Friday, July 22, 2011
Hardin was born on 29th June 1967, in Houston, TX and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Her father, Jerry Hardin, was a prolific character actor who appeared in over 100 films and TV shows; her mother, Diane Hardin, was the acting coach behind young stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Hilary Swank, Kellie Martin, and River Ph nix. Young Melora didn't need any encouragement to go into show business, however, as she seemed born to entertain.
Inspired by Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, Hardin was singing and writing songs from the start, even before she began taking ballet lessons at the age of five. She begged her parents to let her audition for acting roles, and when she was eight, scored a toothpaste ad on her very first outing. Her first television role, in a Little Rascals-inspired show called "Cliffwood Avenue Kids" (NBC, 1977) came at the age of 10, followed by a string of appearances on seventies guest star staples like "The Love Boat" (ABC 1977-1986) and "Diff'rent Strokes"(NBC, 1978-1985).
She took some time off to return to the East Coast, studying at Sarah Lawrence College, before heading to Europe for months of solitary world travel that would be sure to inform her future as a well-rounded actress. In 1991, the avid song-and-dance gal landed the dream role of a vintage-era nightclub singer in "The Rocketeer," contributing several songs to the film's soundtrack. Throughout the nineties, she maintained an impressive schedule as a working actress - steady appearances on shows like "Quantum Leap" (NBC, 1989-1993) and "Caroline in the City" (NBC, 1995-99) and several juicy, memorable character moments like getting Ross to talk dirty on "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004).
Being part of an award-winning cast opened new doors for Hardin, who appeared in the Golden Globe winning film "Thank You for Smoking" (2006) and made her film directorial debut with "You" (2007).In addition to impressive work on film and TV, Hardin released two CDs of original, theatrical-tinged vocal stylings - Meloradrama and Purr. She also performed at the Globe Theater in San Diego. In 2007, she directed the play "Strip Search," which enjoyed successful runs at the White Fire Theater and the Acme Comedy Theater, both in Los Angeles.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Jorja Fox was born on 7th July 1968 in New York. Fox began the 1990s with roles in TV productions including the specials "Summer Stories: The Mall", an installment of "ABC Afterschool Specials" and "Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story", one of HBO's "Lifestories: Families in Crisis". A 1993 episode of "Law & Order" (NBC) marked Fox's transition to primetime series, where she would land a regular role as an investigator for the Chicago police on ABC's "Missing Persons" (1993-94).
In 1996, Fox began her portrayal of Dr. Maggie Doyle, a gun-toting vegetarian lesbian who was in residency at the "ER" (NBC). A recurring character from 1996 through 1999, Doyle had some powerful scenes and storylines in the course of her run, and Fox handled her character with a combination of grace, reserve and vulnerability. Known to a wide audience for her portrayal of Maggie, Fox was featured in the groundbreaking 1997 "coming out" episode of ABC's "Ellen".
In 1999, Fox began a recurring role on the acclaimed NBC drama "The West Wing" playing Gina Tuscano, the Secret Service agent in charge of protecting the daughter (Elisabeth Moss) of the President of the United States (Martin Sheen). Leaving in 2000 to work full-time on "CSI", Fox and Tuscano could feasibly return to "The West Wing" thanks to an open-ended exit, but the success of "CSI" would seem to make such insurance unnecessary.
Though television has hosted her greatest successes to date, Fox has appeared in several films since her debut. A supporting role as Alan Arkin's love interest in the unimpressive comedy "The Jerky Boys" was one of three of the actress' big screen appearances in 1995, including black comedy "Dead Funny" and the romance "Alchemy". In 1997, in addition to a featured role in the NBC miniseries "House of Frankenstein 1997", Fox added to the less-seen but far more critically acclaimed independent feature "How to Make the Cruelest Month".
Sofia Vergara was born on 10th July 1972 in Barranquilla, Colombia, an industrial city on the Caribbean coast, as well, the birthplace of pop singer Shakira. Her father ran a cattle farm while her stay-at-home mother raised the future star and her five brothers and sisters. Vergara married her childhood sweetheart at the age of 18 and gave birth to her son Manolo Gonzalez-Ripoll Vergara two years later. After her marriage ended in divorce, she returned to school and took up dentistry at a Colombian university.
She decided to quit dental school and, hoping to provide financially for her family, pursued a show business career. It did not take long for the beautiful actress to make her mark in her native country. She began hosting the travel and lifestyle program "Fuera de Serie" ("Out of the Ordinary") (Univision, 1995-98). The show was telecast on Univision, one of the largest Spanish-language networks airing worldwide, including the United States. She also made her acting debut in the ensemble series "Acapulco, cuerpo y alma" (Televisa S.A. de C.V., 1995).
Sadly, her career was well on its way to taking off when tragedy struck Vergara's family. Her older brother was shot and murdered during an attempt to kidnap him in 1998. Feeling unsafe in her own home and country, the actress left Colombia and moved to Miami, FL with her son, mother and sister.Her new surroundings gave Vergara a fresh start in life and an opportunity to focus on her family and career.
In July 2010, as she announced the 2010 Emmy nominations in an early morning press conference, she was elated to discover that she was one herself, receiving the nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her stellar work on "Modern Family." At the end of the year, Vergara received more accolades after earning Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, as well as another Emmy nod the following year.
Leading lady of film and TV who gained notice with her role as a waitress hunted by a robotic Arnold Schwarzenegger in James Cameron's successful and influential sci-fi adventure, "The Terminator" (1984). Her previous film credits include her feature debut "TAG: The Assassination Game" (1982) and a supporting role in "The Stone Boy" (1983), a drama starring Robert Duvall.
Hamilton acquired a devoted cult following with a part written expressly for her: the spunky New York lawyer who falls in love with an underground-dwelling freakish outcast on TV's wildly romantic "Beauty and the Beast" (CBS, 1987-90). She fared less well with other forgettable big-screen assignments, such as "Black Moon Rising" (1986), "King Kong Lives" (1986) and "Mr. Destiny" (1990).
Her greatest success came with "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991), an awesomely popular sequel that depicted the relationship between a young John Connor (Edward Furlong) and the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent to protect him. Between installments, Hamilton’s character had metamorphosed from a wan waitress to a feisty warrior woman.
After a supporting role in the dramatic feature “Smile” (2005), about an American teenager (Mika Boorem) who travels to China as part of a charitable organization to meet her Chinese counterpart who receives corrective facial surgery, Hamilton made an appearance in “The Kid & I” (2005), about a down-and-out actor (Tom Arnold) hired to write a sequel to the action movie that made him famous over a decade ago.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Elin Nordegren was born on 1st January 1980, in Stockholm, Sweden. Nordegren is only moments older than her twin sister, Josfin. The two grew up in Vaxholm, Sweden, a small town outside of Stockholm, with their parents and older brother, Axel. Their father, Thomas Nordegren, is one of Sweden's best-known journalists. Their mother, Barbro Holmberg, has had a distinguished career in public service.
Nordegren played soccer for many years. She spent some time living in Berlin with her father after he landed a job there in 1997. Returning to Sweden, Nordegren was soon discovered by a famous photographer named Bingo Rimer. She appeared on the cover of a Swedish magazine in 2000, wearing a bikini. Nordegren, however, had no great ambitions about becoming a model.
Nordegren worked at a popular clothing store in Stockholm. She was no stranger to hard work, having taken numerous summer jobs in the past to support herself. One day Nordegren met Mia Parnevik, wife of Swedish pro golfer Jesper Parnevik, at the store. Parnevik liked Nordegren, and eventually hired her to be as one of the nannies for the couple's four children.
In 2006, Nordegren became the subject of a false story in an Irish publication. The magazine claimed that she had posed naked, and that images of her appeared on pornographic websites. She and her husband fought these allegations in court, and won. They were awarded $183,250 in the case.