Martha Washington
First Lady of the United States
In office April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797
Succeeded by	Abigail Adams
Personal details
Born	(1731-06-21)June 21, 1731 Chestnut Grove, New Kent County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	May 22, 1802(1802-05-22) (aged 70) Mount Vernon, Virginia, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Daniel Parke Custis (1750-1757) George Washington (1759-1799)
Relations	John Dandridge and Frances Jones
Children	Daniel Parke Custis, Jr., Frances Custis, John Parke "Jacky" Custis, Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis
Occupation	First Lady of the United States
Religion	Episcopal
Signature

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States. During her lifetime, she was known as "Lady Washington".

Widowed at 25, Custis had had four children with her late husband; two survived to young adulthood. She brought great wealth to her second marriage with Washington, which enabled him to buy much land and many slaves to add to his personal estate. She also brought nearly 100 "dower slaves" for her use during her lifetime; they and their descendants reverted to her late husband's estate at her death and were inherited by their heirs. She and Washington did not have children but they reared two children of her late son John Custis, who died during the Revolutionary War, as well as helping both of their extended families.

Biography[link]

Martha Dandridge was born on June 21, 1731 on her parents' plantation Chestnut Grove in the English colony, Province of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of John Dandridge (1700–1756), a Virginia planter and English immigrant, and Frances Jones (1710–1785) of English and Welsh descent.^[1] Martha had three brothers and four sisters: John (1733–1749), William (1734–1776), Bartholomew (1737–1785), Anna Marie "Fanny" Dandridge Bassett (1739–1777), Frances (1744–1757), Elizabeth Dandridge Aylet Henley (1749–1800), and Mary Dandridge (1756–1763).

She may have had an illegitimate half-sister (date of birth unknown), Ann Dandridge Costin, who was born into slavery; her enslaved mother was African and Cherokee and her father was believed to be John Dandridge.^[2] Her father may also have sired an illegitimate half-brother, Ralph Dandridge (date of birth not known), who was probably white.^[2]

On May 15, 1750 at age 18 Martha married Daniel Parke Custis, a rich planter two decades her senior. They lived at White House Plantation on the south shore of the Pamunkey River, a few miles upriver from Chestnut Grove. She had four children with him. A son and a daughter, Daniel (1751–1754) and Frances (1753–1757), died in childhood, but two other children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis (1754–1781) and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756–1773) survived to young adulthood. Her husband's death in 1757 left Martha a rich young widow at age 25, with independent control over a dower inheritance for her lifetime, including properties and slaves, and trustee control over the inheritance of her minor children. "She capably ran the five plantations left to her when her first husband died, bargaining with London merchants for the best tobacco prices."^[3]

Martha Dandridge Custis in 1757

Martha Dandridge Custis, aged 27, and George Washington, aged nearly 27, married on January 6, 1759, at the White House plantation. As a man of the area, Washington likely knew both Martha and her late husband for some time before his death. In March 1758 he visited her twice at White House; the second time he came away with either an engagement of marriage or at least her promise to think about his proposal. At the time, she was also being courted by the planter Charles Carter, who was even wealthier than Washington.^[3]

The wedding was grand. Washington's suit was of blue and silver cloth with red trimming and gold knee buckles.^[4] The bride wore purple silk shoes with spangled buckles, which are occasionally displayed at Mount Vernon.^[3] The couple honeymooned at White House for several weeks before setting up house at Washington's Mount Vernon estate. They appeared to have had a solid marriage.^[4][3]

Martha and George Washington had no children together, but they raised Martha's two surviving children. Her daughter, nicknamed Patsy, died as a teenager during an epileptic seizure, classed as SUDEP. John (Jackie) Custis returned from college to comfort his mother.

Custis later married and had children; he served as an aide to Washington during the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. He died of "camp fever" (probably epidemic typhus). After his death, the Washingtons raised two of John's four children, Eleanor Parke Custis (March 31, 1779 - July 15, 1852), and George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 - October 10, 1857). They also provided personal and financial support to nieces, nephews and other family members in both the Dandridge and Washington families.

Content to live a private life at Mount Vernon and her homes from the Custis estate, Martha Washington followed Washington to his winter encampments for each of eight years. She helped keep up morale among the officers.

After the war, she opposed his agreeing to be President of the newly formed United States of America, and refused to attend his inauguration (April 30, 1789). Once he came to office, as the First Lady, Mrs. Washington hosted many affairs of state at New York and Philadelphia during their years as temporary capitals. (The capital was moved to Washington D. C. in 1800 under the Adams administration, following construction of the Capitol and White House).

Martha Washington at the 1777-78 Valley Forge encampment[link]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (March 2012)

Washington has traditionally been seen as a small, frumpy woman, who spent her days at the Revolutionary War winter encampments visiting with the common soldiers in their huts. But Nancy Loane, author of Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment, says there is no evidence that Washington visited with the common soldiers.^[5] She notes that Washington was fashionably dressed, assertive, and a woman of great wealth and independent means. She joined her husband for eight years during the Revolution for the winter encampment of the Continental Army. Before the revolution began, she had kept close to home; during it, she traveled thousands of miles to be with her husband. (Martha Washington journeyed to the General because she supported the cause of freedom and also because, as General Lafayette once observed, she loved "her husband madly").^[6]

The Continental Army settled in Valley Forge, the third of the eight winter encampments of the Revolution, on December 19, 1777. Martha Washington traveled ten days and hundreds of miles to join her husband in Pennsylvania.^[7] Primary documents of the Revolutionary period refer to Lady Washington's activities at the site.

Martha Washington as she appears in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Martha Washington took her familiar role as her husband's hostess at camp. On April 6, Elizabeth Drinker and three friends arrived at Valley Forge to plead with General Washington to release their husbands from jail; the men, all Quakers, had refused to swear a loyalty oath to the United States. Because the commander was not available at first, the women visited with Mrs. Washington. Drinker described her later in her diary as a “a sociable pretty kind of Woman.”^[8] Although unable to satisfy the women's demands, General Washington invited them to dine at headquarters that day. Drinker said the dinner with General and Mrs. Washington and fifteen officers was “elegant” but “soon over.”^{[8][page needed]}

Martha Washington also socialized with the wives of the senior officers at Valley Forge. Years later, Pierre DuPonceau, an aide to Baron von Steuben, recalled that in the evenings the ladies and officers at camp would meet at each other’s quarters for conversation. During these social evenings each lady and gentleman present was “called upon in turn for a song” as they sipped tea or coffee.^[9] With the enemy camped nearby in Philadelphia, Washington prohibited dancing and card-playing at Valley Forge.^{[citation needed]}

Charles Willson Peale painted a miniature of Washington—for which he charged his usual “56 Dollars”—and presented it to Martha, along with painting other miniatures of Washington.^[10] He also painted 50 other officers and their wives that winter.^[11]

Lady Washington took part in the camp’s May 6 celebration of the formal announcement of the French-American alliance.^[12] Soon after the thunderous feu de joie, when thousands of soldiers fired off their muskets, General Washington and his wife received other officers under a large marquee fashioned from dozens of officers’ tents. General Washington was said to have worn “a countenance of uncommon delight and complacence.”^[13]

Five days later, on May 11, Martha Washington and the commander attended the camp production of Cato, a favorite of the General’s. The Joseph Addison tragedy was performed by the staff officers for a “very numerous and splendid audience,” including many officers and several of their wives.^[14] One officer wrote that he found the performance “admirable” and the scenery “in Taste.”^[14]

Dower slaves and estate[link]

Following the 1757 death of Martha's first husband, the widow received a "dower share," the lifetime use of (and income from) one-third of his estate, with the other two-thirds held in trust for their minor children. The full Custis estate contained plantations and farms totaling about 27 square miles (70 km²), and 285 enslaved men, women, and children attached to those holdings. In 1759, Martha's dower share included at least 85 slaves; she also would control any children they had, who became part of the dower.

Upon his 1759 marriage to Martha, George Washington became the legal manager of the Custis estate, under court oversight. Estate records indicate that Martha Washington continued to purchase supplies, manage paid staff, and make many other decisions.^{[citation needed]} Although the Washingtons wielded managerial control over the whole estate, they received income only from Martha's "dower" third. The remainder went to the trust for the Custis heirs.

Washington used his wife's great wealth to buy land and slaves; he more than tripled the size of Mount Vernon (2,650 acres (10.7 km²) in 1757, 8,251 acres (33.39 km²) in 1787). For more than 40 years, her "dower" slaves farmed the plantation alongside his own. The Washingtons could not sell Custis land or slaves, which were held in trust first for Martha's only surviving child John Custis (who died during the Revolution), and then his heirs. Some of their respective slaves married, forming linked families. If the slave mother was part of the dower, so were her children.

"Washington's Family" by Edward Savage, painted between 1789 and 1796, shows (from left to right): George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington, Eleanor Parke Custis, Martha, and an enslaved servant: probably William Lee or Christopher Sheels.

Seven of the nine slaves whom President Washington brought to Philadelphia (the national capital, 1790–1800) to work in the President's House were "dowers". Pennsylvania passed a gradual abolition law in 1780, under which non-residents were allowed to hold slaves in the state for up to 6 months; after that date, they could claim freedom. The Washingtons rotated the President's House slaves in and out of the state before the 6-month deadline to prevent their establishing residency (and legally qualifying for manumission). Washington reasoned that should the "dowers" attain their freedom due to his negligence, he might be liable to the Custis estate for their value.

Martha Washington was upset when her lady's maid Oney Judge, a "dower" slave, escaped in 1796 from the Philadelphia household during Washington's second term. According to interviews with Judge in the 1840s, the First Lady had promised the young woman as a wedding gift to her granddaughter Elizabeth Parke Custis in Virginia and Judge feared she would never gain freedom.^[15] She hid with free black friends in the city, who helped arrange her travel by ship to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There she married and had three children. Patricia Brady, in her 2005 biography of Martha Washington, writes:

"Martha felt a responsibility for the unsophisticated girl under her care, especially since her mother and sister were expecting to see her back at Mount Vernon. What she could never understand was that [Oney had...] a simple desire to be free. Ona, as she preferred to call herself, wanted to live where she pleased, do what work she pleased, and learn to read and write [...] Ona Judge professed a great regard for Martha and the way she had been treated, but she couldn't face a future as a slave for herself and her children." (Brady, p. 209)

Washington's slave Hercules, who had worked as his chief cook at the President's House (Philadelphia) before being returned to Mount Vernon in 1796, escaped from there on February 22, 1797.^[16] He was known to have traveled to Philadelphia and by December 1801 was living in New York City.^[17][18] His six-year-old daughter, still enslaved at Mount Vernon, told a visitor that she was glad her father was free.^[19]

By 1799 the number of "dower" slaves was 153, the number of Washington slaves was 124, and at least a dozen couples had intermarried. In Washington's will^[20] he freed his own slaves, to be executed following his wife's death so that intermarried families would not be broken up.

Martha freed Washington's slaves less than a year after his death, on January 1, 1801. Abigail Adams, wife of the second President, had visited Mount Vernon two weeks earlier, and wrote: "Many of those who are liberated have married with what are called the dower Negroes, so that they all quit their [family] connections, yet what could she do?" Mrs. Adams suggested a motive for Martha to have freed Washington's slaves early:

"In the state in which they were left by the General, to be free at her death, she did not feel as tho her Life was safe in their Hands, many of whom would be told that it was [in] their interest to get rid of her–She therefore was advised to set them all free at the close of the year.–" (A. A. to Mary Cranch, 21 December 1800)

Following Martha's 1802 death, the "dower" slaves were inherited by her four grandchildren, the children of the late John (Jacky) Custis. She bequeathed Elisha, the one slave she owned outright, to her grandson George Washington Parke Custis.^{[citation needed]}

An 1878 portrait by Eliphalet Frazer Andrews.

Martha's coffin (left) in the tomb at Mount Vernon.

Half-sibling[link]

The writer Henry Wiencek, in his 2003 book An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, argues that Martha Washington owned a mulatto slave, Ann Dandridge, who was her half-sister. Dandridge had a child by Martha's son Jacky Custis. Wiencek bases his assertions on original documents he discovered in the files of Mount Vernon and the Virginia Historical Society. He says that previous historians ignored the documentary evidence that this half-sister existed, part of the silence about interracial relationships during the slave society. Wiencek believes this relationship was among the factors that led George Washington to call slavery "repugnant," and likely influenced Washington's decision late in life to free all his slaves.

Helen Bryan acknowledged Ann Dandridge and her relationship to Martha Dandridge in her 2001 Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty, relying upon Wiencek's research. Bryan stated that the "shadow sister" was close to Martha's age and had been in the household with her since they were children.

In a brief bibliographical note at the end of her book (page 256), Brady denies the existence of Martha Washington's half-sister, and asserts that Wiencek and Bryan accepted "family mythology" and "lore" as fact. Brady does not offer a review of the documents which Wiencek used to assert the paternity of John Dandridge and relationship between Ann and Dandridge's legal children. Ann Dandridge's manumission is recorded–Land Records, Liber H., #8, p. 382; Liber R, #17, p. 288. In assessing the documents that have survived on this question, Wiencek notes that Ann Dandridge was omitted from the Custis estate records and the records of slaves at Mt. Vernon. Having studied plantation families for many years, Wiencek observes that family ties between slaves and slave owners were often kept hidden.

Honors[link]

[edit] USS Lady Washington

Mrs. Washington had a row galley named in her honor, the USS Lady Washington. It holds the distinction of being the first U.S. military ship to be named in honor of a woman and for a vessel named while the person was still alive (see also List of U.S. military vessels named after living Americans). It has a number of other distinctions as well, as the first ship named after a (future) First Lady and one of the few active vessels in the U.S. Navy named in honor of a woman (see also USS Hopper).

Martha Washington on US postage[link]

The 1st Martha Washington postage stamp, issue of 1902.

Presidential Issue of 1938

In 1902, Martha Washington became the first American woman to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. This 8c issue was printed in black with Martha's portrait surrounded by an elaborate laurel wreath. In 1923, a second stamp was issued in her honor, a 4-cent definitive stamp. The third issue to honor Martha Washington was issued in 1938, a 1½¢ denomination stamp.

U.S. paper currency[link]

Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on the face of a U.S. currency note. It appeared on the face of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891, and the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896. An 1856 national banknote carried The baptism of Pocahontas on its reverse face.

U.S. coins[link]

The First Spouse Program under the Presidential $1 Coin Act authorizes the United States Mint to issue 1/2 ounce $10 gold coins and bronze medal duplicates^[21] to honor the first spouses of the United States.The Martha Washington coin was released on June 19, 2007, and was sold out in hours.

• 

  Obverse

• 

  Reverse

• 

  Obverse (bronze medal)

• 

  Reverse (bronze medal)

See also[link]

• Samuel Osgood House (New York City) — First Presidential Mansion.
• Alexander Macomb House (New York City) — Second Presidential Mansion.
• President's House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Third Presidential Mansion.

References[link]

• Brady, Patricia. Martha Washington: An American Life. Viking/Penguin Group, New York, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03430-4.
• Wiencek, Henry. An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, hardbound edition 2003, paperback edition 2004. ISBN 0-374-52951-5.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martha Washington

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Martha Washington

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Martha Washington

• Martha Washington at the White House (biography)
• Martha Washington at the National First Ladies Library (biography)
• Donald Greyfield (Jan 01, 2001). "Martha Dandridge Washington". First of America's First Ladies. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2382. Retrieved Aug 18, 2011.  (memorial photos)

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Saint Martha
Martha on the left, Jesus at the house of Mary and Martha, Harold Copping
Virgin, Myrrhbearer, Wonder Worker of Southern Gaul
Born	probably Iudaea Province (modern-day Israel or West Bank)
Died	traditionally Larnaca, Cyprus or Tarascon, Gaul (modern-day France)
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Christianity, Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church
Canonized	Pre-congregation
Feast	July 29 (Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran), June 4 (Orthodox)
Attributes	broom; keys; ladle[1]
Patronage	butlers; cooks; dietitians; domestic servants; homemakers; hotel-keepers; housemaids; housewives; innkeepers; laundry workers; maids; manservants; servants; servers; single laywomen; travellers; Villajoyosa, Spain[1]

Martha of Bethany (Aramaic מַרְתָּא Martâ) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She is the middle child of her family with Lazarus being the eldest and her sister Mary Magdalene the youngest. She was witness to Jesus' resurrection of her brother, Lazarus.

Etymology of the name[link]

The name Martha is a Latin transliteration of the Koine Greek Μαρθα, itself a translation of the Aramaic מַרְתָּא Martâ, "The mistress" or "the lady", from מרה "mistress", feminine of מר "master". The Aramaic form occurs in a Nabatean inscription found at Puteoli, and now in the Naples Museum; it is dated AD. 5 (Corpus Inscr. Semit., 158); also in a Palmyrene inscription, where the Greek translation has the form Marthein. ^[2]

Biblical references[link]

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha. The two sisters are contrasted: Martha was "cumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the better part", that of listening to the master's discourse.^[3] The name of their village is not recorded, nor any mention of whether Jesus was near Jerusalem:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
- (Luke 10:38-42, New International Version)

In the Gospel of John, Martha and Mary appear in connection two incidents: the raising from the dead of her brother Lazarus (John 11) and the anointing of Jesus at the home of Simon the Leper (John 12:3).

In the account of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus meets with the sisters in turn: Martha followed by Mary. Martha goes immediately to meet Jesus as he arrives, while Mary waits until she is called. As one commentator notes, "Martha, the more aggressive sister, went to meet Jesus, while quiet and contemplative Mary stayed home. This portrayal of the sisters agrees with that found in Luke 10:38-42."^[4] In speaking with Jesus, both sisters lament that he did not arrive in time to prevent their brother's death: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21,32). But where Jesus' response to Mary is more emotional, his response to Martha is one of teaching calling her to hope and faith:

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord", Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
"Yes, Lord", she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
- (John 11:20-27, New International Version)

As the narrative continues, Martha calls her sister Mary to see Jesus. Jesus has Mary bring him to Lazarus' tomb where he commands the stone to be removed from its entrance. Martha here objects, "But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days", to which Jesus replies, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:39-40). They then take away the stone and Jesus prays and calls Lazarus forth alive from the tomb.

Martha appears again in John 12:1-8, where she serves at a meal held in Jesus' honor at which her brother is also a guest. The narrator only mentions that the meal takes place in Bethany, while the apparently parallel accounts in the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 26:6-13) and Mark (Mark 14:3-9) specify that it takes place at the home of one Simon the Leper. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "We are surely justified in arguing that, since Matthew and Mark place the scene in the house of Simon, St. John must be understood to say the same; it remains to be proved that Martha could not 'serve' in Simon's house."^[2] It is at this meal that a woman (Martha's sister Mary, according to John) anoints Jesus with expensive perfume.

Catholic traditions[link]

Martha from the Isabella Breviary, 1497

In Roman Catholic tradition, Martha's sister Mary was often equated with Mary Magdalene. Therefore, additional information is supposed for Martha as well:

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are represented by St. John as living at Bethania, but St. Luke would seem to imply that they were, at least at one time, living in Galilee; he does not mention the name of the town, but it may have been Magdala, and we should thus, supposing Mary of Bethania and Mary Magdalene to be the same person, understand the appellative "Magdalene". The words of St. John (11:1) seem to imply a change of residence for the family. It is possible, too, that St. Luke has displaced the incident referred to in Chapter 10. The likeness between the pictures of Martha presented by Luke and John is very remarkable. The familiar intercourse between the Saviour of the world and the humble family which St. Luke depicts is dwelt on by St. John when he tells us that "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus" (11:5). Again the picture of Martha's anxiety (John 11:20-21, 39) accords with the picture of her who was "busy about much serving" (Luke 10:40); so also in John 12:2: "They made him a supper there: and Martha served." But St. John has given us a glimpse of the other and deeper side of her character when he depicts her growing faith in Christ's Divinity (11:20-27), a faith which was the occasion of the words: "I am the resurrection and the life." The Evangelist has beautifully indicated the change that came over Martha after that interview: "When she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come, and calleth for thee."^[2]

Golden Legend[link]

According to legend, St Martha left Judea after Jesus' death, around AD 48, and went to Provence with her sister Mary (conflated with Mary Magdalene) and her brother Lazarus. With them, Martha first settled in Avignon (now in France). The Golden Legend, compiled in the 13th century, records the Provençal tradition:

Saint Martha, hostess of our Lord Jesus Christ, was born of a royal kindred. Her father was named Syro and her mother Encharia. The father of her was duke of Syria and places maritime, and Martha with her sister possessed by the heritage of their mother three places, that was, the castle Magdalen, and Bethany and a part of Jerusalem. It is nowhere read that Martha had ever any husband ne fellowship of man, but she as a noble hostess ministered and served our Lord, and would also that her sister should serve him and help her, for she thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.

After the ascension of our Lord, when the disciples were departed, she with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary, also Saint Maximin [actually a 3rd-century figure] which baptized them, and to whom they were committed of the Holy Ghost, and many others, were put into a ship without sail, oars, or rudder governail, of the paynims, which by the conduct of our Lord they came all to Marseilles, and after came to the territory of Aquense or Aix, and there converted the people to the faith. Martha was right facound of speech, and courteous and gracious to the sight of the people.^[5]

The Golden Legend also records the grand lifestyle imagined for Martha and her siblings in its entry on Mary Magdalene:

Mary Magdalene had her surname of Magdalo, a castle, and was born of right noble lineage and parents, which were descended of the lineage of kings. And her father was named Cyrus, and her mother Eucharis. She with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha, possessed the castle of Magdalo, which is two miles from Nazareth, and Bethany, the castle which is nigh to Jerusalem, and also a great part of Jerusalem, which, all these things they departed among them. In such wise that Mary had the castle Magdalo, whereof she had her name Magdalene. And Lazarus had the part of the city of Jerusalem, and Martha had to her part Bethany. And when Mary gave herself to all delights of the body, and Lazarus entended all to knighthood, Martha, which was wise, governed nobly her brother's part and also her sister's, and also her own, and administered to knights, and her servants, and to poor men, such necessities as they needed. Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things.^[6]

St. Martha in Tarascon[link]

St Martha's Collegiate Church in Tarascon

Martha and the Tarasque, from a 15th century manuscript

Gothic Tomb of Saint Martha in Tarascon

A further legend relates that Martha then went to Tarascon, where a monster, the Tarasque, was a constant threat to the population. Martha managed to tame the monster and eventually died in Tarascon, where she was buried. Her tomb is located in the crypt of the local Collegiate Church. Again, the Golden Legend provides the details:

There was that time upon the river of Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast of stones ne with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears; which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed by and drowned ships. He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire. To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people. The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.^[5]

The dedication of the Collegiate Church at Tarascon to St. Martha is believed to date from the 9th century or earlier. Relics found in the church during a reconstruction in 1187 were identified as hers, and reburied in a new shrine at that time.^[7] In the Collegiate Church crypt is a late 15th century cenotaph, also known as the Gothic Tomb of Saint Martha. It is the work of Francesco Laurana, a Croatian sculptor of the Italian School, commissioned by King René. At its base are two openings through which the relics could be touched. It bears three low reliefs separated by fluted pilasters representing : on the left, Saint Martha and the Tarasque; in the center, Saint Mary Magdalene born aloft by the angels; on the right, Lazarus as Bishop of Marseille with his mitre and staff. There are two figures on either side: on the left, Saint Front, Bishop of Perrigueux, present at the funeral of Saint Martha, and on the right, Saint Marcelle, Martha's servant.^[8]

St. Martha and Villajoyosa[link]

The town of Villajoyosa, Spain honors St. Martha as its patron saint and celebrates The Festival of Moors and Christians annually in her honor. The 250-year old festival commemorates the attack on Villajoyosa by Berber pirates led by Zalé-Arraez in 1538, when, according to legend, St. Martha came to the rescue of the townsfolk by causing a flash flood which wiped out the enemy fleet, thus preventing the corsairs from reaching the coast.^[9]

Eastern Orthodox tradition[link]

In Orthodox Church tradition, though not specifically named as such in the gospels, Martha and Mary were among the Myrrh-bearing Women. These faithful followers of Jesus stood at Golgotha during the Crucifixion of Jesus and later came to his tomb early on the morning following Sabbath with myrrh (expensive oil), according to the Jewish tradition, to anoint their Lord's body. The Myrrhbearers became the first witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus, finding the empty tomb and hearing the joyful news from an angel.^[10]

Orthodox tradition also relates that Martha's brother Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem in the persecution against the Jerusalem Church following the martyrdom of St. Stephen. His sister Martha fled Judea with him, assisting him in the proclaiming of the Gospel in various lands.^[11] While Mary Magdalene remained with John the Apostle and assisted him with the Church of Jerusalem. The three later came to Cyprus, where Lazarus became the first Bishop of Kittim (modern Larnaca).^[12] All three died in Cyprus.

Gnostic tradition[link]

Martha appears in the sacred gnostic text Pistis Sophia. She is instructed by the risen Christ on several of the repentances that must be made in order to have salvation. She also makes several prophetic interpretations of different Psalms.^[13]

Veneration or commemoration as a saint[link]

Christ with Martha and Maria, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1886

Martha is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, and commemorated by the Lutheran Church and the Anglican Communion.

Feast days[link]

In the Roman Catholic tradition, her feast day is celebrated July 29. Her celebration, classified as a "Semi-Double" in the Tridentine Calendar, became a "Simple" in the General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII, a "Third-Class Feast" in the General Roman Calendar of 1962, and an obligatory "Memorial" in the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints.

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic traditions, Martha and her sister Mary are commemorated on June 4. They are also commemorated collectively among the Myrrh-bearing Women on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (the Third Sunday of Pascha—i.e., the second Sunday after Easter). She also figures in the commemorations of Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday).

Martha is commemorated on July 29 in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church (together with her siblings Mary and Lazarus) and in the Calendar of saints of the Episcopal Church and the Church of England (together with her sister Mary).^[14]

Churches[link]

A number of churches are dedicated to St. Martha including:

• Roman Catholic: Tarascon, France; St. Martha Catholic Church in Morton Grove, Illinois, USA, and others in East Providence, Rhode Island; Valinda, California; Kingwood, Texas; and Harvey, Louisiana, USA and Plainville, MA, USA; and Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia.
• Church of England: St Martha-on-the-Hill in Surrey and Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England
• Episcopal: St. Martha's Episcopal Church in Papillion, Nebraska, Bethany Beach, Delaware and Lexington, Kentucky, USA
• Methodist: St Martha's Methodist Church in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK.
• Lutheran: St Mary and St Martha Lutheran Church, San Francisco, California, USA

Depictions in art[link]

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Diego Velázquez, 1618

The subject of Martha is mostly found in art from the Counter-Reformation onwards, especially in the 17th century, when the domestic setting is usually given a realistic depiction. However it appears in some Ottonian cycles of the Life of Christ.

• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - an early work by the Spanish painter Velázquez.
• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - by Johannes Vermeer
• Martha and Mary Magdalene (Caravaggio)
• "The Sons of Martha" - A poem by Rudyard Kipling.

See also[link]

• Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary
• Lazarus of Bethany
• Martha and Mary Magdalene (Caravaggio)
• Mary of Bethany
• Myrrhbearers

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Martha". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martha

• "St. Martha, Virgin", Butler's Lives of the Saints
• St. Martha on catholic.org
• Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• Patron Saints: Martha
•  "St. Martha". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• "The Life of Saint Martha", text from the Golden Legend

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (November 2011)

Martha Wash
Wash performing in Sommarkrysset, Gröna Lund.
Background information
Born	(1953-12-28) December 28, 1953 (age 58) San Francisco, California United States
Genres	R&B, Soul, Pop, House, Disco
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1978–present
Labels	RCA Records (1993-present)
Associated acts	The Weather Girls, C+C Music Factory, Black Box, Sylvester, Luther Vandross, Tony Moran, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder
Website	Official website

Martha Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American R&B, Pop, Soul, House singer/songwriter known for her distinctive and powerful soprano^[1] voice.

Early career[link]

Wash began her music career as a backing singer for Sylvester. With fellow backing singer Izora Rhodes, she was half of Two Tons O' Fun, who would later be renamed The Weather Girls.^[2] As such, they were responsible for providing much of the firepower behind several of Sylvester's earliest releases — often their voices were mixed so that Sylvester was actually the background singer and Wash's and Rhodes' voices were upfront. When they left to pursue a career on their own, they achieved success with a handful of disco-oriented tracks, culminating in the 1982 release "It's Raining Men", a worldwide hit that peaked at #2 on the UK singles chart, #1 in Australia, #1 on the Euro Hot 100, #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, #34 on the U.S. R&B chart, and #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. It reached the top ten in numerous other countries. "It's Raining Men" receives regular play in dance clubs and R&B radio to this day: it stands as one of the classic songs of the late-disco and Hi-NRG era. The Weather Girls scored moderate, lesser-known hits with "Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man for Christmas)" and "No One Can Love You More Than Me" in 1985.

Solo career[link]

Later, when the Weather Girls disbanded, Wash continued to lend her vocals to various dance and house music tracks. Several of them became massive pop, R&B and dance hits. She sang lead vocals on all three of Black Box's U.S. top-forty hits, including the top-ten smashes "Everybody Everybody" and "Strike It Up," as well as "I Don't Know Anybody Else," which charted at #23 in the United States. All three of these hit singles continued to receive regular club-play and mainstream radio airplay as of late April 2010. In addition, Wash sang lead vocals on the lesser-known Black Box tracks, "Fantasy," which charted at #5 in Great Britain, "Open Your Eyes," and "Hold On." All six of these songs appear on the Black Box album Dreamland. Also, she performed uncredited lead vocals on Seduction's "You're My One and Only (True Love)," and lead vocals on C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)," which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.^[3]

Her post-Milli Vanilli litigation[link]

But with the Milli Vanilli scandal still fresh in the minds of the music industry, Wash was also perturbed by the fact that her image had been labeled "unmarketable" because of her size. She was, in fact, so perturbed that she successfully sued to receive proper credit, and appropriate royalties, as the vocalist on all of these songs. Wash's courtroom efforts spurred legislation making vocal credits mandatory on Compact Discs and music videos. It also awarded her a recording contract with RCA Records, which led to her eponymous debut solo album in 1993. The album scored three top ten club/dance hits including "Carry On", "Give It to You" and "Runaround". The first two reached number one and featured a song written by Kenneth H. Williams, Sami McKinny and Denise Rich, "God Bless The Road", a stirring uplifting ballad noted in Billboard Magazine.

In the later 1990s[link]

In 1994, Wash covered Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff" for the soundtrack of the film "Disney's D2: The Mighty Ducks 2." Two years later, in 1996, she recorded a cover version of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" for the soundtrack of the film The First Wives Club.

Recent work[link]

Wash, a notable star within the gay community, continues to record new music into the 21st century such as her first new single in more than 5 years, "You Lift Me Up" - a fusion of gospel and house, which is the first song produced on her own label, Purple Rose Records - 2005. Wash performed in the opening ceremony of the World's first OutGames in Montreal in July 2006. She performed at numerous Human Rights Campaign events in the U.S. The gay-themed podcast Gay Pimpin' with Jonny McGovern dedicated an episode to Wash and she obliged them with an extended telephone interview.

In 2006 Wash appeared as a guest on GSN's I've Got a Secret, and performed "It's Raining Men" for the all-gay panel.

DJ Tony Moran's compilation CD The Event featured a single featuring Martha entitled "Keep Your Body Working". It reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart for the week ending December 22, 2007.

She was a performer at the annual Big Gay Day in Brisbane, Australia on March 9, 2008. She also performed at the Chicago Gay Pride Street Fest on June 28, 2008, at the Nightingale as part of the Birmingham, England, bank holiday festival on August 23, 2008, at Washington, DC Capital Pride on June 14, 2009, and at the Opening Ceremony of the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series in Milwaukee, WI on August 31, 2009. In April 2011, the song and accompanying music video for the song "I've Got You" were released.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1993: Martha Wash (RCA Records)
• 1998: The Collection (compilation, Logic Records/BMG Records)

Here is a list of the artist's Number One singles (group, solo, credited and uncredited) as determined by Billboard magazine as well as significant entries. Peak chart position for non-number ones shown in (parentheses). Billboard Hot 100 Positions and Australian ARIA Chart positions are depicted in designated parenthesis as well.

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Martha Wash at MySpace

Milla Jovovich
Jovovich at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Milica Jovović (1975-12-17) December 17, 1975 (age 36) Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress, model, singer-songwriter
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Shawn Andrews (1992–1992) Luc Besson (1997–1999) Paul W. S. Anderson (2009–present)
Children	1
Website
http://www.millaj.com/

Milla Jovovich ( /ˈjoʊvəvɪtʃ/ YOH-və-vich; born Milica Jovović,^[1] Serbian Cyrillic: Милица Јововић, Russian: Милица Йовович; December 17, 1975)^[2] is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".

Milla Jovovich began modeling when Gene Lemuel convinced Herb Ritts to shoot her for the cover of Lei magazine.^[3] Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements, and she continued her career with other campaigns for L'Oréal cosmetics, Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, and Versace. In 1988, she had her first professional acting role in the television film The Night Train to Kathmandu, and later that year, she appeared in her first feature film, Two Moon Junction. Following more small television appearances such as the "Fair Exchange" (1989) and a 1989 role as a French girl (she was 14 at the time) on a Married... with Children^[4] episode and film roles, she gained notoriety with the romance film Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). She appeared in 1993's Dazed and Confused, before a short hiatus. Jovovich then acted alongside Bruce Willis in the science fiction film The Fifth Element (1997), and later played the title role in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). In 2002, she starred in the video game adaptation Resident Evil, which spawned four sequels: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) and Resident Evil: Retribution (2012).^[5]

In addition to her modeling and acting career, Jovovich released a music album, The Divine Comedy in 1994. She continues to release demos for other songs on her official website and contributes to film soundtracks; Jovovich has yet to release another album. In 2003, she and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk, which ceased operations in early 2008.^[6] In its third season prior to its demise, the pieces could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. Jovovich also has her own production company, Creature Entertainment.^[7]

Early life and family[link]

Milla Jovovich (Ukrainian: Мілла Йовович) was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, former Soviet Union, the daughter of Bogdan Bogdanović Jovović, a Serbian^[8][9] pediatrician, and Halina Mikhaylovna Loginova (also known as Galina Jovovich), a Russian^[10][11] stage actress. She was raised in the Russian Orthodox religion.^[12]

Milla's paternal family's estate was in Zlopek near Peć. Her paternal great-grandfather, Bogić Camić Jovović, was a flag-bearer of the Vasojevići clan and an officer in the guard of King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was Milica, after whom Milla was named. Her paternal grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, was a commander in the Pristina military area, and later investigated finances in the military areas of Skopje and Sarajevo, where he uncovered massive gold embezzlement. He was punished for refusing to convict a friend of the crime. Later, the government briefly imprisoned him in Goli otok for refusing to testify. When he feared that he could be arrested again, he escaped to Albania and later moved to Kiev. A different version of the story claims that he was the one who took the gold. Milla's father, Bogich, later joined Bogdan in Kiev, where he and his sister graduated in medicine.^[13] In 2000, her grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, died in Kiev.^[14] Her mother was born in Tuapse (now in Russia) but moved in her childhood to Dnipropetrovsk (now in Ukraine).^[15] Her mother played a part in several films, including Vykrutasy, and the upcoming American silent movie Silent Life (2012).

In 1980, when Milla was five years old, her family left the Soviet Union for political reasons^[16] and moved to London. They subsequently lived in Sacramento, California before settling in Los Angeles seven months later; Milla's parents divorced soon after.

In 1988, as a result of her father's relationship with a woman from Argentina,^[17] Milla's half-brother^[18] Marco Jovovich, was born.^[19] Milla's mother attempted to support the family with acting jobs, but found little success, and eventually resorted to cleaning houses to earn money. Both her father and mother provided house cleaning services for director Brian De Palma.^[20] Milla's father was incarcerated for participating in an illegal operation concerning medical insurance; he was given a 20-year sentence in 1994,^[21] but was released in 1999 after serving five years in an American prison.^[14][22] According to Milla, "Prison was good for him. He's become a much better person. It gave him a chance to stop and think."^[23]

Milla attended public schools shortly after arriving in the United States, and became fluent in English in three months.^[24] During school, many of the students had teased her because she had immigrated from the Soviet Union during the Cold War: "I was called a commie and a Russian spy. I was never, ever, ever accepted into the crowd."^[25] At age 12 in seventh grade, Milla left school to focus on modeling.^[26] She has stated that she was rebellious during her early teens, engaging in drug use, shopping mall vandalism, and credit-card fraud.^[23] In 1994, she became a U.S. citizen.^[27]

Modeling career[link]

At the age of nine, she began going to modeling auditions.^[20] Jovovich was discovered by Gene Lemuel when he shot test photos of her and later showed them to Herb Ritts in LA..^[3] The next day Ritts booked her for the cover of Lei, an Italian magazine.^[3] After Jovovich booked Lei she was signed by Prima Modeling Agency^[28] then Richard Avedon hired her for Mademoiselle.^[3] Avedon was head of marketing at Revlon at the time, and chose Jovovich to appear with models Alexa Singer and Sandra Zatezalo in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements.^[29] In 1988, she made her first professional model contract.^[16] Jovovich was among other models who gained controversy for becoming involved in the industry at a young age.^[30]

Later, Jovovich made it to the cover of The Face, which led to new contracts and covers of Vogue and Cosmopolitan.^[16] Since then, she has graced over one hundred magazine covers, including Seventeen, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, and InStyle.^[31] Her modeling career has included various campaigns for Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Damiani, Donna Karan, Gap, Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Coach, Giorgio Armani, H&M, and Revlon. Since 1998, Jovovich has been an "international spokesmodel" for L'Oréal cosmetics. She also had a minor cameo in Bret Easton Ellis' novel Glamorama, a satire of society's obsession with celebrities and beauty.^[32]

In an article published in 2002, she was said to be Miuccia Prada's muse^[30] and in an article published in 2003, Harpers & Queen magazine claimed Jovovich was Gianni Versace's "favourite supermodel".^[7] In 2004, Jovovich topped Forbes magazine's "Richest Supermodels of the World" list, earning a reported $10.5 million.^[10] In 2006, Jovovich was picked up by Spanish clothing line Mango as their new spokesmodel and is currently featured in their ad campaigns;^[33] she can also be seen in advertisements for Etro. She has noted that "Modeling was never a priority"^[34] and it instead enables her "to be selective about the creative decisions [she] make[s]".^[7]

Acting career[link]

Early work (1985–1993)[link]

Jovovich's mother had "raised [her] to be a movie star"^[23] and in 1985, enrolled Jovovich in the Professional Actors school in California.^[16][35][36]

In 1988, she appeared in her first professional role in the made-for-television film The Night Train to Kathmandu as Lily McLeod. Later that year, she made her debut in a theatrically released picture with a small role, as Samantha Delongpre, in the romantic thriller Two Moon Junction. Following roles on the television series Paradise (1988), Married... with Children (1989) and Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990), Jovovich was cast as the lead as Lilli Hargrave in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). This sequel to The Blue Lagoon (1980) placed her opposite Brian Krause. Return to the Blue Lagoon led to comparisons between her and child model-turned-actress, Brooke Shields (who had starred in the original)—Jovovich was often called by press the "Slavic Brooke Shields".^[37] The role also gained her controversy, much like Shields gained in The Blue Lagoon, for appearing nude at a young age.^[25] For her portrayal of Lilli Hargrave, Jovovich was nominated for both "Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture" at the 1991 Young Artist Awards, and "Worst New Star" at the 1991 Golden Raspberry Awards.^[38]

In 1992, Jovovich co-starred with Christian Slater in the comedy Kuffs. Later that year, she portrayed Mildred Harris in the Charlie Chaplin biographical film Chaplin. 1993 saw Jovovich in the Richard Linklater cult film Dazed and Confused, in which she played Michelle Burroughs, on screen girlfriend to Pickford (played by her then real life boyfriend Shawn Andrews). Jovovich was heavily featured in the promotional material for the film, however, upon the film's release, she was upset to find her role was considerably trimmed from the original script.^[37] The bulk of Jovovich's role was to be shot on the last day of filming, however, she was misinformed of the date, and ultimately had one line in the film, "No", in addition to singing a line from "The Alien Song" from her album, The Divine Comedy.^[39] Discouraged, she took a hiatus from acting roles,^[40] during which time she moved to Europe and began focusing on a music career.

Breakthrough (1997–2001)[link]

Jovovich at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival

Jovovich returned to acting in 1997 with a lead in the Luc Besson directed science fiction action film The Fifth Element, alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman. She portrayed Leeloo, an alien who was the "supreme being". Jovovich said she "worked like hell: no band practice, no clubs, no pot, nothing"^[41] to acquire the role and impress Besson, whom she later married on December 14, 1997, but later divorced. Jovovich also co-created and mastered an over 400-word alien language for her role.^[37] She wore a costume that came to be known as the "ACE-bandage" costume, a revealing body suit made of medical bandages designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.^[37][42] The Fifth Element was selected as the opening film for the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and its worldwide box office gross was over $263 million, more than three times its budget of $80 million.^[43] The Fifth Element was often praised for its visual style and unique costumes, and film reviewer James Berardinelli, explained "Jovovich makes an impression, although her effectiveness has little to do with acting and less to do with dialogue".^[44] Jovovich was nominated for "Favorite Female Newcomer" at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and "Best Fight" at the MTV Movie Awards.^[38] Jovovich's portrayal of Leeloo garnered a video game and a planned action figure, but the figure was never released due to licensing problems.^[45] In a 2003 interview, Jovovich said Leeloo was her favorite role to portray.^[46]

In 1998, Jovovich had a role in the Spike Lee drama He Got Game as abused prostitute Dakota Burns, appearing with Denzel Washington and Ray Allen. In 1999, she appeared in the music video for the song "If You Can't Say No" by Lenny Kravitz. In 1999, Jovovich returned to the action genre playing the title role in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, reuniting her with director Luc Besson. She was featured in armor throughout several extensive battle scenes, and cut her hair to a short length for the role. Jovovich received generally good reviews for her performance, although she also received a Razzie Award nomination for "Worst Actress".^[37][38] The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc did moderately well at the box office, gaining $66 million worldwide.^[47] In 2000, Jovovich appeared as the troubled Eloise in The Million Dollar Hotel, a film based on a concept story by Bono of the band U2 and Nicholas Klein. Directed by Wim Wenders, Jovovich starred alongside Jeremy Davies and Mel Gibson, in addition to providing vocals on the film's soundtrack. Afterwards, she portrayed bar owner, Lucia, in the British western film The Claim (2000), and the evil Katinka in the cameo-laced comedy Zoolander (2001).

International success (2002–2006)[link]

Jovovich at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

In 2002, Jovovich starred in the horror/action film Resident Evil, released in the United States on March 15, 2002. Based on the CAPCOM video game series of the same name, she portrayed Alice, the film's heroine who fights a legion of zombies created by the evil Umbrella Corporation. Jovovich had accepted the role of Alice because she and her brother had been fans of the video game franchise, saying, "It was exciting for me just watching him play, I could sit for 5 hours and we would sit all day and play this game."^[48] Jovovich had performed all the stunts required in the film, except for a scene that would involve her jumping to a cement platform, which her management deemed too dangerous,^[49] and had trained in karate, kickboxing, and combat-training.^[50] The film was commercially successful, grossing $17 million on its opening weekend, and gaining $40 million domestically and $102 million worldwide.^[51] Later, she portrayed the manipulative gang wife Erin in No Good Deed (2002), Nadine in the romantic comedy You Stupid Man (2002), punk rocker Fangora ("Fanny") in Dummy (2003), and provided a guest voice on the television series King of the Hill. The role of Fangora in Dummy, allowed Jovovich to act in film with Oscar-winning Adrien Brody, who was a friend prior to filming. Jovovich found it easy to identify with this role because she felt Fangora, as opposed to previous characters, possessed similar qualities to the actress' own life.^[46]

In 2004, Jovovich reprised the role of Alice in the sequel to Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The role required her to do fight training for three hours a day,^[46] in addition to the three months prior to filming in which she had "gun training, martial arts, everything".^[52] Apocalypse received even more negative reactions from the critics than the first film, but it was an even greater commercial success, ranking number one at the box office unlike the first film. Following the release of the film, Jovovich was unhappy with the critical results and director Alexander Witt's effort.^[53] She noted during an interview that year that her large action films take care of the commercial part of her career, while she acts in "independent little films that never come out" to appease her artistic side, and "It's a good balance".^[46] The following year, she was featured in Gore Vidal's faux trailer remake of Caligula, as Drusilla. In 2006, Jovovich's film, the science fiction/action thriller Ultraviolet, was released on March 3. She played the title role of Violet Song jat Shariff, a role that also involved heavily choreographed fight sequences and Gun Kata, a fictional martial art combining statistical analysis and gunplay. It was not screened for critics, but when reviewed, it was critically panned,^[54] grossing $31 million worldwide.^[55] That year, Jovovich also starred in .45, as Kat, the revenge driven girlfriend of an illegal gun and drug dealer with Scottish actor and DJ Angus Macfadyen.

Recent and future roles (2007–present)[link]

In 2007, Jovovich reprised her role as Alice in Resident Evil: Extinction, the third of the Resident Evil series. The film grossed an estimated $24 million in 2,828 theaters on its opening weekend, topping the box office gross for that week.^[56] It opened stronger than its predecessor, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which opened with $23 million in 3,284 theaters (over 450 more theaters than Extinction).^[57] In a March 2006 interview, Jovovich said that she would not appear in another action film "for a long time", expressing a desire to portray more diverse roles,^{[citation needed]} but she added that talks of another sequel in the Resident Evil franchise were a "real possibility".^[58][59]

Jovovich speaking at WonderCon 2012 about Resident Evil.

In 2009, Jovovich starred in David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway with Kiele Sanchez, Timothy Olyphant, and Steve Zahn. The film is a thriller about a newlywed couple (Milla and Zahn) on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Filming began Spring 2008.^[53]

Jovovich played Lucetta, the wife of a jailed arsonist (played by Edward Norton) in Stone, a psychological thriller starring Robert De Niro. Filming began in May 2009 at the recently closed Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan.^[60]

Jovovich played the part of Dr. Abigail Tyler in the science-fiction thriller The Fourth Kind^[61] and will star in the psychological thriller Faces in the Crowd,^[62] which is written and directed by Julien Magnat;^[63] in the latter film, she plays the survivor of a serial killer’s attack that leaves her suffering from a condition called prosopagnosia, which renders her unable to recognize faces.^{[64][dead link]}

Jovovich returned as Alice^[65] in the fourth movie of the Resident Evil series, Afterlife, which was directed by her husband, Paul W. S. Anderson.^[66] She had a role in Dirty Girl, which premiered on September 12, 2010 at the Toronto Film Festival, opposite Juno Temple, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen, and Tim McGraw. Jovovich starred in Paul W. S. Anderson's The Three Musketeers, as Milady de Winter, in 2011.

Jovovich is set to star in David R. Ellis' horror film Bad Luck, based on a screenplay by David Schouw.^[67] She will appear in Famke Janssen's debut directional film Bringing Up Bobby, which also stars Marcia Cross. Vikrutasi, a Russian film which translates into Tricksters, also stars Jovovich.

Jovovich was set to portray Amalia Bezhetskaya in The Winter Queen in 2007; however, with the announcement of her pregnancy early that year, the film was postponed. In the spring of 2011, Seven Arts and GFM Films announced they would be merging their distribution operations. The joint venture is expected to release The Winter Queen under the direction of Fyodor Bondarchuk.^[68]

She will return to her role as Alice in the fifth installment of Resident Evil for Resident Evil: Retribution, which is scheduled for release on September 14, 2012.^[69]

Awards and nominations[link]

Jovovich has been nominated for numerous awards. In 1992, she was nominated for Young Artist Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture Award for her role in Return to the Blue Lagoon.^[70]

In 1997, she was nominated for the Saturn Best Supporting Actress award, the Blockbuster Entertainment Favorite Newcomer Award, the MTV Movie Best Fight Scene Award (between her and aliens), for her role as Leeloo in The Fifth Element.

In 2002, she received a nomination for the Saturn Best Actress Award for her role as Alice in Resident Evil and won Best Actress in a sci-fi/action film for Resident Evil: Extinction from the Scream Awards in 2008.

She has also been nominated for Best Horror Actress for playing Dr. Abigal Tyler in The Fourth Kind for Scream Awards 2010 and won the Hollywood Spotlight Award for Best Actress at the 14th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala for her role as Lucetta in Stone.^[71]

Music career[link]

Jovovich had begun working on a music album as early as 1988, when she was signed by SBK Records after the company heard a demo she recorded.^[72] In August 1990, she asserted in an interview that the then-forthcoming album would be "a mix between Kate Bush, Sinéad O'Connor, This Mortal Coil, and the Cocteau Twins".^[73] After it was initially presented by SBK strictly as a pop album, Jovovich protested, insisting on using her personal poetry for lyrics and recording her own instrumental material.^[72] Jovovich had written the songs when she was fifteen, with the exception of a Ukrainian folk song, "In a Glade", that she covered. In April 1994, billed under her first name, she released The Divine Comedy, a title that was a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri of the same name. Jovovich had chosen the title after seeing Russian artist Alexis Steele's proposed cover artwork sketch for the then untitled album. Jovovich found that the sketch had "all the struggle that I'm singing about. It IS the divine comedy".^[72] The Divine Comedy was well received by critics, and featured pop-infused traditional Ukrainian folk songs that led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush.^[20] John McAlley of Rolling Stone called the album "remarkable", "strikingly mature and rich in invention", and as featuring "angst-laced poetry with vivid melodies and arrangements that find a common spirit in synth pop, European folk and psychedelic dream rock".^[74] Jovovich released the track "Gentleman Who Fell", with an accompanying music video, as the sole single from the album. The music video was originally directed by Lisa Bonet and featured Harry Dean Stanton, but Jovovich was unsatisfied with the results and decided to film another version. The second version of "Gentleman Who Fell", a homage to Maya Deren's short film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), was subsequently played on MTV. Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 to promote the album, opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket and Crash Test Dummies, as well as playing smaller acoustic sets. Jovovich had opted to perform in smaller and more intimate settings, turning down a musical appearance on Saturday Night Live. Milla has also been collaborating musically with longtime friend and musician Chris Brenner, who co-wrote with her on the Divine Comedy Album and who was the musical coordinator for the supporting tour. She and Brenner met in 1993 and have been working creatively on different ventures ever since.^[39] Following The Divine Comedy, she expressed interest in releasing a second album, having had ten songs ready for a future recording that was intended for a Summer 1996 release.^[25][26] Despite the appearance of a lo-fi field recording The People Tree Sessions in 1998, Jovovich has yet to release a second album.

In May 1999, Jovovich along with Chris Brenner formed an experimental band called Plastic Has Memory, in which she wrote the songs, sang, and played electric guitar.^[75] The band was "[m]uch heavier and darker than the vaguely Ukrainian folk-sounding elements of her first album" and had a similar sound to a grunge and trip hop Portishead.^[76] Plastic Has Memory played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York City for a potential Virgin Records album release,^[77] one of which Mick Jagger had attended.^[78] Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation album, the group never formally released a record and is no longer together.^[79]

Jovovich has contributed tracks to several of her film soundtracks, including The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) and Dummy (2002), and has also provided songs for the soundtracks of films in which she has not acted such as Underworld (2003) produced by musician Danny Lohner who was the bass player in Nine Inch Nails for many years. Her song "The Gentlemen Who Fell" was featured on the The Rules of Attraction soundtrack in 2002. In 2001, Jovovich was one of many celebrities whose vocals were featured in a cover of "We are Family" to raise money for the American Red Cross. She has appeared as guest vocalist on the song "Former Lover" on Deepak Chopra's album, A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (2002) and Legion of Boom (2004) by The Crystal Method.

Since 2003, Jovovich has worked with musician Maynard James Keenan, of Tool and A Perfect Circle, on his Industrial side project Puscifer,^[80] contributing vocals to the track "REV 22:20", which was featured on various film soundtracks in its original or a remixed form.^[81] As of January, 2009, she can be heard collaborating with Maynard and Danny Lohner on the Puscifer track called, "The Mission."^[82] She also performed the song at the first live Puscifer performance on February 13, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Danny Lohner, and longtime music collaborator Chris Brenner currently continue to record and perform with Jovovich who has made several highly praised appearances in recent years.

Jovovich continues to write songs which she refers to as "demos", and which are provided for free in MP3 format on her official website. She provides license to freely download and remix the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue them.^[83]

She announced via Twitter and her official website a new single called Electric Sky would be released. It was released on May 18, 2012.^[84] The song was presented at the Life Ball in 2012.

Fashion design[link]

Jovovich and fellow model Carmen Hawk launched a line of clothing called Jovovich-Hawk in 2003. The pair opened a showroom in New York City's Greenwich Village on September 13, 2005, and the line lasted for four years. All of the dresses for Jovovich-Hawk line were designed by herself and her partner Carmen Hawk, in The atelier is based in Los Angeles, but pieces could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. Vogue has praised the line for its "girl-about-town cult status most designers spend years trying to achieve."^[85]

In November 2006, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and US Vogue nominated Jovovich-Hawk for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award. Jovovich-Hawk was nominated as a finalist, although Doo-Ri Chung took the top prize.^[86]

In 2007, Jovovich and Hawk designed the costume for Jovovich's character in Resident Evil: Extinction. The shorts Alice, her character, wears are a variation on the 'Alice Star' Shorts from the Spring 2007 collection.^[87] In late 2007, Jovovich-Hawk signed a deal to design a diffusion collection for Target's Go International campaign, following in the footsteps of Luella, Paul & Joe and Proenza Schouler.^[88]

In late 2008, Jovovich and Hawk mutually agreed to end the business due to increased demands on their time. Jovovich explained, "I'm an artist. I'm not someone who can deal with shipping rates and taxes."^[89]

Media personality[link]

Jovovich and Ali Larter promoting Resident Evil: Afterlife at Comic Con 2010

Jovovich has been noted for her careers as a model, singer and actress. Music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt" for her roles in various sci-fi and action films^[90] and Rebecca Flint Marx of Allmovie said that despite the negative critical response for the Resident Evil films, the franchise has turned Jovovich into an "A-list action star."^[91] Her action roles have given her a geek^[92][93] following for which MTV said she was "Every Geek's Dream Girl."^[92][94]

In 2004, Jovovich was ranked #69 on Maxim magazine's "Top 100 Hot List",^[95] ranked #82 in 2005 and ranked #21 in 2010.^[96] Maxim also named her #11 on their list of "Hottest Nerd Crushes."^[97] In 2008, she was ranked #90 on Ask Men's Top 99 Women of 2008 List.^[98] In 2011, Jovovich attended and sang at the birthday celebration of Mikhail Gorbachev. The actress also gave a speech in which she thanked Gorbachev, saying that when she and her family left the Soviet Union in 1980 they were sadly sure that they would never see their relatives again and that thanks to him they have been reunited again.^[99]

1998 and 2012 she appeared in the Pirelli Calendar.

Personal life[link]

Jovovich currently resides in homes in Los Angeles and New York^[100] with her husband, film writer and director Paul W. S. Anderson, whom she married on 22 August 2009.^[101] The two met while working on Resident Evil, which Anderson wrote and directed, and in which Jovovich starred. Anderson proposed to Jovovich in 2003, but the two separated for a period of time before becoming a couple again.^[102] On November 3, 2007, Jovovich gave birth to her and Anderson's first child, a daughter, Ever Gabo Anderson.^[103][104] The child was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, one day before Jovovich's due date of November 4.^[105]

Prior to her relationship with Anderson, Jovovich married on-screen boyfriend Shawn Andrews in 1992 while filming Dazed and Confused together. Andrews was 21, while Jovovich was 16; the marriage was annulled by her mother two months later.^[106] Shortly after the annulment, Jovovich moved to Europe with her friend and musician Chris Brenner where she met and then lived with her new boyfriend, Jamiroquai ex-bassist Stuart Zender, in London from May 1994 to October 1995.^{[21][39][107]} From 1995 to 1997, she dated photographer Mario Sorrenti. In Las Vegas, she married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1997 where they went skydiving directly after the ceremony; they divorced in 1999.^[7] Between 1998 and 2001, she befriended the young poet and musician, Anno Birkin, and each was the other's inspiration behind many of their compositions. Jovovich became involved with Birkin romantically just before his death in a car accident in late 2001. Jovovich also dated^[14] former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, for seven months in 2000.^[37]

In 2006, Jovovich mentioned her interest in publishing her private diaries as an autobiography. She had kept a diary since childhood, writing about the locations she has traveled and "all the mad things that [she's] done". Jovovich has stated that she views publication as a way to "get it all into a book—like an autobiography", and it would have a "diary feel to it". However, she also commented that she was "...not sure how interested anyone would be in publishing it, or reading it, for that matter."^[108] However, in 2010, Jovovich claimed the autobiography to be pure rumor stating, "I have no idea where that came from. I guess somebody said something about me publishing my diaries online and when I heard that I was like, 'No way.'"^[109]

In addition to being a smoker,^[110] Jovovich has advocated the legalization of cannabis, and appeared in a spread and on the cover for High Times.^[30] In an article published in 1994, she admitted that her only vices were cigarettes and cannabis.^[39] She practices yoga and meditates often in attempts to live a healthy lifestyle; although not affiliating with any specific religion, she prays and considers herself a "spiritual person".^[53] She avoids junk foods and prefers to cook for herself. She practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in addition to other varieties of martial arts.^[111] Jovovich also enjoys playing the guitar, writing in a diary, and writing poems and lyrics for songs.^[112]

Jovovich has establish a charitable foundation to help Ukrainian children in 2005.^[113] At the time she referred to herself: ”I am a strong Ukrainian girl, that is why I work a lot”.^[113]

Jovovich can speak Russian and English fluently, and a little French.^{[39][114][115][116]}

Discography[link]

Compilations, soundtracks and albums featuring Jovovich

• The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture (2000) – "Satellite of Love" (with the MDH Band)
• Hollywood Goes Wild Benefit compilation (2001) – "On the Hill" (with her band, Plastic Has Memory)
• The Rules of Attraction Soundtrack (2002) – "The Gentleman Who Fell"
• Dummy Soundtrack (2002) – "Shein VI Di l'Vone" and "Mezinka" (with Botanica Bulgar Ensemble)
• A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (by Deepak Chopra) (2002) – "Former Lover" (with Deepak Chopra)
• Underworld Soundtrack (2003) – "Rocket Collecting" (with Danny Lohner)
• Legion of Boom (by The Crystal Method) (2004) – "I Know It's You" (with The Crystal Method)
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Soundtrack (2009) – Underneath the Stars (Renholder Mix) (by The Cure, also featuring with Maynard James Keenan)
• "The Mission" (2008 single by Puscifer, a side project of Maynard James Keenan, vocalist of Tool) (also featuring Renholder)
• "Introdiction" (2011) single by Scroobius Pip from the album Distraction Pieces

Filmography[link]

References[link]