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Monday, July 18, 2011
Zooey Deschanel was born on 17 January 1980 in Los Angeles, CA. She and her older actress sister, Emily, were raised by their father, Caleb, an Oscar-winning cinematographer and their mother, actress Mary Jo. Deschanel, whose first name was taken from the male Zooey Glass character of J.D. Salinger's story Franny and Zooey, often spent her young years hanging out on film set locations - despite the fact that deep down, Deschanel wished for a typical, sedentary family home life.
Deschanel attended the elite prep school Crossroads in Santa Monica, CA alongside future co-stars Kate Hudson and Jake Gyllenhaal, where she discovered an interest in singing and musical theater; at one point, considering a career in jazz singing on Broadway. At 16, she appeared as Little Red Riding Hood in the North Hollywood-based Interact Theatre Company's production of "Into the Woods.
On the heels of "Terabithia," Deschanel moved to the Sci-Fi channel, embodying a Dorothy-esque figure named DG in "Tin Man" (2007), a very twisted take on "The Wizard of Oz." Tweaking the beloved Judy Garland model would seem like a cakewalk compared to portraying the life of a real icon, but Deschanel's trademark lower timbre would come in handy as the tragic singer/songwriter Janis Joplin.
The subsequent "Gospel According to Janis" (2008) - one of several competing Joplin films - promised to usher the singer-actress into a new level of recognition. Before that project went into production, she starred in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening" (2008), a dark apocalyptic thriller about a family that flees a natural disaster threatening humanity's very existence.
Sarah Palin was born on 11th February 1964, in Sandpoint, Idaho. At the age of three months, she moved to Alaska when her parents came to teach school in Skagway in southeast Alaska. Sarah Palin's father, Charles, was a science teacher and track coach. Her mother, Sally, was a school secretary. Palin grew up in the small town of Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage.
In 1982, she played on Wasilla High School's state champion girls' basketball team, picking up the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her intense playing style. An outdoors enthusiast, Palin grew up as an avid hunter and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, eating moose hamburgers and riding snowmobiles.
After graduating from Wasilla High in 1982, Sarah Palin wore the crown of Miss Wasilla in 1984 and was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska contest. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. She also became a television sports reporter in Anchorage.
While running for governor, Palin supported the so-called "bridge to nowhere," a $400 million plan to build a bridge in a remote Alaskan community. Palin said the bridge was essential for local prosperity, but once she became governor she turned against it, citing rising costs and other priorities.
Monica Bellucci was born on 30th September 1968, in the village of Citta di Castello, in Umbria, Italy. Her father owned a truck company. Not much is known about her growing up years.
After enrolling at the University of Perugia to study law, in 1987 at 18 years of age, she took up modelling to pay the tuition fees on her own. A year later she left her studies as the glamorous life, travelling, fame etc beckoned.
She relocated to Milan to join the Elite Modelling Agency. Monica Bellucci is one of the few Italian models to have reached the top of her profession, but she decided to study acting, hoping to find parts in films.
Though this sultry icon is a well-established superstar and is at the heights of her career, her one dream remains unfulfilled as yet: that of working with Robert De Niro - the Hollywood Legend.
