrus had posted on her private MySpace account, depicting her and a female friend sharing a piece of licorice and "almost kissing", were spread across the internet, prompting rumors of lesbianism. Cyrus comments, "For me, I was like, That's two girls—it's not a big deal. But they got spread around. Like someone copied and pasted and said, Omigod, look at this, and blah blah blah."^[139]

In April 2008, several provocative images of Cyrus in her underwear and swimsuit were leaked onto the web by a teenager who hacked Cyrus's Gmail account.^{[140][141][142][143]} Cyrus described the images as "silly, inappropriate shots" and stated, "I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone."^[144][145] On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus, then 15, had posed topless for a photoshoot taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair.^[146] On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless.^[147] Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by Portfolio magazine to have said, "For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back."^[147] In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."^[147] Leibovitz also released a statement: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."^[147][148]

In May 2008, Gossett, Cyrus's longtime acting agent, left Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty for United Talent Agency, partially with the hope of "giving Cyrus the major-agency backing that would support a widening career", according to The Hollywood Reporter.^[30][149] About a year later in June 2009, Cyrus left both Gossett and UTA, which had recently negotiated her deals for The Last Song and the fourth season of Hannah Montana, and joined the Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music.^[150] Nikki Finke, who broke the news, reported, "Is this fair to UTA? Of course not. But I hear the decision was made by Miley's mother Trish [sic] Cyrus".^[151]

Cyrus performing during the Wonder World Tour, in 2009.

Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans.^[152][153] Conversely, Newsday reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time."^[154] Ian Drew, senior editor of US Weekly, said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well."^[154] Cyrus was also criticized that year for dating Gaston, five years her senior,^[155] and for a photo displaying Cyrus and friends making "slant-eyed" expressions, which the Organization of Chinese Americans claimed was offensive to the Asian community.^[156] Cyrus apologized for the photo on her website, defending her actions and saying, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face."^[157]

Later in 2010, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, then 16, giving Adam Shankman, producer of The Last Song, a lap dance at the film's wrap party.^{[158][159][160]} Cyrus's father defended her actions, saying Miley was just "having fun" and that "it's what people her age do".^[161] Later that year in December, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, which took place five days after her 18th birthday at her Los Angeles home, in which she is seen smoking from a bong. She claimed she was smoking the psychoactive plant salvia divinorum, although this has not been confirmed by anybody but Cyrus herself.^{[162][163][164]} Salvia is legal in the state of California, and Cyrus was of legal age at the time the video was shot.^[165] Cyrus's father expressed his sadness regarding the matter on Twitter, saying, "Sorry guys. I had no idea. Just saw this stuff for the first time myself. I'm so sad. There is much beyond my control right now".^[166][167]

In a video obtained by The Daily, taking place at Cyrus' 19th birthday party at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, Cyrus went to the microphone and addressed the crowd. Immediately after her Bob Marley-themed birthday cake had been brought out, Cyrus said, "You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake. You know you smoke way too much f****n' weed."^[168] One week later, Cyrus' representative stated that Cyrus was just being a "smart-ass" and that the Bob Marley cake had just been an "inside joke" with Cyrus and her friends, as Cyrus' friend, Kelly Osbourne had been calling her "Bob Miley" since Cyrus' 2010 salvia incident.^[169]

Filmography[link]