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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Angelina Jolie was born on 4th Junuary 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Like her older brother by two years, director James Haven (Voight,) Jolie seemed destined for a career in the arts. At the age of 11, she began studying at the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in NYC.
Her comeliness allowed her to segue back into show business, first as a professional model, and later, as an actress in music videos. In addition to appearing in five student films directed by her older brother, Jolie became a member of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre Company, where she honed her craft alongside such veteran players as Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.
She made her return to the screen playing a heroic human/machine hybrid in the above-average direct-to-video sci-fi actioner, "Cyborg II: Glass Shadows" (1993), but the entry went virtually unnoticed by critics. Luckily, her flashy role as Kate (a.k.a. 'Acid Burn') in the cyber-thriller "Hackers" (1995) garnered her more attention and better notices.
She next starred in another espionage thriller, "The Tourist" (2010), playing a mysterious British woman who pulls an unwitting American (Johnny Depp) vacationing in Italy into a whirlwind of intrigue and danger. Though attractive to look at, "The Tourist" was blasted by most critics for its slow plot and lack of chemistry between the leads. Regardless, the film earned surprising Golden Globe nominations for both Jolie and Depp.
Kate Bosworth was born on 2nd January 1983 in Los Angeles to parents Hal and Patti Bosworth, Kate and family soon moved to San Francisco followed by a diversion to Connecticut before settling in Cohasset, MA in 1997.
As much as she enjoyed the experience and looked forward to more acting work, Bosworth wisely took time of to finish high school - as a member of the National Honor Society, no less - before pursuing her career full time.
As Anne Marie, a devout surfer living in Hawaii with her two best friends, Bosworth displayed exceptional commitment to the role by adding pounds of muscle and training relentlessly in preparation for the film. Although the movie's plot took a backseat to the exotic local and intense surfing footage, Bosworth nonetheless managed to shine through as a talent to watch.
Based on a true story, the film once again paired her with her friend and admirer Spacey and despite mixed reviews, managed to cash in at the box office. After a two-year absence from the screen, Bosworth resurfaced in the long-delayed Cowboy-Ninja hybrid "The Warrior's Way" (2010), co-starring Geoffrey Rush and martial arts action star Jang Dong Gun.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 - April 3, 1882), American outlaw, was born in Kearney, Missouri. She left his native Missouri to fight as a Confederate guerilla in the American Civil War as part of Quantrill's Raiders, participating in raids in Kansas.
She gang robbed their way across the Western frontier targeting banks, trains, stagecoaches, and stores from Iowa to Texas. Eluding even the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the gang escaped with thousands of dollars.
She and his partners were much adored. Journalists, eager to entertain Easterners with tales of a wild West, exaggerated and romanticized the gang's heists, often casting James as a contemporary Robin Hood.
The body buried in Missouri as Jesse James was exhumed in 1995 and DNA analysis gave a 99.7% probability that it was Jesse James. A court order was granted in 2000 to exhume and test Dalton's body, but the wrong body was exhumed.
