1.
Meryl Streep
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Mary Louise Meryl Streep is an American actress and philanthropist. Nominated for 20 Academy Awards, Streep has more nominations than any actor or actress. Streep has also received 30 Golden Globe nominations, winning eight—more nominations, Streep made her professional stage debut in Trelawny of the Wells in 1975, and in 1976 received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. She made her debut in the 1977 television film The Deadliest Season. In 1978, she won an Emmy Award for her role in the miniseries Holocaust and she went on to win Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer, and Best Actress for Sophies Choice and The Iron Lady. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2010 National Medal of Arts, in 2003, the government of France made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2017, Streep was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. Mary Louise Streep was born on June 22,1949, in Summit, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Wolf Wilkinson, a commercial artist and art editor, the eldest child, she has two younger brothers, Dana David and Harry William III. Streeps father Harry was of German and Swiss ancestry and her fathers lineage traces back to Loffenau, Germany, from where her second great-grandfather, Gottfried Streeb, immigrated to the United States, and where one of her ancestors served as mayor. Another line of her fathers family was from Giswil, Switzerland and her mother had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Some of Streeps maternal ancestors lived in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island and were descended from 17th-century immigrants from England and her eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was one of the first Europeans to settle in Rhode Island. Streep is also a distant relative of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, Streeps maternal great-great-grandparents, Manus McFadden and Grace Strain, the namesake of Streeps second daughter, were natives of the Horn Head district of Dunfanaghy, Ireland. Streeps mother, whom she has compared in both appearance and manner to Dame Judi Dench, strongly encouraged her daughter and instilled confidence in her from a young age. Streep has said, She was a mentor because she said to me, Meryl and she was saying, You can do whatever you put your mind to. If youre lazy, youre not going to get it done, but if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. Although Streep was naturally more introverted than her mother, at times when she later needed an injection of confidence in adulthood, she would consult her mother, asking her for advice. Streep was raised as a Presbyterian in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and attended Cedar Hill Elementary School and the Oak Street School, in her Junior High debut, she starred as Lousie Heller in the play The Family Upstairs. In 1963 the family moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey, where she attended Bernards High School
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Joan Crawford
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Joan Crawford was an American film and television actress who began her career as a dancer and stage showgirl. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Crawford tenth on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Beginning her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies, before debuting as a girl on Broadway. In the 1930s, Crawfords fame rivaled, and later outlasted, MGM colleagues Norma Shearer, Crawford often played hard-working young women who find romance and success. These stories were received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. But her career gradually improved in the early 1940s, and she made a comeback in 1945 by starring in Mildred Pierce. She would go on to receive Best Actress nominations for Possessed, in 1955, Crawford became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her marriage to company Chairman Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors, following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life and became increasingly reclusive until her death in 1977. Her first three ended in divorce, the last ended with the death of husband Alfred Steele. She adopted five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother, Crawfords relationships with her two older children, Christina and Christopher, were acrimonious. Crawford disinherited the two, and, after Crawfords death, Christina wrote a well-known tell-all memoir titled Mommie Dearest, Crawfords remains are interred at the Ferncliff Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York. Born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, on March 23, Crawfords birth year is disputed, with 1904,1905 and she was the youngest and third child of father Thomas E. LeSueur, a laundry laborer, and mother Anna Bell Johnson. Johnson was of English, French Huguenot, Swedish, and Irish ancestry, Crawfords elder siblings were sister Daisy LeSueur, who died before Lucilles birth, and brother Hal LeSueur. Crawfords father abandoned the family a few months before her birth, reappearing later in 1930 in Abilene, Texas, following LeSueurs departure from the family home, Crawfords mother married Henry J. Cassin. The marriage is listed in the census as Crawfords mothers first marriage, Crawford lived with her mother, stepfather, and siblings in Lawton, Oklahoma. There, Cassin, an impresario, ran the Ramsey Opera House and managed to book diverse. At that time, Crawford was reportedly unaware that Cassin, whom she called daddy, was not her father until her brother Hal told her the truth. Crawford preferred the nickname Billie as a child and enjoyed watching vaudeville acts perform on the stage of her stepfathers theatre, because the familys instability negatively affected Crawfords childhood, her schooling never formally progressed beyond elementary school
4.
Academy Award for Best Actress
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The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Janet Gaynor receiving the award for her roles in 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actresses were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actress is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, one actress has been nominated posthumously, Jeanne Eagels. Only three film characters have been nominated more than once in this category, elizabeth I of England, Leslie Crosbie in The Letter, and Esther Blodgett in A Star is Born. Six women on the list have received an Honorary Academy Award for their acting, they are Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Mary Pickford, Deborah Kerr, Gena Rowlands, since its inception, the award has been given to 74 actresses. Katharine Hepburn has won the most awards in this category, with four Oscars, meryl Streep, who has a total of 20 Oscar nominations, has been nominated in this category on 16 occasions, resulting in two awards. As of the 2017 ceremony, Emma Stone is the most recent winner in category for her role as Mia Dolan in La La Land. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933
5.
Anna Magnani
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Anna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four international awards. Born in Rome, she worked her way through Romes Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs, during her career, her only child was stricken by polio when he was 18 months old and remained crippled. She was referred to as La Lupa, the perennial toast of Rome, time magazine described her personality as fiery, and drama critic Harold Clurman said her acting was volcanic. In the realm of Italian cinema she was passionate, fearless, and exciting, director Roberto Rossellini called her the greatest acting genius since Eleonora Duse. Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo specifically for her to star in, a role for which she received an Oscar in 1955. As an actress she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of earthy lower-class women in films as LAmore, Bellissima, The Rose Tattoo, The Fugitive Kind. As early as 1950 Life magazine had stated that Magnani was one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo. Magnanis parentage and birthplace are uncertain, some sources suggest she was born in Rome, others in Egypt. Magnani herself stated that her mother was married in Egypt but returned to Rome before giving birth to her at Porta Pia and she was enrolled in a French convent school in Rome where she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the stage their Christmas plays. This period of formal education lasted until the age of fourteen and she was a plain, frail child with a forlornness of spirit. Her grandparents compensated by pampering her with food and clothes, yet while growing up, she is said to have felt more at ease around more earthly companions, often befriending the toughest kid on the block. This trait carried over into her life when she proclaimed. Give me the life of the streets, of common people, at age 17, she went on to study at the Eleonora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome for two years. To support herself, Magnani sang in nightclubs and cabarets, leading to her being dubbed the Italian Édith Piaf, however, an actor friend Micky Knox, writes that she never studied acting formally and started her career in Italian music halls singing traditional Roman Folk songs. She had the ability to call up emotions at will, to move an audience, stage She was considered an outstanding theatre actress in Anna Christie and The Petrified Forest and had a successful career in variety shows. Early film roles In 1933 she was acting in plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini
6.
Olivia de Havilland
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Olivia Mary de Havilland is a retired American actress whose career spanned from 1935 to 1990. She appeared in 49 feature films, and was one of the movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. Born in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland and her younger sister Joan moved to California in 1919 and they were brought up by their mother Lilian, a former stage actress who taught them dramatic art, music, and elocution. De Havilland made her debut in amateur theatre in Alice in Wonderland. Olivia de Havilland made her debut in Reinhardts A Midsummer Nights Dream in 1935. She began her career playing demure ingénues opposite popular leading men, including Errol Flynn and they became one of Hollywoods most popular romantic on-screen pairings. She achieved her initial popularity in romantic films, such as The Great Garrick. Her natural beauty and refined acting style made her particularly effective in historical dramas, such as Anthony Adverse. In her later career, she was most successful in films, such as Light in the Piazza. In addition to her career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre. For her contributions to the picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After romantic relationships with Howard Hughes, James Stewart, and John Huston, de Havilland married author Marcus Goodrich, with whom she had a son, Benjamin. Following her divorce from Goodrich in 1953, she moved to Paris and married Pierre Galante, in 1962, she published Every Frenchman Has One, an account of her life in France. De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are the siblings to have won Academy Awards in a lead acting category. A lifelong rivalry between the two resulted in an estrangement that lasted over three decades. She has lived in Paris since 1956, and celebrated her 100th birthday on July 1,2016, De Havilland was born on July 1,1916, in Tokyo, Japan, to English parents. Her father, Walter de Havilland, served as an English professor at the Imperial University in Tokyo before becoming a patent attorney and her mother, Lilian Fontaine, was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a stage actress. Lilian also sang with the Master of the Kings Music, Sir Walter Parratt, Olivias paternal cousin was Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, an aircraft designer and founder of the de Havilland aircraft company
7.
Gloria Swanson
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Gloria May Josephine Swanson was an American actress and producer best known for her role as Norma Desmond, a reclusive silent film star, in the critically acclaimed 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. Swanson was also a star in the silent film era as both an actress and an icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. She starred in dozens of silent films and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the Best Actress category and she also produced her own films, including Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya. In 1929, Swanson transitioned to talkies with The Trespasser, personal problems and changing tastes saw her popularity wane during the 1930s when she moved into theater, and later television. Gloria May Josephine Swanson was born in a house in Chicago in 1899 to Adelaide and Joseph Theodore Swanson. Her father was from a strict Lutheran Swedish American family, and her mother was of German, French, and Polish ancestry. Because of her fathers attachment to the U. S. Army, the family moved frequently and Swanson ended up spending most of her childhood in Puerto Rico and she also spent time in Key West, Florida. After a few months as a working with others like Charlie Chaplin. Her parents would soon separate and she and her mother moved to California, Swanson made her film debut in 1914 as an extra in The Song of Soul for Essanay. She reportedly asked to be in the movie just for fun, Essanay hired her to feature in several movies, including His New Job, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. Swanson auditioned for the female role in Swanson moved to California in 1916 to appear in Mack Sennetts Keystone comedies opposite Bobby Vernon. With their great chemistry, the pair became popular. Director Charley Chase recalled that she was frightened to death of Vernons dangerous stunts, conquering her fears, however, she often cooperated with Vernon. Surviving films in which appear together include The Danger Girl, The Sultans Wife. In 1919 she signed with Paramount Pictures and worked often with Cecil B. DeMille, who turned her into a lead in such films as Dont Change Your Husband, Male and Female with the famous scene posing as the Lions Bride with a real lion. Something to Think About, and The Affairs of Anatol, in the space of two years, Swanson rocketed to stardom and was one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood. She later appeared in a series of films directed by Sam Wood and she starred in Beyond the Rocks with her longtime friend Rudolph Valentino
8.
Ruth Gordon
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Ruth Gordon Jones, known as Ruth Gordon, was an American film, stage, and television actress, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Gordon began her performing on Broadway at age nineteen. Known for her voice and distinctive personality, she gained international recognition. Her later work included performances in Rosemarys Baby, Harold and Maude, in addition to her acting career, Gordon wrote numerous plays, film scripts, and books, most notably co-writing the screenplay for the 1949 film Adams Rib. Gordon won an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two Golden Globe awards for her acting, as well as receiving three Academy Award nominations for her writing, Ruth Gordon Jones was born at 31 Marion Street in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was the child of Annie Tapley and Clinton Jones. Her first appearance in the public eye came as an infant when her photograph was used in advertising for her fathers employer, prior to graduating from Quincy High School, she wrote to several of her favorite actresses requesting autographed pictures. A personal reply from Hazel Dawn inspired her to go into acting, although her father was skeptical of her chances of success in a difficult profession, in 1914 he took his daughter to New York, where he enrolled her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1915, Gordon appeared as an extra in silent films that were shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey, including as a dancer in The Whirl of Life, woollcott, who described her favorably as ever so gay, would become her friend and mentor. In 1918, Gordon played opposite actor Gregory Kelly in the Broadway adaptation of Booth Tarkingtons Seventeen, the pair continued to perform together in North American tours of Frank Cravens The First Year and Tarkingtons Clarence and Tweedles. Then in 1920, Gordon and Kelly were wed, in December 1920, Gordon checked into a Chicago hospital to have her legs broken and straightened to treat her lifelong bow-leggedness. After a three-month recovery, she and Kelly relocated to Indianapolis where they started a repertory company, Kelly died of heart disease in 1927, at the age of 36. In 1929, Gordon was starring in the hit play, Serena Blandish and their son, Jones Harris, was born in Paris that year and Gordon brought him back to New York. Although they never married, Gordon and Harris provided their son with a normal upbringing, in 1932 the family was living discreetly in a small, elegant New York City brownstone. Gordon married her husband, writer Garson Kanin, who was 16 years her junior. Gordon and Kanin collaborated on the screenplays for the Katharine Hepburn – Spencer Tracy films Adams Rib and Pat, both films were directed by George Cukor. The couple were friends of Hepburn and Tracy, and incorporated elements of their real personalities in the films. Gordon and Kanin received Academy Awards nominations for both of those screenplays, as well as for that of a film, A Double Life
9.
Young Bess
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Young Bess is a 1953 Technicolor biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about the early life of Elizabeth I, from her turbulent childhood to the eve of her accession to the throne of England. The film was directed by George Sidney and produced by Sidney Franklin, from a screenplay by Jan Lustig, following the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, for infidelity, Elizabeth I is exiled to Hatfield House and declared illegitimate by her father, King Henry VIII. She is accompanied by her servants, Mr. Parry. Over the years, her position rises and falls on the whim of her father, the child is periodically summoned back to London to become acquainted with Henrys latest spouse. When Henry marries his last wife, Catherine Parr, the now-teenage Elizabeth finally rebels against her latest summons, however, the suave, handsome Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour persuades her to change her mind, and Elizabeth and Catherine become good friends. Meanwhile, Henry is impressed and amused by the defiance of his daughter. When Henry dies, Thomass scheming brother Ned takes over as Lord Protector and guardian of King Edward VI during his minority, Ned and Thomas do not like each other, and Neds fear of his brothers ambition grows with each of Thomass naval triumphs. By now, Elizabeth realizes she is in love with Thomas and she refuses to believe Mrs. Ashleys warning that he loves someone else until she sees Thomas and Catherine embrace in secret. Ned had blocked Thomas from marrying into the family. As they live in the household in Chelsea, Thomas grows too close to Elizabeth without even knowing it, until one day he sees Elizabeth being kissed by Barnaby. Prompted by jealousy, Thomas kisses Elizabeth, who declares her love for him, Catherine, who has noticed the closeness between her husband and Elizabeth, asks Elizabeth to make a choice, and the princess moves back to Hatfield. Soon after, Catherine sickens and dies, after months of Thomas being away at sea, he returns and finally sees Elizabeth. Ned has him arrested and charged with treason and he also accuses Elizabeth of plotting with Thomas to overthrow her brother. She goes to see Edward, but is too late to save Thomas from execution, the film then shifts forward to 1558. Having survived the perils of her life, and with Edward deceased and her elder sister Mary dying. Early on Elizabeth Taylor was mentioned as a star, however she was young, Deborah Kerr signed with MGM and she was announced as star, and the part written older. MGM announced filming in England in 1948, with Kerr to make it after Edward, then Jean Simmons was announced as lead. This was partly at the behest of J. Arthur Rank who had Simmons under contract, Simmons had married Stewart Granger and he signed to co star
10.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
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