Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at age 29, making him the youngest actor to win in that category. Brody is also the only male American actor to receive the French César Award.

Early life

Brody was born in Woodhaven, Queens, New York, the son of Sylvia Plachy, a photographer, and Elliot Brody, a retired history professor and painter. Brody's father is of Polish Jewish descent; Brody's mother – who was raised as a Catholic – was born in Budapest, Hungary, the daughter of a Catholic Hungarian aristocrat father and a Czech Jewish mother. Brody was raised "without a strong connection" to Judaism or Catholicism.

As a child, Brody performed magic shows at children's birthday parties as "The Amazing Adrien". He attended the I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer middle school and New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. His parents enrolled him in acting classes to distance him from the dangerous children with whom he associated. He attended summer camp at Long Lake Camp for the Arts in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. Brody attended Stony Brook University before transferring to Queens College for a semester.

Wayne Wonder

Wayne Wonder (born Von Wayne Charles, 26 July 1972) is a Jamaican reggae fusion (specifically reggae/R&B) artist. While his early recordings were dancehall and reggae, he later moved towards hip hop and rap. His most popular single is "No Letting Go", which just missed the top ten in 2003.

Biography

Wonder was born in Buff Bay, Portland, Jamaica. He sang in Sunday school as a child, and began songwriting at the age of 13, getting a major career break when he was given a regular weekly slot at Metro Media in Allman Town. He auditioned at Sonic Sounds studio, but while Sly Dunbar was impressed, his touring commitments with Black Uhuru prevented him from signing Wonder. He had more success, however, with King Tubby, who produced his first single, "Long and Lasting Love", in 1985, with two more following. Wonder's career suffered a setback when Tubby was killed in 1988, and he recorded for several other record producers at Sonic Sound, enjoying a further hit with the Lloyd Dennis-produced "It's Over Now", leading to the release of his first album, No More Chance, although his success in this era was limited. His fortunes improved when he began working with Dave Kelly, a friend from primary school, who had become resident sound engineer at Penthouse Studios. The partnership enjoyed a string of hits, starting with "Saddest Day", and they also worked on Wonder's second album, Part 2. His 1990 live performance of Alphaville's "Forever Young" was recorded and later released to Alphaville fans in a limited, cassette-only album entitled History. He toured the UK in 1992 along with other Penthouse stars Marcia Griffiths, Tony Rebel, and Buju Banton. He also recorded "Bonafide Love (Movie Star)" with Buju Banton, and wrote several early hits for him, including the controversial "Boom Bye Bye". He toured again with Banton in 1994 as part of the Penthouse Showcase.

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live (abbreviated as SNL) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest (who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast) and features performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

In 1980, Michaels left the series to explore other opportunities. He was replaced by Jean Doumanian, who was replaced by Ebersol after a season of bad reviews. Ebersol ran the show until 1985, when Michaels returned; Michaels has remained since then. Many of SNL's cast found national stardom while appearing on the show, and achieved success in film and television, both in front of and behind the camera. Others associated with the show, such as writers, have gone on to successful careers creating, writing, or starring in TV and film.

Saturday Night Live (season 14)

The fourteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 8, 1988, and May 20, 1989.

Before the start of the season, no changes were made to the cast. Al Franken, having rejoined the show as a writer and occasional on-screen performer three years ago, was once again credited as a featured cast member. As the season progressed, Lorne Michaels would hire two new people to the cast: Mike Myers and Ben Stiller, who joined the show midseason as featured players. Stiller had actually appeared on the show before; his film made it onto the show in the episode hosted by Charlton Heston in 1987. This was the only season of the show for Stiller. After being on the show for five episodes, Stiller left due to creative differences with Michaels.

This season notably saw the second death of an original cast member, Gilda Radner, who died on the day of the season finale from ovarian cancer. In memory of Radner, Steve Martin showed a clip from the famous "Dancing in the Dark" sketch from the 1978 episode hosted by Martin in lieu of his planned monologue.

Saturday Night Live (season 12)

The twelfth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 11, 1986, and May 23, 1987.

History

Many of season 11's cast members were fired, except for Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, featured player A. Whitney Brown, and Weekend Update anchor Dennis Miller. Al Franken was rehired as a writer. The rest were relative unknowns, led by Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon. Hartman helped write sketches in season 11's Thanksgiving episode hosted by Pee-wee Herman, and appeared in a sketch as a Pilgrim.

The first show of the 1986–87 season opened with Madonna, host of the previous season opener, reading a "statement" from NBC about season 11's mediocre writing and bad cast choices. According to the "statement", the entire 1985–86 season was "...all a dream. A horrible, horrible dream."

The season included "Masterbrain", a skit written by Jim Downey and Al Franken, in which Phil Hartman portrayed two sides of Ronald Reagan; 25 years later Todd Purdum called the skit "surely among the show’s Top 10 of all time."

Sean Paul (disambiguation)

Sean Paul (born 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist.

Sean Paul may also refer to:

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