Celebrity World

We just can’t help it, can we? We all have an innate suspicion of models who become actors. We immediately feel that, otherwise talentless, they’ve been cast on their looks alone, that they have no real right to inhabit our screens. Whenever someone tries it, the jeers begin and those terrible four words are uttered: Cindy, Crawford, Fair and Game. Yet Halle Berry, a former model and, worse still, a Beauty Pageant winner, has risen above all that. Through a combination of the usual luck and, above all, hard work and persistence, she’s made herself into a fine actress, an Emmy winner and the most welcome Oscar winner in recent years. And it has not been easy…

Halle Maria Berry was born on the 14th of August, 1968 (though some insist it was 1966), in Cleveland, Ohio. She was named after the town’s Halle Building, which originally housed the Halle Brothers department store but is now an office block (it’s also used in the Drew Carey Show). Her father, Jerome, an African American and a hospital attendant by trade, left when she was just four, so she and her elder sister Heidi were raised by their Caucasian, Liverpool-born mother, Judith, herself a nurse in a psychiatric ward. Jerome would return after four years but the violence he directed towards Judith and Heidi meant that he did not stay for long. Throughout her adult life, Halle Would have no contact with him at all, still being estranged when Jerome died in 2003.

Halle’s first few years were spent in a black neighbourhood of Cleveland. Here her fair complexion made her stand out, but not as much as she did when her mother moved them out of the inner-city to a mainly white suburb. Now, a little older and in this conservative milieu, her “difference” was not so readily tolerated. “I’m black,” she said later. “I realised very early in my life that I wasn’t going to be this mulatto stuck in the middle, not knowing if I’m black or white”.

To overcome these racial difficulties, Halle threw herself into school activities at Bedford High and tried to make friends. She did well. She was in the Honour Society, a cheerleader, class president, and an editor on the school newspaper. And, naturally, she was Prom Queen. At least, she was joint Prom Queen. Having won outright, she was accused of voting irregularities and (guess what?) forced to share her title with a WASP.

Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in the Siberian region of Russia. In 1989, the family moved to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

When she was 4 years old, a chance encounter changed her life. She met with the father of tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and the man gave her a racket. From that moment, she started hitting tennis balls. The game soon became a passion for her.

Two years later, she was performing at a tennis clinic when another tennis champion changed her life. Martina Navratilova was in the building and she was flabbergasted by the talent of the 6-year-old. She went to her father, Yuri, and recommended that he take his daughter to the world-famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

sharapova moves to america

Soon after, this same advice was repeated by the head coach of the Russian Federation. Everyone agreed it was the best thing to do in light of Maria’s enormous talent. When she was only 7, Yuri took his daughter to the U.S. without knowing a word of English and with less than $1,000 in his pocket.

IMG, the sports management company, agreed to sponsor Maria and put up the $35,000 US per year it costs to stay at the Bollettieri Academy. Not knowing any English either, she was very shy and introverted.

While her father took odd jobs, Maria moved into the school dorm when she was 9. Sharing a room with three older girls, she quickly learned the language. Still, it was hard on her, especially since her mother, Yelena, remained in Russia because she couldn’t get the proper visa.

Two years later, her mother was finally able to come to Florida and be reunited with her daughter and husband. From that moment, she took it upon herself to educate Maria, who has never been in a formal school in her life.

maria’s smash hit

Her official tennis career began in 2001, when she joined the junior circuit. During that year, she won 25 matches and only lost three. In the process, she came away with three titles: Sacramento, Hilton Head and Pilsen in the Czech Republic.

The following season, Sharapova did even better on the junior circuit with 26 victories and, again, only three losses. She once more won three titles: Vancouver, Peachtree and Gunma in Japan. The same year, she was allowed to play a limited number of matches on the professional tour.

She won one match and lost two, including one against Monica Seles in the second round at Indian Wells, her first professional tournament. After all the results were tabulated, she was ranked 186th on the WTA charts.

sharapova’s year

By 2003, Sharapova had paid her dues and was able to play in the big leagues. She joined the WTA Tour and impressed everyone with her talent. For that season, she came away with 34 wins and a negligible 11 losses.

Sharapova also won two professional titles: Quebec City and the Japan Open. She also won two doubles titles with Tamarine Tanasugarn: Luxembourg and the Japan Open. When the season was over, her ranking had improved to place her at number 32.

In 2004, she stunned Wimbledon audiences when she beat champion player Serena Williams, making Sharapova the first Russian to win a Wimbledon singles title and the third-youngest women’s champion in history.

sharapova hits the books

At present, she is putting an end to her high school education through Keystone High, an online high school. She does photo shoots once in a while but her priority is tennis. Besides, she doesn’t need the money, as she has very lucrative endorsement deals with Nike, NEC and Prince. Sharapova currently resides in Bradenton, Florida.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was born in Waco Texas on February 21, 1979. She is 20 years old, 5′ 2” tall with Auburn Hair and Brown Eyes. She lives in LA California with her mom Pat Hewitt. Her father is Danny Hewitt and her brother is Todd Hewitt. Love has been in front of the camera ever since she was nine when she joined a Show Team in Texas, this was a dance team that traveled to Russia and Denmark. When she was ten she was an international spokesperson for LA Gear shoes. After this Jennifer Love Hewitt starred in commercials for Mattel toys. From 1989 to 1991 Love starred as Robin on the kids show Kids INC. In 1991 she was in a Barbie dance workout video and in 1992 she was in the movie Munchies. In 1992 she came out with her first cd called Love Songs which was only released in Japan. In 93 she was in the movie Sister Act and in 94 she got the role of Franny Byrd in the hit tv show Byrds of Paradise. In 1995 she came out with her second album called Lets Go Bang which was released in America. In 1995 Love got the role of Sarah on the hit show Party of Five. In 1996 she played Brooke Figler in the movie House Arrest that same year she released her 3rd album titled ”Jennifer Love Hewitt.” In 1997 Love starred in Trojan War as Leah.

Her big break came in 97 when she starred in the hit movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, she co-starred in this movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe and Freddie Prinze Jr. In 1997 she also starred in the movie Can’t Hardly Wait with Ethan Embry. In 1998 she came out with a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer called I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. She co-starred with Brandy, Mekhi Phifer and Freddie Prinze Jr. in this film. In the near future she is coming out with a movie called Love Story which she wrote. She is also going to be the voice of Thumbelina in the animated movie The Adventures of Thumbelina. In the year 2000 she is going to star in the movie version of the popular video game Resident Evil.As far as her TV career Love is going to going to star in a spinoff of Party of Five, titled Time Of Your Life. She is also scheduled to play Audrey Hepburn in an upcoming TV miniseries. Love has also started her own production company call ”Love Spell Productions”, they have a few movies in the planning. I am sure we will continue to see Love’s fame and popularity grow.

Jennifer Lopez was born in The Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David López. She has two sisters, Lynda and Leslie. Though Jennifer Lopez parents were born in the same Puerto Rican town, they did not meet until they both had moved to Castle Hill. They were strict with their children and instilled a strong work ethic in them — no one in the family was allowed to miss a day of school, work, or church (the family was devoutly Roman Catholic). “Our parents had a strong work ethic — there wasn’t really any other way,” Lynda López told Rolling Stone. Jennifer Lopez parents also stressed assimilation, especially the need to speak English. Jennifer Lopez spent much of what she called “the boyfriend years” sneaking around to meet up with first-love Davíd Cruz, whom she remained with from the time she was 16 until she was 25.”I was always climbing out windows, jumping off roofs, and he was sneaking up,” she said. “It was crazy.” She spent her entire academic career in Catholic school and acknowledges that she still prays regularly. She was a driven student and natural athlete. She went out for the track team, though she had no experience. Her father feared that, new to the sport, she would be outclassed, but Jennifer Lopez rose to the challenge and ended up competing nationally. “Basically, anything she wants to do, she’ll be as successful as you can at it,” sister Lynda López said. “That’s the kind of person she is.”

Jennifer Lopez financed singing and dancing lessons from the age of 16. After she dropped out of college after one semester, Jennifer Lopez pursued dancing full-time. She split her time between her job at a law office, taking dance classes, and dancing in Manhattan clubs at night. Though she did not, and still does not, drink alcohol, her parents disapproved of her working nights so far from home and feared she was associating with a dangerous crowd. She moved out of the house in protest of her parents and literally lived on the floor of the dance studio for many years until she could pay rent with occasional work as a dancer.

After months and months of auditioning for dance gigs, she got her first spot and started out in television as a video girl for various rap artists, and a guest spot on the American Music Awards. Her first regular high profile gig was as a fly girl dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991 after being twice rejected. She then left the show after two seasons due to friction with another dancer. López had a small role in a short-lived television program South Central. She also found television work in Second Chances and Hotel Malibu and the made-for-TV movie Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. She danced for Janet Jackson in Jackson’s video for the song “That’s The Way Love Goes” in 1993. López broke onto the big screen in 1995, in the drama My Family/Mi Familia and opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. She appeared in tghe Francis Ford Coppola 1996 comedy Jack opposite Robin Williams, and the 1997 thriller Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson.

After a nationwide search of tens of thousands of women, Jennifer Lopez was chosen to play the lead role in the film Selena. In 1998, the Golden Globe Awards organization nominated her for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy for her performance. She is also known for her role in Maid in Manhattan.

Jennifer Lopez has also broken into designing perfumes and clothing ranges under her singing persona Jlo which is gaining in popularity.