Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. is an American actor known for roles in a wide variety of films, including Iron Man, Chaplin, Soapdish and Wonder Boys.

Synopsis

Born in New York City on April 4, 1965, Robert Downey Jr. began acting as a young child. He made his first film appearances and was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, but his growing success was marred by years of struggles with drug abuse. Eventually turning his life around, he earned a resurgence of critical and popular acclaim, and is considered one of Hollywood's A-list actors.

Family Life

Famed actor Robert Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in New York City, the son of the avant-garde filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., who is best known for the 1969 film Putney Swope. Downey began acting as a young child. His mother, Elsie, was an actress who instilled in her son a love of performing. Raised in Greenwich Village with his older sister, Alison, Downey made his film debut playing a puppy in his father's film, Pound (1970), in which actors played dogs. He would go on to have small parts in several more of his father's films.
Downey's parents divorced when he was 13, and the young actor ended up living in Los Angeles, California, with his father. At the age of 16, however, he dropped out of high school and was on the move again, relocating to New York to live with his mother.

Early Roles

Downey made his earliest feature film appearances in such films as Baby, It's You (1983), Firstborn (1984), Weird Science (1985) and Back to School (1986). From 1985 to '86, he was a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live, NBC's popular sketch-comedy program.
Downey's first leading role on the big screen was a charming womanizer in The Pick-up Artist (1987), a romantic comedy co-starring Molly Ringwald that was written and directed by James Toback. His breakthrough performance came in 1987 with Less Than Zero (1987), in which he co-starred with Andrew McCarthy. Downey played the party loving, cocaine-addicted Julian Wells in the film.

Struggles with Substance Abuse

Sadly, the story line and character rang especially true for Downey, who had been introduced to drugs at the age of eight by his father, and developed a full-fledged addiction as he headed into his 20s.
"Until that movie, I took my drugs after work and on the weekends," he later explained. "Maybe I'd turn up hungover on the set, but no more so than the stuntman. That changed on Less Than Zero. I was playing this junkie-faggot guy, and, for me, the role was like the ghost of Christmas future. The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed, and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character. That lasted far longer than it needed to last."
A stint in drug rehabilitation followed shortly afterward, but Downey's struggles with drugs and alcohol would continue. And yet, his career continued to advance forward. By the early 1990s, Downey had established a reputation as a critically acclaimed A-List actor. He earned praise for his comic turn as a shifty soap opera producer in Soapdish (1991), co-starring Sally Field, Kevin Kline and Whoopi Goldberg. More adoration followed when Downey landed a featured role in Short Cuts (1993), the critically lauded ensemble film by Robert Altman.

Critical Successes

A particular high point in Downey's career came in 1993, when he was nominated for an Academy Award (best actor) for his performance in Chaplin (1992), directed by Richard Attenborough. In the highly acclaimed film, which didn't go over nearly as well with audiences as with critics, Downey nimbly portrayed the legendary Charlie Chaplin from ages 19 to 83. The role displayed his dramatic range as well as his considerable talent for physical comedy. By this time, the 27-year-old Downey had come to be seen as one of the most gifted actors of his generation, but he had also earned a reputation as a troubled and controversial figure in Hollywood.
In the wake of his critical success with Chaplin, Downey anchored a documentary about the 1992 presidential election, The Last Party. In 1994, he appeared in the romantic comedy Only You, as well as in Oliver Stone's acclaimed but controversial Natural Born Killers. The following year, the actor starred in the period film Restoration alongside Meg Ryan and Sam Neill; an updated film version of Richard III (1995), co-starring Ian McKellen and Annette Bening; and the Jodie Foster-directed Home for the Holidays, also starring Holly Hunter.

Personal Life and Challenges

Downey's personal life had expanded, too. In May 1992, he married actress Deborah Falconer. Two years later, the couple had a son, Indio, naming friend and actor, Anthony Michael Hall, as the boy's godfather.
If Downey was ever really grounded by his new status as husband and father, it was short-lived. In June 1996, the actor was stopped by police after driving naked in his Porsche on Sunset Boulevard, and found not only to be without clothes, but in possession of cocaine, heroine and a .357 Magnum. Less than a month later, and just a few hours before he was slated to be charged, Downey ran afoul of the law again after he was found passed out in a neighbor's house.
For the next several years, Downey's life was a haze of headline-generating, dependency induced mistakes and their consequences. There was a 12-month stay in prison, and another visit to drug rehab. In November 2000, Downey was again arrested, this time in a Palm Springs hotel room, where he was discovered with cocaine and in a Wonder Woman costume. He was charged with felony drug possession.
Downey's trial, originally set for late January, was delayed for several months while his lawyers negotiated with prosecutors. In March 2001, the two sides failed to reach a plea bargain, and the case was set for a preliminary hearing at the end of April. On April 24, 2001, Downey was arrested for allegedly being under the influence of an undisclosed "stimulant." Downey's personal life was in turmoil, too, as Falconer sued him for divorce in 2004.
Despite his troubled history with the law, these days, Downey has a much more stable home life. He married producer Susan Levin in 2005, and the couple welcomed their first child together on February 7, 2012. They named their son Exton Elias. On November 4, 2014, Downey and Levin welcomed their second child, a daughter named Avri. In December 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned Downey for the 1996 drug conviction that sent him to prison for a year.

'Ally McBeal'

Despite his personal turmoil in the early 2000s, Downey continued working. He gave a memorable performance in Wonder Boys (2000) and had roles in several other films, including Auto Motives and Lethargy. Additionally, Downey made the move to the small screen in 2000, becoming a regular cast member of the popular show Ally McBeal, starring Calista Flockhart. With this new role, Downey once again reminded fans and critics of his talent, likeability and versatility. He went on to pick up a 2001 Golden Globe Award, and won a Screen Actor's Guild Award soon after.
But Downey's increasingly complicated personal life pressed his employer's patience. After that second arrest in April 2001, Downey's tenure on Ally McBeal came to and end; producers had decided to wrap production of the final episodes of the season without the actor. Around this same time, lawyers reached an agreement with prosecutors that required Downey to plead no contest to cocaine-related charges. He was sentenced to three years' probation—a ruling that allowed him to continue live-in drug treatment instead of returning to prison.

Turnaround

Since then, Downey's life has significantly turned around. He became a husband again in 2005, when he married actress Susan Levin, whom he'd met two years before on the set of the thriller, Gothika. He's an ardent student of Wing Chung kung fu, and through the support of his family and friends, he's been able to stay clean.
One of the people to play a key role in his turnaround is Mel Gibson, with whom Downey co-starred in Air America (1990). Gibson stuck by his friend's side, even as Downey's life was completely unraveling, and when Downey was unable to get something as routine as an insurance bond due to his past troubles with the law, Gibson found him work, casting him in the 2003 film The Singing Detective. The two actors remain close friends today.
Also in 2003, Downey starred opposite Halle Berry in Gothika, which did better at the box office than it did with the critics. He continued to dedicate himself to his craft, playing a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and the lead in the independent drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), which he also co-produced. In Zodiac (2007), Downey played a journalist who gets wrapped up in the hunt for the infamous Zodiac Killer.
In 2008, Downey transformed from an often critically admired actor to a box-office star. He played the wealthy industrialist-turned-crime fighter Tony Stark in the smash hit Iron Man (2008), which grossed more than $318 million. Taking a huge risk, Downey then starred in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008) with Ben Stiller and Jack Black; he played a white actor pretending to be a black actor in this war movie spoof. His efforts received mostly positive reviews, with Variety magazine's Todd McCarthy stating that "the audacity of Downey's performance" was one of "the best reasons to see the film." Downey garnered a number of accolades for his performance in Tropic Thunder, including an Oscar (best performance by an actor in a supporting role), Golden Globe (best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture) and Screen Actors Guild (outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role) award nominations

Recent Work

More recently, Downey co-starred with Jamie Foxx in The Soloist (2009), which tells the story about the friendship between a Los Angeles journalist (Downey) and a homeless Juilliard-trained musician (Foxx). The film registered a respectable showing at the box-office and earned the praise from critics, who lauded Downey and Foxx for their performances.
Demonstrating he isn't afraid of blockbusters (or English accents), Downey starred in the Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes in 2009. The film co-starred Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. In addition, 2010 returned Downey to superhero status with the second installment of the Iron Man franchise. The crime fighting picked up again in 2012, when Downey's Iron Man character was back in action in The Avengers, a movie that featured a bevy of Hollywood talent, including Don Cheadle (Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury) and Scarlett Johansson (the Black Widow), among others. Downey was back playing the popular Tony Stark in 2013's Iron Man 3. In 2014, he starred as sharp city lawyer Hank Palmer opposite Robert Duvall as his father Judge Joseph Palmer in the drama The Judge.
His Tony Stark/Iron Man character remains in high demand. Downey returned to the role for 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. He is also set to play the part for the next installment of the Captain America film series. While promoting Age of Ultron, however, Downey made headlines for walking out of an interview with British journalist Kristnan Guru-Murthy. The actor had been upset with some questions that Gury-Murthy had been asking him. As he later told to radio personality Howard Stern, Downey thought that Guru-Murthy was "a bottom-feeding muckraker" for his prying questions.  
For his part, Downey isn't taking this professional and personal resurgence for granted. "I think part of my destiny has to be realizing that I'm not the poster boy for drug abuse," he told reporters in 2005. "I'm just this guy who has a really strong sense of wanting home and wanting foundation and having not had it, I now choose to create it."

 

Quotes : “I think part of my destiny has to be realizing that I'm not the poster boy for drug abuse. I'm just this guy who has a really strong sense of wanting home and wanting foundation and having not had it, I now choose to create it.”

—Robert Downey Jr.

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Paul Walker

Paul Walker was an American actor who came to fame in movies such as Varsity Blues and became well-known for his starring role in The Fast and the Furious franchise.

Synopsis

Born in California in 1973, Paul Walker made his big-screen debut in the 1986 horror spoof Monster in Your Closet. After appearing in several television shows in the 1990s, including Charles in Charge, Who's the Boss? and The Young and the Restless, Walker gained attention with a role in the 1999 film Varsity Blues, and his TV days were officially behind him. After working in teen movies such as She's All That and The Skulls, Walker got his breakthrough role in 2001 with The Fast and the Furious, which would become his star vehicle and keep him busy through four sequels and a short prequel. The Fast and the Furious franchise established Walker as an action-film mainstay, and he went on to appear in several films in the genre, including Takers, Hours and Vehicle 19. Walker died in a car accident on November 30, 2013, at age 40.

Early Years

Born on September 12, 1973, in Glendale, California, Paul Walker appeared in front of the camera at a young age, modeling and acting in television shows such as Charles in Charge, Highway to Heaven and Who's the Boss. In 1986, he made his film debut in the horror spoof Monster in the Closet while also landing a recurring role on TV's Throb.

 

After high school, Walker attended various California community colleges, but he dove into acting full-time in 1993, taking a role in the soap opera The Young and the Restless. After a handful of TV guest roles and the lead in Tammy and the T-Rex, Walker starred in the family comedy Meet the Deedles and left his TV career behind for good.
Walker's next role was a big one for his career: He appeared opposite Reese Witherspoon in the critically acclaimed, high-concept Pleasantville. From that point on, Walker found himself in starring roles in such late-1990s films as She's All That, Varsity Blues and The Skulls—all pitched at a teen audience which helped turn Walker into a heartthrob.

The Role of a Lifetime

In 2001, Walker's career hit overdrive when he landed a leading role alongside up-and-comer Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious. A film that paid homage to road films of the 1970s, The Fast and the Furious brought Walker to new heights of fame on the way to box-office receipts of more than $200 million.
Two years later, the franchise was back with its first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Walker was again along for the ride. The film's gross was even larger than the first, and a bona fide hit series was under way. Walker then appeared in a few more action-oriented movies, including Timeline (2003), Into the Blue (2005) and Running Scared (2006), while also signing on to appear in the ensemble drama Noel (2004) and the children's adventure movie Eight Below (2006).
Walker also showed his range as an actor in the 2006 war drama Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood. He continued to take on more action movie roles in The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007), Takers (2010) and Fast Five (2011)—the third installment of the Fast and Furious franchise. In 2012, Walker signed on to film Fast & Furious 6 (2013), keeping the series' momentum going.
While not filming, Walker was active in Reach Out Worldwide, a nonprofit organization he formed in 2010 to bring aid to regions devastated by natural disasters.

Tragic Death

Walker died in a car accident on November 30, 2013 at the age of 40. Walker was in Santa Clarita, California to attend a charity event for Reach Out Worldwide to benefit victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. He was reportedly in the passenger seat of a Porsche when his friend who was driving lost control, crashing the vehicle into a tree. The car was engulfed in flames and both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
At the time of his death, Walker had finished Brick Mansions and was working on Fast & Furious 7. Brick Mansions was released in 2014 and Fast & Furious 7 premiered in April 3, 2015 to huge box office returns. In March 2015, co-star Vin Diesel named his new baby daughter Pauline after his friend.

Quotes : “I live by 'Go big or go home.' That's with everything. It's like either commit and go for it or don't do it at all. I apply that to everything. I apply that to relationships, I apply that to like sports, I apply that to everything. That's what I live by. That's how I like it.” —Paul Walker

 from: biography.com

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Jaden Smith

Jaden Smith was born in Malibu, California, on July 8, 1998. His parents are the actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, and singer Willow Smith is his younger sister. Smith made his acting debut in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness. He subsequently starred in remakes of The Karate Kid and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Acting Pedigree

Actor Jaden Christopher Syre Smith was born on July 8, 1998 in Los Angeles, California. Smith has an exceptional acting pedigree. His father, Will Smith, has starred in such films asIndependence Day, Men in Black and Ali and is one of the world's most successful and popular actors. His mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, is also a highly successful actress who has starred in The Nutty Professor, The Matrix trilogy and Collateral. Despite their celebrity status, Smith's parents have attempted to give him a normal upbringing.

Speaking about raising Jaden and his siblings (older half-brother Trey and younger sister Willow), Jada Pinkett Smith said, "We want them to see the reality of life and have a normal experience of having to stand in line and get tickets." The Smith children volunteer regularly at orphanages and nursing homes and donate their belongings to charity. "My kids are very willing to give things away because they understand that they have such abundance; they don't have to hoard," their mother says.

Smith studies with a tutor and, acting career notwithstanding, experiences the normal joys and grievances of any young boy. His favorite subject is math—"because I'm good at it," Smith says—and his favorite activity is "hanging out with my friends." He calls himself a "mama's boy" but complains that his little sister bullies him and his parents always take her side.

Child Star

Alongside his seemingly normal childhood, Smith enjoys a second life as an emerging Hollywood star. He made his acting debut in 2003, at the tender age of 6, on All of Us, a UPN show created by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and based on their own blended family. Not long after, Jaden made his big screen debut in the The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness depicts the life of Christopher Gardner, a homeless salesman whose intelligence and perseverance eventually allow him to become a wealthy stockbroker.

Starring opposite his real-life dad, Jaden portrayed Gardner's son, Christopher Jr., who is forced to live on the streets with his father. The young Smith won universal acclaim for his nuanced and heartwarming performance. The New York Times called him "likable in the extreme," and he won an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance.

In 2008, Smith struck out on his own to make his first performances in projects not involving his parents. In April of that year, he guest starred in an episode of the Disney Channel's popular show The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Next, he appeared oppositeKeanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly in a remake of the classic science fiction thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still, earning a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.

Smith landed his biggest role to date in 2010, starring alongside Jackie Chan in a remake of the 1984 coming-of-age classic, The Karate Kid. Smith plays Dre Parker, a 12-year-old Detroit native who moves to China to study martial arts with a kung fu master, so that he can face down the bullies who torment him. The film was a box-office smash,

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Justin Bieber

Synopsis

Born in 1994 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, to a single mother, Justin Bieber took second place in a local talent competition at a young age and later turned into a YouTube phenomenon. He signed a record contract with Usher and became the first solo artist to have four singles enter the Top 40 before the release of a debut album. His record "My World" has gone platinum in several countries. He lives and works in Atlanta.

Childhood

Born on March 1, 1994, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Justin Bieber was raised by a single mom in the small town of Stratford. Bieber, whose debut album, My World, hit stores in November 2009, is a true overnight success, having gone from an unknown, untrained singer whose mother posted YouTube clips of her boy performing, to a budding superstar with a big-time record deal, all in just two years.

Bieber always had an interest in music. His mother gave him a drum kit for his second birthday and, as he tells it, he was "basically banging on everything I could get my hands on."

But it was an obscure talent contest in his hometown, in which the 12-year-old Bieber finished second that put him on the road to superstardom. As a way to share his singing with family, Justin and his mom began posting clips of Bieber performing covers of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Ne-Yo on YouTube.

Within months, Justin was an Internet sensation, with a large following of fans, and an eager manager arranging for the teenager to fly to Atlanta to consider a record deal. There, Bieber had a chance meeting with Usher, who eventually signed the young singer to a contract.

Career Highlights

Bieber's first single, "One Time," went certified platinum in his native Canada shortly after its release in May 2009. His album My Worldmatched that success, selling more than 137,000 copies within a week of hitting stores. Bieber broke into the Billboard Top 10 in early 2010 with "Baby," which also featured Ludcris. Bieber soon released My World 2.0 (2010), which offered his growing fan base ten new songs.

In 2011, Bieber took to the big screen in the concert documentaryNever Say Never. His fans crowded movie theaters to catch him in action on stage and get a glimpse of his life behind the scenes. The movie, which eventually earned more than $73 million at the box office, also had guest appearances by Kanye West, Miley Cyrus and Bieber's musical mentor Usher. That same year, Bieber released an album featuring his own take on such holiday classics as "All I Want For Christmas Is," his duet with Mariah Carey.

Bieber had his biggest hit single to date in April 2012 with "Boyfriend." The song appears on his latest album Believe released in June.

Personal Life

Teen idol Justin Bieber broke the hearts of many of his young female fans in 2010 when he started dating television actress and singerSelena Gomez. It hasn't been easy for Gomez to be Bieber's girlfriend. She has been accosted by some of his devoted followers. There were even death threats against her posted on Twitter after the pair was photographed kissing while on vacation in 2011.

While still only in his teens, Bieber has survived his first public scandal. A woman filed suit against Bieber in 2011, claiming that he was the father of her child. But a DNA test proved that the young pop star was not the father and the woman dropped her lawsuit. Bieber sang about the scandal in the song "Maria."

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Carrie Underwood

Synopsis

Born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Carrie Underwood had put aside her singing dreams for a degree in broadcast journalism, but everything changed after she auditioned for American Idol during her senior year at Northeastern State University. She won the show's fourth season in 2005, and went on to win multiple Grammy, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards. In 2008, at age 26, Underwood became the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Her hit albums include Carnival Ride, Play On and Blown Away.

Early Life

Carrie Marie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Since winning the famed musical talent show American Idol in 2005, Underwood has emerged as one of the most popular female performers in country music today. She was born and raised on a farm. "I had a very happy childhood full of the wonderful simple things that children love to do," Underwood stated on her website. "Growing up in the country, I enjoyed things like playing on dirt roads, climbing trees, catching little woodland creatures and, of course, singing."

After graduating from high school, Underwood attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. There, majored in broadcast journalism, having put aside her dreams of becoming a singer. During her senior year, in 2004, Underwood decided to try out for American Idol. Not only did she pass that audition, Underwood went on to become the winner of the show's fourth season.

Commercial Success

Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was certified triple platinum, making it the fastest-selling female country album since the introduction of the Nielsen SoundScan in 1991. Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven," hit the top of the Billboard charts.

With "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Underwood hit the top of the country charts. The song proved to be a critical success as well, winning Underwood the Academy of Country Music Award for single record of the year; the Country Music Association Award for single of the year; and two Grammy Awards, for best female country vocal performance and best new artist, in 2006.

In contrast to her softer-sounding material, Underwood also had great success with "Before He Cheats," a tale about a straying ex-boyfriend. The single won Underwood a Grammy for best female country vocal performance and a CMA Award for single of the year in 2007. That same year, Underwood released her follow-up album,Carnival Ride (2007). It reached the top of the album charts and scored several No. 1 country hits, including the singles "Last Name" and "All-American Girl."

Grand Ole Opry Inductee

On May 10, 2008, at the age of 26, Underwood was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry by country star Garth Brooks, becoming the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Later that year, in September 2008, Underwood won the CMA Award for female vocalist of the year—for the third consecutive time—forCarnival Ride. She was nominated for album of the year, but lost the award to George Strait. Underwood also hosted the CMA Awards with fellow country star Brad Paisley.

In Recent Years

In February 2009, Underwood won a Grammy Award (best female country vocal performance) for her song "Last Name"—her fourth Grammy in three years. In November 2009, she received two more CMA Award nominations, for female vocalist of the year and musical event of the year. She also hosted the event for the second time.

Afew weeks before hosting the CMA Awards, Underwood released her third studio album, Play On, three songs from which went on to earn a No. 1 spot on the charts: "Cowboy Casanova," "Temporary Home" and "Undo It." The singer followed that success with Blown Away, released in May 2012, which had sold more than 1.4 million copies by the following year. The album's hits include "Blown Away," "Good Girl" and "Two Black Cadillacs." 

In May 2013, it was announced that Underwood would be performing the Sunday Night Football theme song, taking over the coveted role for fellow country star Faith Hill, who performed "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" for the past six seasons of the weekly television broadcast. Underwood will reportedly sing a new version of Hill's song.

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