Marisa Miller

Marisa Miller (nee Marisa Bertetta) was born and raised in Santa Cruz, the sunny surfing capital of California. As a naturally beautiful girl who just didn't realize that the odds for supermodel stardom were stacked heavily in her favor, she developed a liking first for volleyball, surfing and the friendship of boys. Though she regularly dressed in heavy clothes to obscure her figure, Marisa Miller did manage to catch the attention of two Italian modeling scouts at age 16, when she strolled by them in a San Francisco eatery. An invitation to visit Italy quickly followed. Marisa Miller's subsequent trip to Italy with her mom offered her a quick look at the modeling industry, but she still had to get over her shyness if she hoped to enter the industry as a professional. Three years later, back in California, Marisa Miller literally stripped off her shyness in 1997 as the cover girl for the debut issue of the magazine Perfect 10. Appearing au naturel on the cover, Marisa was indeed a perfect 10. She would repeat the feat with two more covers for the magazine in 1998 and 1999.

marisa miller works with sports illustrated and victoria's secret

The shift for Marisa Miller from alluring newcomer to full-fledged modeling star came in 2001, courtesy of an introduction to acclaimed fashion photographer Mario Testino. When a friend passed along some photos of her to the photographer, he insisted on a meeting, which took place at the surfing school that she was operating. After taking pictures of the model as she surfed, Mario Testino promptly suggested that she participate in a pair of editorials for two installments of Vogue. Marisa agreed and only half a year later, she was booked by both Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret.

Between 2002 and 2008, Marisa Miller came to dominate the famed Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Besides making an appearance in each issue, she had a number of notable poses -- ranging from an 8-hours-in-the-making painted swimsuit in 2004 to a pop culture-embracing iPod swimsuit in 2007. As the cover girl of the 2008 issue, Marisa Miller coaxed a record 228 million people to the SI site and celebrated the release of her own "Best of Marisa Miller" calendar that same year. During her rise to prominence at Sports Illustrated, Marisa Miller came to be equally busy with Victoria's Secret, which included filming a bra TV spot with Heidi Klum, walking the company's fashion show in 2007, and pitching its perfume, Very Sexy Dare, in 2008 as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels.

marisa miller wears the fantasy bra

Marisa Miller's dual associations with Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated represented two of her longest-running modeling assignments, but her high stature with both entities also put her in incredibly high demand with other companies who could accommodate her scheduling and salary requirements. British versions of Esquire and Cosmopolitan came to shoot her for cover shoots, while brands as diverse as Harley-Davidson and Bath & Body Works hired her to model. One such advertiser was the video game giant Activision, who brought her on to film an ad for the 2008 release of Guitar Hero: World Tour. In a sexy parallel to the state of her career, the ad was removed from broadcast for being too racy, but would later resurface through the joys of social media and enhance Marisa Miller's already-skyrocketing popularity.

In 2009, Marisa Miller enjoyed what was perhaps the highlight of her Victoria's Secret career. At the annual fashion show, she was chosen to wear the company's Fantasy Bra, a $3 million creation that featured 150 carats and 2,300 diamonds. Having appropriately stunned viewers of the show, Marisa Miller celebrated 2010 with a cover shoot for Vegas Magazine and a No. 2 ranking on AskMen's list of the Top 99 Women.

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Bar Refaeli

Bar Refaeli was born on June 4, 1985, in a rural region of Israel. She was raised on a horse ranch, but her countryside origins never inhibited her ambitions. She started modeling before she could even walk and talk. At 8 months old, Bar Refaeli was already doing commercials. After such an early career start, Bar Refaeli had to undergo that traumatic experience that every child fears: getting braces. Of course, getting braces quickly derailed her modeling career. So, for over three years, Bar Refaeli resorted back to her normal life -- a life devoid of modeling. When the braces came off in 1997, however, Bar Refaeli wasted no time getting right back into the industry. At the tender age of 11, she burst back onto the modeling scene and has been there ever since. She then appeared in numerous advertisements and infomercials in Israel.

bar refaeli in gq

Bar Refaeli’s rise to prominence seemed to happen overnight. At the age of 15, Bar began to model for catalogs such as Castro and Pilpel. Her undeniable good looks made her an automatic interest for most international magazines and covers.

The turn of the century marked a sign of good things to come for the Israeli vixen. In 2000, she won the title of Model of the Year in a beauty contest, and in 2001, she won her title yet again, as her beauty and modeling talents couldn't be denied. In 2002 and 2003, she was chosen to be the home model of the Renuar fashion network. Additionally, Bar Refaeli was selected for an international fashion production and appeared in the French ELLE magazine.

It was during her rise to prominence that she attained gigs with GQ and Ralph Lauren. However, Bar Refaeli claimed that it was the editorial section in an issue of French ELLE that cemented her celebrity. The editorial section attached her name with the face that so many people were becoming accustomed to seeing, and once her name was attached a celebrity was born.

bar refaeli in sports illustrated

Bar Refaeli ended up doing photo shoots with Sports Illustrated magazine and Victoria’s Secret. Her career has essentially grown right in front of our eyes; she has developed a sense of how to work in front of a camera, and photographers like working with her.

In early 2007, Bar Refaeli landed more work with SI, and signed a deal with Chanel’s makeup brand.

Putting her at an even higher pinnacle of celebrity, her once-romantic link with award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio speaks mounds for her popularity, although the couple split in the summer of 2009.

bar refaeli is named no. 20 in 2008 top 99

In 2007, Bar Refaeli was also awarded "Sexiest Import" at the 2007 Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards. So it's no wonder AskMen.com readers put Bar so high up on out 2008 Top 99 list. She dropped to No. 34 in 2009, just missing being included in the top third of the 99 Most Desirable Women of the year.

bar refaeli in session

After becoming the spokesmodel for Diddy's scent "I Am King" as well as the clothing brand Hurley, Bar Refaeli was featured in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition in February 2009, this time making the coveted cover. In July 2009, Refaeli posed entirely nude, save for a passage from Stephen King’s short story "Morality" painted on her body, for the cover of Esquire.

bar refaeli and askmen.com's top 99 most desirable women of 2010

In 2010, Bar Refaeli landed the No. 13 position on AskMen.com's list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2010. She also appeared in the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, but lost the cover to Brooklyn Decker, aka Mrs. Andy Roddick, who notably came in at No. 31 on AskMen.com's 2010 list of the Top 99. Although rumors are circulating that Bar was disappointed about not landing the cover of SI, we'd like to remind her that she's moved up in the ranks, at least according to AskMen.com.

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Candice Swanepoel

What model scout Kevin Ellise was doing in a Durban, South African flea market, we'll never know. But thank goodness he was there because, otherwise, we may have never had the pleasure of ogling a scantily clad Candice Swanepoel, whom he discovered there when she was just 15. Ellise had this to say about the first time he laid eyes on Swanepoel: "It was like… honestly, like a beautiful flamingo walking past my shop. The way she walked past just did it for me.” Clearly it did it for the modeling agencies too; Swanepoel was commanding 5,000 Euros for a day's work by the time she was 16.

candice swanepoel ascends the modeling ranks at warp speed

Candice Swanepoel's rise to stardom is the stuff fairy tales are made of. As a young girl growing up in the remote South African farming village Mooi River, Swanepoel's model aspirations were literally oceans away. Once she was discovered, Candice met with the head of a local modeling agency who snapped some Polaroids and sent them out to Select, a London agency that represents top talent like Sienna Miller and Helena Christensen. Within 25 minutes of receiving the Polaroids, Select requested Candice's presence in London immediately. After a flurry of castings in London and New York, Swanepoel was just a year into her career when she began strutting down the world's most exclusive catwalks while appearing in Italian Vogue photo campaigns for Fornarina and Top Shop.

candice swanepoel becomes a victoria's secret angel

Having appeared on the covers of Greece Vogue and Elle Germany, as well as runway shows for Dolce & Gabbana, Betsey Johnson, Tommy Hilfiger, and Diane Von Furstenberg, Swanepoel's career has been a success by any standards. But in 2007, she joined the ranks of supermodels Miranda Kerr and Alessandra Ambrosio when Victoria's Secret bestowed on her a title that transcends our conventional ideas of beauty: Candice Swanepoel became a Victoria's Secret Angel, and will forever be worshiped by you, us and everyone we know.

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Selena Gomez

Born Selena Marie Gomez on July 22, 1992, to Amanda Cornett and Ricardo Gomez in Grand Prairie, Texas. Her mother, commonly known as Mandy, gave birth to Gomez at the age of 16.

Selena began her career in show business in 2001 when she performed on the popular children's show Barney & Friends, as Gianna. Gomez was dropped from the series after two years in 2003. Over the next two years, Gomez auditioned for shows without much success. She landed a small role in the movie Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in 2003 and a bit part as Julie on Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire in 2005. She also got a part as Emily Grace Garcia in the television show Brain Zapped in 2006, and even recorded a song for the show.

In 2006, Selena Gomez got her first major role when she guest starred as Gwen in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the Disney Channel. Also on the Disney Channel, Gomez played the role as the evil Mikayla in Hannah Montana.

Gomez landed her first starring role when the Disney Channel cast her as Alex Russo in the series Wizards of Waverly Place in 2007. The series has become a popular fixture on the channel.

In 2008, Selena Gomez made her first animated movie, Horton Hears a Who!, and later starred in the ABC Family movie Another Cinderella Story with Disney Channel star Andrew Seeley. Selena filmed two movies for the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise as well. The first was Princess Protection Program, which was released in 2009 and also starred Demi Lovato. She also starred in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie later in 2009.

Gomez also has a growing music career. She started in 2008 when she recorded a cover of "Cruella de Vil" for DisneyMania 6. She also recorded three songs for the soundtrack to her movie Another Cinderella Story, and a song for the animated movie, Tinker Bell. Gomez recorded the single "One and the Same" for her movie Princess Protection Program as a duet with her friend and co-star Demi Lovato. She also recorded four songs for the soundtrack to her other feature film, The Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. In 2008, Selena singed a record contract with Hollywood Records. She is currently working on her debut album, Kiss and Tell, which will be released in the fall of 2009. Gomez had a cameo in the Jonas Brothers' video for the single, "Burnin Up."

Gomez is a spokesperson for Borden Milk, appearing in their advertising campaign and print ads. She also worked on a teen-voting campaign, which helped encourage teenagers to learn more about the 2008 presidential candidates.

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Vanessa Anne Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born on December 14, 1988, in Salinas, California. While still a toddler, Vanessa and her younger sister, Stella, were uprooted and moved to San Diego. Vanessa’s passion for music was borne early on, and undoubtedly stems from the presence of her grandparents, who were actively involved in the big-band scene in the 1930s.

By the time she was just 8 years old, Vanessa successfully petitioned her parents to allow her to try out for a whole host of local musicals (including The King and I, Cinderella and Evita). It quickly became evident that Vanessa had a real gift for both performing and singing, and she consequently decided (along with her parents, of course) to spend some time in London studying drama and music.

vanessa hudgens in still standing

Upon her return from the United Kingdom, Vanessa decided that her best shot at securing a bona fide career in show business involved a move to Los Angeles. There’s little doubt that Vanessa would still be toiling on local stages were it not for the support of her family, who abandoned their comfortable lives in San Diego to support the burgeoning star. Vanessa immediately dived into the grueling auditioning scene, trying out for anything and everything she was allowed access to. Her hard work paid off in 2002, when she landed one-off guest spots on a pair of television shows: the sitcom Still Standing and the crime drama Robbery Homicide Division.

vanessa hudgens in thirteen

A year later, Vanessa found herself cast opposite fellow up-and-comers Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed in Thirteen, a drama revolving around the reckless exploits of several teenagers. She followed that up with a role in the 2004 live-action adaptation of Thunderbirds (opposite no less than Ben Kingsley), and popped up on TV shows such as The Brothers Garcia and Quintuplets. But it wasn’t until she successfully auditioned for the part of Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel movie High School Musical that Vanessa finally began to receive the recognition she so richly deserved.

vanessa hudgens in high school musical

After blowing away the producers with a stirring rendition of Robbie Williams’ “Angels” during her audition, Vanessa soon found herself starring alongside folks like Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale in the smash hit High School Musical (2006). The film, along with its soundtrack, quickly became a sensation among the tweener set, propelling Vanessa to household-name status within the ranks of such viewers. Vanessa soon found herself being offered spots on commercials for high-profile companies like Old Navy and Blockbuster, and the actress even won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry with costar Zac Efron (it was a good choice -- as the pair became a couple).

Vanessa Hudgens went on to star in High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3.

vanessa hudgens releases v

Buoyed by her massive High School Musical success, Vanessa decided the time was right to fulfill her lifelong dream of recording an album of her own, and consequently signed with Hollywood Records in 2006. Hoping to take advantage of the heat surrounding her, Vanessa worked day and night on the album for two months. On September 26, 2006, V was released to monstrous success. It premiered at No. 24 on the U.S. pop album charts and sold 34,000 copies. The album spawned a hit single, “Come Back to Me,” and Vanessa spent the latter part of 2006 touring in support of the disc (first as an opener for The Cheetah Girls, then as part of the High School Musical concert series). In addition to her relentless touring schedule, Vanessa found time to make a series of appearances on the popular Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

vanessa hudgens is named no. 61 in 2008 and 2009 top 99

In September 2007, a collection of nude photos of Vanessa Hudgens surfaced online, sparking a major controversy. Both she and her publicist addressed the scandal, citing that the photos were taken in privacy and that it was a shame they were leaked to the public. Despite this, Disney indicated that they intended to continue working with the young star. With more eyes on her than ever before, Vanessa successfully bounced back from the scandal, as evidenced by her position at No. 61 on AskMen.com's list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008 and again in 2009.

vanessa hudgens releases identified

In April 2008, Vanessa Hudgens released the first single "Sneakernight" from her second album Identified. She also appeared in the third installment of the hit movie franchise High School Musical 3: Senior Year and, in '09, she worked on the flick Rock On with Lisa Kudrow.

vanessa hudgens takes more nude photos

While in the midst of filming Beastly, a film about a teen who gets transformed into a hideous creature in order to find true love, more nude photos of Vanessa Hudgens surfaced online in August of 2009. These Vanessa Hudgens nude photos -- featuring her in a variety of "come hither" poses -- were even racier than the ones from 2007. We're not saying that's a bad thing. Collapse

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Jennifer Lopez Photos

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Miley Cyrus

Given the first name Destiny at birth and born to Mr. Achy-Breaky Heart himself, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus didn't have much of a choice except to pick up the remnants of her father's brief pop-star fame and put her own permanent stamp on the entertainment world. First nicknamed Smiley for her pleasant demeanor and then officially known as Miley from that point on, young Ms. Cyrus got some early showbiz experience as a tot by singing with her dad on stage at concerts. When the family packed up and moved to Toronto, Canada for the production of Billy Ray Cyrus's television series Doc, Miley joined him on the show, and after they watched a performance of Mamma Mia! at a Toronto theater, the young girl mind was made up on a career in show business.
In 2003, Miley Cyrus entered the strange world of Tim Burton by taking on a supporting role in his film, Big Fish. From there, she met up with the family-oriented suits at the Disney Channel, who were in the midst of developing a series called Alexis Texas at the time. The concept revolved around a schoolgirl who also happened to be an outrageously popular music star. Miley initially auditioned to play the protagonist's best friend, but once producers caught a glimpse of her acting and singing abilities first-hand, they offered her the lead role instead. History would follow.

Miley Cyrus becomes Hannah Montana

The newly christened Hannah Montana hit the Disney Channel in 2006, and it was an immediate success. As Disney realized they had created not only a hit television show but also a brand for kids, they developed a marketing strategy that would send Miley Cyrus and Hannah in different pop-culture directions with the intent of making her the idol of every tweenage girl in America. As the only performer to have record, film, TV, and advertising contracts through Disney, Miley saw her popularity hit the stratosphere with singles like "The Best of Both Worlds" and the debut Hannah Montana soundtrack album.

After the first album topped the U.S. Billboard 200, Miley Cyrus's subsequent albums would follow suit. Besides additional Hannah Montana albums, which featured her singing in character, Miley also released 2007's Meet Miley Cyrus and 2008's Breakout, the latter of which featured her own original material. These two albums would also top the U.S. Billboard 200, and their success would propel the singer-actress along the hugely successful Best of Both Worlds tour. While Miley suffered some damaging PR after a racy Vanity Fair shoot, the box office returns from the 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds, solidified that she was, in fact, a star with staying power.

Miley Cyrus in The Last Song

Hannah Montana's pop-culture reign continued into 2009 with the show's third TV season and the release of Hannah Montana: The Movie. Miley added to the frenzy with the release of her premature autobiography, Miles To Go. The book would reach sales of over 2 million.

Even with the hoopla over Hannah still going strong, Miley Cyrus made plans to shift her career away from her manufactured alter-ego and concentrate on herself. With the help of chick-lit auteur Nicholas Sparks, who wrote the source material, Miley took the lead role in the 2010 film The Last Song, which cast her as a one-half of a teen romance with co-star Liam Hensworth. As another symbol of her evolution into adulthood, Miley released her new album, Can't Be Tamed, which was accompanied by a provocative music video that attracted controversy. She would follow up these projects with an onslaught of new film projects, including Wings, LOL, Family Bond, and Wake.

miley cyrus smokes a bong on camera

But is she going to throw it all away? Just five days after her 18th birthday, Miley was videotaped smoking a bong and rolling around on the floor. The bong apparently contained salvia, a legal hallucinogenic that is legal in California. Still, this can't be her career. Check out the video here at TMZ. Collapse

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Julia Roberts

Julie Fiona Roberts was born on October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia. The daughter of a vacuum salesman and a church secretary, Julia isn't the only Roberts to have pursued an acting career: her brother and sister are also actors, albeit not as famous as Julia -- few even know their names.

julia roberts the actress

As a 17-year-old girl with big dreams, Julia headed to the Big Apple to join her actress sister, Lisa. Starting out as a model in order to make a living, Julia took acting classes on the side in order to perfect her trade. She finally received her big break after her brother, B-movie actor Eric Roberts, convinced a director to cast his little sister in the film Blood Red (1989).

Fours years passed between the production of Blood Red and its release, over the span of which Julia found television work on such series as Crime Story and Miami Vice. In 1988, she landed roles in the films Satisfaction and Mystic Pizza. Her role in the latter did not go unnoticed, and audiences and critics alike would soon remember the name Julia Roberts (who actually changed her name from Julie to Julia when she applied for a SAG card in order to distinguish herself from another actress registered under the same name). In 1990, Oscar acknowledged Julia's work in Steel Magnolias, costarring Sally Field and Dolly Parton, by honoring her with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

julia roberts in pretty woman

Oscar nomination considered, none of Julia's roles to that date approached the success of 1990's Pretty Woman. Julia's portrayal of prostitute-turned-princess Vivian Ward was so flawless that it seemed as though the role was written for her (it wasn't). This performance garnered her a second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress, and cemented Julia as a Hollywood fixture.

After Pretty Woman, Julia's success at the box office continued with the thrillers Flatliners (1990) and Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), but then her film career took a turn for the worse. The tearjerker Dying Young (1991) and Steven Spielberg's Peter Pan adaptation Hook (1991) were box-office and critical disasters.

While Julia's film career was experiencing highs and subsequent lows, her romantic life was taking a similar bumpy ride. Her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland was canceled just days before the set date, and only a few days later she was romantically linked to actor Jason Patric.

julia roberts in the pelican brief

At this time, Julia was in the midst of a two-year film hiatus, interrupted only by a cameo in Robert Altman's The Player. Her 1993 role in The Pelican Brief, costarring Denzel Washington, marked Julia's Hollywood comeback. The following years were marked with such hits as 1995's Something to Talk About and 1996's Everyone Says I Love You, along with misses, like 1994's Ready To Wear and I Love Trouble, and 1996's Mary Reilly.

On a personal note, Julia Roberts' love life once again made headlines, but this time because of her marriage to country star Lyle Lovett. They were married from June 1993 to March 1995, and their union raised many eyebrows.

By 1997, the Julia Roberts everyone loved was back in full form. Her role in the summer hit My Best Friend's Wedding, along with Dermot Mulroney and Cameron Diaz, earned her a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination and marked the start of a whole new kind of success for Julia. That same year, she costarred with Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory.

Stepmom also fared well, but it was Julia's only project of 1998. The following year she came back with a vengeance with two summer blockbusters: Notting Hill, in the role of a world-famous movie actress (not much of a character stretch) with Brit-hunk Hugh Grant, and Runaway Bride, which re-teamed her with Richard Gere.

julia roberts in erin brockovich

It was her role as a single mother who takes on a massive corporation in 2000's Erin Brockovich that launched Julia to the next tier in her career. This job bumped Julia into the $20-million club, along with heavy hitters Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey, and earned her the Best Actress Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award.

While 2001 brought disappointments in the form of The Mexican, with James Gandolfini, and America's Sweethearts, with Billy Crystal and Christopher Walken, Julia's career remained, for the most part, steady with successes (including 2001's Ocean's Eleven). This stability came thanks in part to director/producer Steven Soderbergh, who cast Julia in Erin Brockovich and Ocean's Eleven, among other projects.

As for her personal life, following a three-year romance with actor Benjamin Bratt, Julia began dating cinematographer Daniel Moder. They were married in a surprise midnight ceremony on July 4, 2002.

julia roberts in closer

2004 was a big year for Julia, with two December movie releases -- the drama Closer, with costars Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Clive Owen, and the sequel Ocean's Twelve (the only sequel she has ever appeared in), with Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, and Andy Garcia. Julia was unable to attend the premieres or celebrity junkets for these two flicks as she gave birth to twins on November 28, 2004. Although the twins were due January 2005, Julia had remained on bed rest when she gave birth to son Phinnaeus Walter and daughter Hazel Patricia.

julia roberts in charlotte's web

In 2006, Julia added the Warner Bros. animated film Ant Bully to her resume -- lending her voice to the ant character Hova. Her voice costars, Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep, also joined the colony.

After Ant Bully, Julia took on another children's film as the leading arachnid: supplying the voice of Charlotte the spider in Charlotte's Web (2006). While the classic children's tale has been redone countless times, Julia brought new life to the eight-legged creature. John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey and Kathy Bates also felt the farm life was for them and lent their voices to the family film.

julia roberts in duplicity

From children's films to dramas, Julia seems to be able to do it all. In the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War, Julia took on political intrigue with costars Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2009, Julia continued her return to the limelight in the con-job romantic comedy Duplicity, costarring Clive Owen.

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Katy Perry

One wouldn't guess it by listening to the sexually suggestive lyrics in her music, but Katy Perry is actually the daughter of two pastors and grew up singing in church until she was 17. Perry was also a fan of gospel music, and in her freshman year of high school, the California native dropped out to pursue a career in music. Perry's church singing turned the heads of some music veterans, who brought her to Nashville to hone her songwriting skills. Her first album (which she released under her original name Kate Hudson) was rooted in gospel and proved to be an unmitigated failure.

After changing her name and moving to California, Perry recorded a rock album for Island Records with super-producer Glen Ballard, though it was never released. After a continued series of falling outs and shelved projects with a variety of record labels, Perry's undeniable talent and star quality captured the attention of a Capitol Music executive who signed her in 2007.

katy perry kisses a girl and likes it

While the first song released off Katy Perry's debut album called "Ur So Gay" created online buzz and controversy for obvious reasons, it was the official lead single "I Kissed A Girl," that established Perry as a bona fide pop sensation. The racy tale of woman-on-woman love soared to the top of the Billboard charts where it remained for seven weeks, while drawing the ire of gay and lesbian groups across the country. Perry's mother, an Evangelical Christian, was one of the song's most vocal critics, calling it "shameful and disgusting." Still, its injection into the cultural zeitgeist was undeniable, as was its success, earning Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st Grammys. Her debut album One of the Boys featured a string of equally successful singles including "Hot N' Cold" and "Waking Up in Vegas," making it a platinum-selling disc with a 71 week-long stay on the charts.

katy perry saddles up with russell brand

With her professional career progressing full steam ahead, all Katy Perry lacked was stability in her personal life. Ironic, then, that she began a courtship with notorious British bad-boy Russell Brand. After a rocky on-and-off again relationship with Gym Class Heroes singer Travis McCoy, Perry began seeing Brand after the two met at the MTV Video Awards, and their relationship has progressed into a highly publicized engagement under constant scrutiny from the tabloids. Set to marry this October, the couple is very vocal about their love for one another, and often share intimate details with the press. Though Brand -- a former drug addict -- will forgo the bachelor party festivities, Perry's bachelorette is being thrown by her good friend Rihanna. And yes, we're still waiting for our invitation in the mail.

katy perry looks to dominate the summer

When Katy Perry released "California Gurls" -- the infectious first single from her coming sophomore effort Teenage Dream, it instantly became the front-runner for the coveted "Song of The Summer" crown. The Snoop Dogg-featuring electro banger soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which certainly bodes well for Perry's latest disc, released in the U.S. on August 24th. Perry claims that the song is a direct response to Jay-Z's Big Apple big-up "Empire State of Mind," igniting the fiercest coast wars since Tupac and Biggie went at it in the '90s.

katy perry takes on lady gaga

Speaking of feuds, Katy Perry must have been looking to shake up the pop landscape when she tweeted "using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke," which was perceived as a direct shot at Lady Gaga and her controversial video for "Alejandro." Perry immediately clarified that her statement was directed at blasphemous pop stars in general, not just at Gaga, insisting that she's in fact a fan of the megastar. Millions of men around the world hoping for the world's sexiest cat fight just let out a simultaneous groan.

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Avril Lavigne

From early childhood onward, Avril Lavigne always stood out among the 5,000 residents of Napanee, Ontario -- her 1984 birthplace. At first distinguished from her female peers because of her affinity for the baseball field in the summer and the hockey rink in the winter, Avril became recognizable in the community on the basis of her musical performances.

avril lavigne sings with shania twain
By age 10, she had graduated from the local church choir to the regional fairgrounds, singing country music in competitions. Three years later, Avril Lavigne began making her impact outside of Napanee, as her vocal skill won her the grand prize in a radio station contest: a trip to the city of Ottawa, to perform a duet in concert with another Ontario native, country music star Shania Twain. While this probably ranked as the pinnacle of pubescence for any other 13-year-old girl, Avril Lavigne went on to accomplish far greater things before leaving adolescence.

avril lavigne gets a record deal
By the time Avril Lavigne reached high school, her vocal prowess seemed rivaled only by her ability to play the guitar, and she began sending videotapes of her stage performances to labels and management companies throughout North America. Following a host of rejections, her talent finally caught the eyes of Nettwerk Management, an organization that fostered other such Canadian acts as Sarah McLachlan, Sum 41 and the Barenaked Ladies.

Nettwerk arranged for Avril Lavigne to fly down to New York City to meet with some other songwriters and begin work on a demo tape. As it turned out, Avril Lavigne was signed before she even had a chance to complete the demo. An Arista Records representative came to visit Avril Lavigne at her studio, and was sufficiently impressed with her voice to return with Arista CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid, who immediately signed the 16-year-old to a contract.

avril lavigne moves to new york city
After briefly returning to Canada, Avril Lavigne made the move to Manhattan to embark on her professional career, accompanied by her older brother Matt as an escort. Although she had been signed to Arista strictly as a vocalist, Avril Lavigne balked at the notion of singing someone else's songs and insisted on having a hand in the writing process. When she failed to click with any New York-based songwriters, Avril Lavigne made her third move of the year, this time to Los Angeles.

It was on the West Coast that she met producer/songwriter Cliff Magness, with whom she immediately developed a rapport. The two began composing together, and within a few months' time, Avril Lavigne's debut album had begun to take shape.

avril lavigne releases complicated and the album let go
Avril Lavigne's first single, "Complicated," was released in the early spring of 2002, and immediately began scaling the charts across the continent. By the summer, the track had reached the top spot among Canadian singles, and was in the top 15 on the Billboard Adult 40 list. The popularity of "Complicated" paved the way for the success of Avril's first full-length CD, Let Go, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard charts in June 2002. She received eight Grammy nods and won four Juno Awards for the album.

While Avril Lavigne's vocal range and high-energy musical style has brought her comparisons ranging from Alanis Morissette to Pink, she has been adamant in positioning herself as a unique artist, one who runs counter to the mainstream. This persona has been nurtured thanks to the lyrics of such songs as "Sk8er Boi," wherein Avril Lavigne is none too subtle in voicing her anti-conformist stance, and through her public remarks regarding other female musicians, notably Britney Spears.

avril lavigne releases under my skin

In 2004 Avril Lavigne released her second album, Under My Skin, which debuted at No. 1 in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. The single "My Happy Ending" became her third biggest song. The album helped Avril win two World Music Awards and five Juno nominations. She also won the award for "Favorite Female Singer" at the eighteenth annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. The album sold eight million copies worldwide.

avril lavigne releases the best damn thing

Avril Lavigne's third album The Best Damn Thing debuted at No. 1 in the U.S. as well. The album was produced with the help of her husband, Deryck Whibley of the band Sum 41, and the single "Hot" was a huge success (Avril performed this hit at the American Music Awards). A small tour followed.

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Rihanna Biography

Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, on February 20, 1988. Growing up, Rihanna led a relatively simple, average life on her island home. She attended Combermere, a kind of technical high school, and, despite having a natural singing talent, she didn't give much thought to performing -- aside from singing with her friends for fun.

At one point, though, Rihanna did enter a beauty and talent pageant at her school. Singing Mariah Carey's "Hero" as part of the talent component, Rihanna went on to win the competition. But that performance -- and singing in the shower or in front of the mirror -- was the extent of her musical experience before 2004.

def jam discovers rihanna
During Christmas 2003, a series of chance events unfolded that would change Rihanna's life forever. A New York City record producer, Evan Rogers, was vacationing with his wife near Rihanna's home. A mutual friend introduced them, and after Rihanna belted out a few tunes for Rogers, he realized her potential and invited her to New York to record some demo songs. Rihanna jumped at the opportunity to sing professionally, and she took Rogers up on his offer the following spring.

It wasn't long before Rihanna was auditioning for Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, head of Def Jam Recordings. Despite her nervousness, Rihanna wowed the Def Jam record execs and signed a deal before she walked out the door. Work immediately began on her singles, starting with "Pon de Replay," one of the punchy dance numbers that had first impressed Jay-Z.

rihanna releases pon de replay
The faith Def Jam placed in Rihanna's talent paid off when "Pon de Replay" became a summer smash in 2005. The song hit the third slot on the Billboard charts, and by late August, Rihanna released a second single, "If It's Lovin' That You Want," and her debut album Music of the Sun was out in stores.

The wave of popularity that stemmed from Rihanna's impressive debut carried her onto the small screen. She's been on Live with Regis and Kelly, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Today, and has performed at the 2005 Video Music Awards, World Music Awards and MTV Awards. She's also helped kick off sports events, from a performance alongside Kanye West at the start of the NFL season to a show for the start of the 2005 U.S. Lawn Tennis Open Championships.

rihanna has a hit single with sos

In 2006, Rihanna released her second album, A Girl Like Me, which boasted the hit singles "SOS," "Unfaithful," "We Ride," and "Break It Off" featuring Sean Paul. All of the songs spent some time on the U.S. Billboard charts except "We Ride."

That same year, Rihanna recorded a song called "Winning Women" with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger for P&G’s female deodorant Secret. She also made her acting debut with a role in Bring It On: All or Nothing, which was released on August 8, 2006. To top it off, Rihanna appeared on an episode of the long-running soap opera All My Children and the drama Las Vegas.

rihanna releases umbrella and don't stop the music

2007 was another successful year for the budding talent. Rihanna released her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad. A number of hits also resulted from this album including "Umbrella," which featured Jay-Z. This song was the longest running No. 1 single since Wet Wet Wet's' single "Love Is All Around" back in 1994, and the longest running No. 1 by a female artist since Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad also included the hits "Shut Up And Drive" and "Don't Stop The Music." At the 2007 American Music Awards Rihanna won for Favorite Female Artist in the Soul/Rhythm & Blues category.

rihanna is named no. 8 in 2008 & 2009 top 99

Bursting onto the music scene with panache, Rihanna made a name for herself in the music world in a very short time. Her talent, along with her gorgeous face and figure, make it evident why she was voted No. 8 on AskMen.com's Top 99 of 2008. That same year, she also appeared on several episodes of Dancing with the Stars.

It seemed nothing could bring this shining star down, especially after maintaining her No. 8 position for our Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009, but while Rihanna was scheduled to perform at the 2009 Grammy Awards show, an incident of physical abuse from boyfriend Chris Brown kept the two from performing together on stage. Photos of battered Rihanna circulated the internet days after the incident, and Chris Brown released a statement to the public claiming he was finding the guidance he needed with friends and family, away from Rihanna. After the courts agreed to a plea bargain with Brown, Rihanna fans will be happy to know that part of the plea bargain requires Brown to stay far away from Rihanna. Phew.

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Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson was born in Abilene, Texas, on July 10, 1980, and grew up in the small town of Richardson. Her life was textbook happy and included her father Joe, who was a psychologist and also served as youth minister in the local Baptist church (he later went on to not only become Jessica's manager, but her sister's manager as well).

With this background, it was only normal for young Jessica to participate in church activities and so she sang in the choir. Such was her gift that at the age of 12, she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club.

When she reached the finals, she froze and choked completely. Unfortunately, she didn't get the job.

jessica simpson and tommy mottola

She returned to Richardson, Texas, and bit into the Christian music she had been brought up with. Her father Joe (now her manager) took his daughter on the road, where they worked the Christian Youth Conference circuit. Jessica Simpson sang and sold her home-recorded album after performances. This was a winning formula and while she was still in junior high, Jessica was performing with famous gospel acts like Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.
It wasn't only Christian music fans who got into her music; pop lovers everywhere were being charmed by her voice. This was just the encouragement Jessica needed to pursue a middle-of-the-road pop music career. Sure enough, news of Jessica's success reached important people in the industry. Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records/Sony Music was one of them and he was stunned by Jessica Simpson's voice and skills.

jessica simpson's sweet kisses

Mottola believed Jessica Simpson had the talent to reach mainstream audiences. Still, Jessica Simpson made it clear that she would only be onboard if she could maintain her identity. Luckily, Mottola understood what she believed in and supported her decision.
After signing up with the music giant, her debut album, Sweet Kisses, was released in 1999, giving way to the singles "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "I Think I'm In Love With You." She then hit the road and showed audiences worldwide what the Jessica Simpson craze was all about.
Simpson joined boy band 98 Degrees on its tour and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with one of its members, Nick Lachey. Their budding romance only helped the release of their duet, "Where You Are," off Sweet Kisses.
In June 2001, her sophomore album Irresistible was released. The title track was a smash hit and it went as high as No. 3 on the Top 40 chart. After some remixes, her third album In This Skin was released in August 2003. However, Jessica Simpson's life was about to take a drastic turn.

jessica simpson on mtv's newlyweds

After a short breakup, Jessica and Nick finally got married in October 2002, and the celebrity marriage was rejoiced in gossip columns everywhere. As a result, MTV offered the couple a reality show based on their everyday life as a couple, much like The Osbournes.
The deal was struck and August 2003 marked the debut of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Although the show overshadowed Jessica Simpson's new album, it became an incredible hit and it was picked up for second and third seasons.

Since the world couldn't seem to get enough of their goofy antics, the couple was offered a TV variety special reminiscent of The Sonny and Cher Show.

jessica simpson in the dukes of hazzard

Around the time of her marriage to Nick, Jessica Simpson appeared in three episodes of That '70s Show (between 2002 and 2003) as Kelso's love interest. She also appeared on The Twilight Zone in 2002, all of which led the way for her 2005 big-screen debut wearing sexy "Daisy Dukes" in the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard (costarring Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott). The film coincided with the release of Jessica Simpson's remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking." In 2006, she appeared in Dane Cook's film Employee of the Month.

jessica simpson in a public affair

At the dawn of Jessica Simpson's budding film career she and Nick Lachey filed for divorce, which was finalized in June 2005 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. On the heals of her divorce, she released her fifth album, A Public Affair, in 2006.

jessica simpson is no. 47 on 2008 top 99 and no. 70 in 2009 top 99

In 2006, Jessica Simpson started dating musician John Mayer and they were together for over nine months. The couple hooked up at Christina Aguilera's New Year's Eve party and were spotted months later as affectionate as can be at a post-Grammy bash. They split up in May 2007. And in November 2007, Jessica Simpson began dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

She signed on to take the lead in two 2008 movies -- The Love Guru and Major Movie Star -- and although both of those movies were critically panned, she has stayed true to her music roots and released a country album, Do You Know.

Do You Know has become a hit on the country charts, but during her tour supporting the album she started getting criticized in the tabloids for having gained weight. What started out as a petty observation escalated into a full-on media battle, leading to numerous emotional appearances for Jessica while she battled the criticism about her curves.

Despite the scrutiny and because of all her hard work and penchant for staying in the spotlight, the beautiful and curvaceous Jessica Simpson ranked at No. 70 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009 list. In the summer of 2009, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson ended their relationship.

jessica simpson is "sexual napalm"

After coming in at No. 82 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2010, Jessica Simpson was set to make her return to the spotlight with the March premiere of her VH1 docu-series The Price of Beauty, about the lengths women go to around the world to meet their respective culture's standard of beauty. For better or for worse, Simpson's ex-boyfriend John Mayer beat her to the punch when he told Playboy magazine in an interview that Simpson was "sexual napalm." Simpson responded to Mayer's remarks on Oprah by saying that, she doesn't “want people to know how [she’s] in bed.” Fair enough.

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Emma Watson

You'd never guess that Emma Watson spent the first five years of her life in Paris, thanks to her upper-crust British accent. When her parents, both British lawyers working in France, divorced in 1995, Emma moved with her mother Jacqueline and younger brother Alex to Oxfordshire, England. While growing up, the aspiring actress learned to sing, dance and act at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts.

emma watson gets cast in harry potter and the sorcerer's stone

Emma Watson starred in a number of school plays from age six to nine, but no films of the Hollywood variety. In fact, she had no films at all on her resume. When casting began for the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Emma's theater teacher directed casting agents to the budding actress. Eight auditions later and Watson, along with her then-future castmates Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, landed the leading roles that would soon change the course of their lives. Sure, that might sound cliche, but when you're nine years old and you star in the highest grossing film of the year, life takes you by the hand and says, "Guess what, you're not going to be like anyone else you've known up until this point. Take a mental picture now and brace yourself."

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone went on to make $975 million worldwide, en route to becoming one of the most lucrative movies of all time. Emma Watson reclaimed her role as bookworm Hermione for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). How many people get to watch not only themselves but their character grow up on camera?

emma watson and teen vogue

Along the way, Emma Watson has been featured on the cover of Teen Vogue a total of three times, acted with luminaries like Richard Harris and Gary Oldman and has become a regular on the talk show circuit. In 2007, she starred in the fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

emma watson in harry potter and the half-blood prince

After lending her voice to the animated flick The Tale of Despereaux, which costarred Dustin Hoffman, Sigourney Weaver and Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson began Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which came out in July of 2009. Prior to the opening of The Half-Blood Prince, the Potter flicks had already taken in over $4.5 billion worth of ticket sales.

emma watson finishes filming the harry potter series

Emma Watson recently wrapped up filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (out in 2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (out in 2011). Where will you see her post-Potter? University, most likely. "Until something comes along that I feel as strongly about as I did Hermione -- like, I felt that it was life or death -- I don't want to act again," says the young actress who plans to study English literature and art at an Ivy League school this fall.

emma watson and burberry

Emma Watson won't be completely out of the limelight any time soon, and not just because Harry Potter films will be in theaters until 2011. Emma will star in Burberry's Fall/Winter 2009, shot by none other than world-renowned photographer Mario Testino.

Gaining more and more attention as a style icon, one of Emma Watson's favorite fashion houses is Chanel and, given that she herself admits she has enough money never to work again, we can understand why. The actress had the opportunity to meet Chanel's head honcho, the eccentric Karl Lagerfeld, when he recently photographed her for French magazine. "I'd met Karl a few times before, at parties or something where we really couldn't talk," says Emma. "But this was a dream come true." Yes, she gets to call him "Karl."

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Shakira Biography and Photo

Shakira is a two-time Grammy Award-winning and seven-time Latin Grammy Award-winning artist and celebrity. She has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s, but in 2001, she made her mark in the English-speaking world with the release of "Laundry Service".shakira is the only child of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Spanish and Italian ancestry, and William Mebarak Chadid, of Lebanese descent.

Name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Famously known as: Shaki
Birth date: 02-02-1977
Birth place: Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Parents: Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and William Mebarak Chadid
Profession: Singer-songwriter,dancer,music video director, record producer, philanthropist,actress
Genre: Pop, latin pop, rock en Español, pop-rock, R&B
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums

Engaged to: Antonio de la Rúa(in 2001)

Shakira

Shakira

Shakira wallpaper

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Angelina Jolie Tattoo

Angelina Jolie Tattoo

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Ellen Page Photo

Ellen Page Photo

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Octomom Biography

Nadya Denise Suleman was born October 12, 1975, in Fullerton, California. The only child of a high school teacher and a Realtor, she always hoped to have a large family of her own. “I just longed for connections and attachments with another person that I really lacked, I believe, growing up,” she says.

nadya suleman has difficulty conceiving

Nadya Suleman came one step closer to starting a family of her own in 1996 when she married Marcos Gutierrez. Unfortunately, she and her husband could not conceive children. “I went through about seven years of trying,” she explains. “And through artificial insemination... medication.... all of which was unsuccessful.” Upon closer examination, doctors discovered she had lesions in her fallopian tubes, thereby further complicating her attempts to become pregnant.

nadya suleman begins saving for in vitro fertilization

Nadya Suleman never abandoned her dream of having children. She began saving for in vitro fertilization (IVF) by working around the clock as a psychiatric technician at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California. “I was able to work double-shifts, constantly working double-shifts, 'cause I was hoarding my money, and I was saving it and nonstop working,” she says. “I was so driven, so determined, I wouldn't give up. There's no way I would have ever allowed any obstacle… to get in my way of my dream.” Creepy.

nadya suleman goes on disability

Nadya Suleman had already saved enough money for several procedures by 1999 when she suffered a severe lower back injury in a riot at the hospital. The ensuing trauma left her unable to work, and she began receiving disability payments. She also fell into a deep depression which, coupled with her inability to conceive children, led to the termination of her marriage in 2000.

nadya suleman has six children in five and a half years

Still determined to become a mother, Nadya Suleman convinced a platonic friend to donate his sperm and, on May 18, 2001, she finally gave birth to a baby boy named Elijah. “I kept praying,” she says. “And it worked.” Suleman underwent another IVF treatment soon after, and 13 months later gave birth to a little girl named Amerah. And she didn’t stop there. Another IVF treatment resulted in the birth of a second boy named Joshua in August of 2003. “At that point, the doctor's like: ‘You're the only one who's come back more than twice,’” she says. “But he knew I wanted a big family, and this [was] my only option.” She then gave birth to Aidan in 2005 and to twins Caleb and Calyssa in 2006, giving her a total of six children in just five and a half years. Still unable to work, Suleman supported her children through her rapidly diminishing savings, student loans and her disability checks.

nadya suleman undergoes another round of in vitro fertilization

Nadya Suleman made another life-changing decision the following year when she opted to use the frozen embryos left over from the batch that produced her twins. “I couldn't live with the fact that if I had never used them, [I’d] be 70 years old and regret the fact that I didn't allow these little embryos to live,” she explains. The first two IVF treatments were unsuccessful, but then, in June of 2008, she was informed that all six embryos had been successfully transferred. “I embraced it fully,” she says.

nadya suleman gives birth to octuplets

Nadya Suleman’s pregnancy progressed well until the fifth month when the extraordinary weight of the fetuses snapped several of her ribs, forcing her to go on bed rest. She was then brought into hospital at 30 weeks for an emergency C-section after doctors expressed concern that one of the babies was not growing. Suleman was still in for one more major surprise when doctors discovered she was carrying eight babies and not seven as previously thought, meaning that two of her six embryos had resulted in twins. “I actually started crying,” she admits. “It was an overwhelming feeling of shock.”

the public reacts in disgust

Public reaction to the birth was at first positive until news started to leak that Nadya Suleman was unmarried, unemployed and already had six other children under the age of eight. Protesters eventually gathered in front of her home and even threatened her life. Despite the negative backlash, Suleman says she does not regret her decision to have more children and believes strongly that she is a responsible mother. “I'm providing for my children,” she says. “I'm providing myself to my children. I'm loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally. I have a plan.”

Nadya Suleman’s babies are now out of the hospital and have since become the longest surviving octuplets in U.S. history.

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Olga Kurylenko Biography

Olga Kurylenko was born and raised in the small town of Berdyansk, in southern Ukraine, and dreamed of getting away from there to live a more exciting and glamorous life. When she was 15, she went to Moscow for a week's vacation at the suggestion of her mother, and it was there that she was "discovered" by a scout from a modeling agency. Olga was soon living in Paris where she began working immediately. Her first gig was a photo shoot in sunny Cuba.

olga kurylenko in paris, je t'aime

Olga Kurylenko eventually became interested in acting, as she began studying at a theater school during her spare time. She landed her first big screen role playing Iris in the French drama L'Annulaire. The film became a favorite at the 2005 Toronto Film Fest, and earned her the Certificate of Excellence as Best Actress at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. In 2006, Olga Kurylenko portrayed The Vampire, opposite Elijah Wood's Tourist, in the ”Quartier de la Madeleine” segment of Paris, je t'aime, and also appeared in the French-Swiss telefilm Le Porte-bonheur.

olga kurylenko in quantum of solace

Next Olga Kurylenko appeared in Suspectes, a mini-series which aired on French television during the spring of 2007. Her other credits for that year included the role of sexy seductress Sofia in the thriller Le Serpent (aka The Snake) as Nika, and opposite Timothy Olyphant's Agent 47 in Hitman, based on the video game of the same name. She also played Mina Harud in the sci-fi drama Tyranny, which was introduced as a web-series before hitting the big screen sometime in 2008.

Olga Kurylenko became the next Bond girl, Camille, for the '08 flick Quantum of Solace, a role that finally solidified her place in Hollywood.

Look for her in '09 in the film Kirot.

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Ellen Page Biography

Canadian thespian Ellen Page didn't grow up anywhere close to Hollywood, or even Hollywood North (Vancouver) for that matter. Her humble beginnings came in Nova Scotia, where she alternated between competing interests in tree-climbing, action figure duels, soccer, and performance. An aspiring performer since age 4, she developed her interest further by appearing in school productions like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which she played Charlie, and courses at her hometown's Neptune Theatre School. She would make her screen debut at 10 by playing Maggie in 1997's Pit Pony, a TV movie that would later be picked up as a TV series. In 29 episodes on the show, Page would hone her craft while also being rewarded with nominations at the Young Artist Awards and the Genie Awards.

Ellen Page continued to develop her acting reputation through intense training and impressive credits. On the training side, she moved to Toronto, where she took on a heavy drama-infused course load at Vaughan Road Academy. On the acting side, she enjoyed a recurring guest role as Treena Lahey on the Canadian TV favorite, Trailer Park Boys, before winning the female ACTRA Maritimes Award for Outstanding Performance for her work in the searing family drama Marion Bridge. The first of two Gemini Awards for Ellen Page would come via another family drama, where she played a girl coping with the loss of her mother in Mrs. Ashboro's Cat. Now a pro at playing it nice, Page would soon turn the tables on her screen type and come out stronger on the other side.

ellen page in x-men: the last stand and juno

Not wanting her fans and industry observers to prematurely conclude that she could only play nice, Ellen Page played a pair of darker characters in 2005 that deservedly bolstered her acting credibility and overall awareness. In Mouth to Mouth, she aptly played an impressionable teen in who gets caught up in the ill-advised activities of a European youth gang. For her subsequent effort, Hard Candy, she portrayed a conniving girl who squares off against a suspected pedophile (Patrick Wilson). The merciless on-screen battle would feature her using a scalpel and a bag of ice in ways that would be enough to make any man squirm.

Following this pair of serious-minded indies, Ellen Page sent some love to the comic book crowd for the 2006 superhero sequel, X-Men: The Last Stand. As Kitty Pryde, the mutant gifted with the superhuman ability of phasing, Page gamely established the character as her own after following in the footsteps of two different predecessors. Page's string of engaging performances -- and especially her work in Hard Candy -- caught the eye of director Jason Reitman, who made her his first choice to play the opinionated and very pregnant teen title character in the 2007 indie dramedy, Juno. She accepted the role and the resulting film became a surprise blockbuster, grossing more than $230 million around the world. As Juno-isms like "honest to blog" became rampant across pop culture and teen pregnancy's like Bristol Palin's became fodder for "copycat pregnancy" accusations, Page reaped the benefits of increased popularity and success by netting an Oscar nomination for her endearing performance. Marion Cotillard, was eventually crowned the winner.

ellen page in whip it and inception

At this point in her career, moviegoers and pop culture observers couldn't get enough of Ellen Page. To go along with kudos from Entertainment Weekly, FHM and Time, Ellen Page hosted Saturday Night Live in 2008 and appeared in animated form on The Simpsons a year later. For the latter, she poked fun at entertainment tween queen Miley Cyrus by voicing the satirical character, Alaska Nebraska. Where movies were concerned, she joined the 2008 Dennis Quaid-Sarah Jessica Parker ensemble dramedy, Funny People, which was followed by Whip It, the cinematic ode to roller derby that cast Page as a Texas teen who learns to "Be your own hero." The film was also Drew Barrymore's directorial debut.

In 2010, Ellen Page joined the cast of what would become her biggest film to date -- Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller, Inception -- which was top-lined by Leonardo DiCaprio. Besides being yet another prime showcase for her talents, the film was also notable for Ellen Page in its casting of her previous Oscar competition, Marion Cotillard, in a supporting role. Following Inception, Ellen Page traded barbs with Rainn Wilson of The Office in the superhero comedy, Super, before going the cable route opposite Diane Keaton for Tilda, a series about DeadlineHollywood.com creator, Nikki Finke.

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Elisabeth Moss Biography

Elisabeth Moss was born on July 24, 1982, and raised in Los Angeles. The daughter of a jazz musician and a harmonica player, Elisabeth Moss was raised by parents who encouraged her to indulge in her every artistic whim. She subsequently enrolled in ballet classes at the tender age of 5, and began auditioning for a variety of movies and television shows shortly thereafter.

In 1990, Elisabeth Moss made her professional debut with a bit part in an obscure made-for-television movie entitled Bar Girls. That same year, she worked side-by-side with such fellow up-and-coming actresses as Sandra Bullock, Shawnee Smith and Nicolette Sheridan in the Emmy-winning miniseries Lucky Chances. Elisabeth Moss spent the next several years appearing in a whole host of movies and television shows, including the 1994 Harvey Keitel drama Imaginary Crimes and The Last Supper, a 1995 black comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Bill Paxton and Annabeth Gish.

It was also around that time that Elisabeth Moss got her first taste of success on the small screen after she landed a recurring role on the popular David E. Kelley drama Picket Fences. Her work on the critically acclaimed CBS show opened doors for her all over Hollywood, and Elisabeth Moss soon found herself appearing alongside such familiar faces as Michelle Pfeiffer, Natalie Portman and Jason Lee in a variety of projects.

elisabeth moss in girl, interrupted and the west wing

In 1999, Elisabeth Moss joined the predominantly female cast of Girl, Interrupted and quickly found herself propelled to an entirely new level of fame thanks to her searing performance opposite Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy. That same year, Elisabeth Moss kicked off a run of 25 episodes on the Emmy-winning series The West Wing in which she took on the high-profile role of President Bartlet’s daughter Zoey. Elisabeth Moss proved that she could more than hold her own opposite such powerhouse performers as Martin Sheen and Allison Janney, and her efforts eventually landed her a nomination for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actress at the 2001 Young Artist Awards.

elisabeth moss on mad men

The turn of the century found Elisabeth Moss appearing in a variety of critically acclaimed independent projects, with her work alongside Robin Wright Penn in the 2003 drama Virgin earning her a nod for Best Female Lead at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards (she lost to Charlize Theron). She followed that up by taking on a series of guest spots on shows like The Practice, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Medium, though it wasn’t until she successfully auditioned for a starring role on the made-for-AMC series Mad Men that Elisabeth Moss finally took her place in the limelight.

The series became an instant hit among critics and discerning viewers, with its bracingly authentic look at the lives of 1950s era advertising executives eventually landing it a record number of Emmy nominations. Elisabeth Moss’ work has been singled out for its complexity and depth, and it’s certainly not surprising to note that she is, along with Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks, considered one of the show’s breakout stars.

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