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| Winona Ryder |
Winona Ryder
After her breakthrough in 1988 Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder emerged as one of the most celebrated actresses of her generation. Adept at playing characters ranging from depressed, angst-ridden Goths to Edith Wharton Debutantes, the dish-eyed, porcelain-skinned Ryder has achieved critical respect in addition to the broad popularity.
Ryder was born in and named after the city of Winona, MN, on 29 October 1971. The daughter of common hippies and goddaughter of LSD guru Timothy Leary, she grew up on a commune in Northern California. The Ryder family moved to Petaluma when she was ten; After regular abuse of her classmates, which her for her unconventional, androgynous appearance (she was once jumped by a group of guys who had her confused with a gay boy), she was home schooled. At the age of 11, she joined the American Conservatory Theater, and was soon to try out for film roles. An audition for the part of the daughter of Jon Voight in desert bloom a role but not to the country, an agent and actress at the age of 14, Ryder--who had changed her last name of Horowitz--made her film debut in Lucas (1986).
Finding popularity with her turn as a suicidal teenager who has much more in common with the spirits live with her parents in her attic than yuppie in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, black comedy Ryder was soon one of the most steadily employee actresses in Hollywood. She continued the alienated and/or confused teenage market with actors roles in a number of unusual films, including the 1989 cult classic Heathers, great balls of fire (in which she played Jerry Lee Lewis ' 13-year-old bride), Burton's Edward Scissorhands and mermaids corner.
The early 1990s saw Ryder start to branch out from Teen roles to parts requiring greater maturity. After a turn as a taxi driver in Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991), the actress starred in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula and luxuriant adaptation play then went critical in lover Antonio Banderas disembowelled The House of The Spirits. More success came with Martin Scorsese's 1993 adaptation of Edith Wharton of The Age of Innocence. Ryder won a best supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Daniel Day-Lewis picture-perfect woman, and in the process get taken seriously as an actress began to play more mature characters.
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| Kim Basinger |
Kim Basinger
MAKING the leap from top-tier fashion model to A-list (or even B-grade) screen star is no easy business— just ask Cindy Crawford, Elle MacPherson, or Kathy Ireland— but the career of cover girl- turned- Oscar- winning actress kim basinger is sure to be an inspiration to any brave soul hoping to make that peril- ridden leap from the catwalk to the silver screen. By kim basinger twentieth birthday, Basinger was a top model raking in $1,000 a day (a phenomenal sum at the time) doing everything from magazine covers to shampoo ads; by the time kim basinger hit forty, kim basinger was a top actress earning a seven- figure salary per film. Along the way, kim basinger bought (and was later forced to sell) a small town in Georgia; had a fling with eighties pop icon Prince; suffered through a very public bankruptcy filing following a breach- of- contract suit; and met and married a Baldwin brother.
A middle child with two older brothers and two younger sisters, Basinger was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. Both of kim basinger parents came from entertainment backgrounds: dad studied at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music and spent a few years playing big- band jazz before marrying Basinger's mother, a champion swimmer and model who performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies. Though as a toddler kim basinger told kim basinger father kim basinger was going to be a great actress when kim basinger grew up, Basinger was extremely shy as a child— so much so that kim basinger parents once had kim basinger tested to see if kim basinger was autistic. Eventually, kim basinger followed in kim basinger mother's footsteps, becoming a diver, dancer, and gymnast in high school. kim basinger was just sixteen when kim basinger entered the Athens Junior Miss contest, and sang kim basinger way to the tiara with a number from My Fair Lady, "Wouldn't It Be Loverly." From there, kim basinger went on to win the Junior Miss Georgia title, and traveled to New York to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant.
While there, kim basinger met fashion modeling magnate Eileen Ford, who on the spot offered the full- lipped, blue- eyed blonde a contract with kim basinger renowned Ford Modeling Agency. Though kim basinger initially declined Ford's offer, hoping to pursue a career either in singing or acting, the young beauty queen had a change of heart when kim basinger got back home to Georgia, and promptly returned to New York.