(Watch video at end of post of Andrea getting ready to skydive.)
Born and raised in St Charles, Missouri, Andrea Bogart attended Missouri State University. She has acted and danced all over the world including in Japan and Fiji.
The 5-foot 7-inch actress has appeared on TV in guest starring roles in "Rizzoli & Isles," "The Mentalist," "Two and a Half Men," "Nip/Tuck," "Eli Stone," "My Boys," "Ghost Whisperer," "CSI: NY" and other roles. Her feature film credits include lead roles in Dark Ride (Lion's Gate Films), The Last Run (New Line), Master of Disguise (Sony), The Secret Lives of Dorks and Bar Starz.
Andrea's nationally run commercials include a Super Bowl ad for Coors Light, Cadillac, Electrolux, Taco Bell (for their Bacon Club Chalupa), Nike, Gap and others. In March 2011, Andrea portrayed "the weather girl" in a national AT&T commercial, asking if Marcel is listening to her.
She has also appeared in music videos for Smash Mouth, LFO, 98 Degrees, Moby and Marc Anthony. She also appeared on the small stage in leading performances in "Burn This" and "Postcards From LA."
Since October 2010, Bogart has portrayed Abigail "Abby" Haver, a stripper who befriends Michael, on General Hospital.
(Press DVD cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):
… she died on August 5, 1962 when she was 36 years-old.
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson to a single mother in Los Angeles but raised as Norma Jeane Baker. She spent much of her childhood in foster homes.
When she was 16, Norma Jeane married Jim Dougherty moved in with Dougherty's mother while he searved in the Merchant Marine during World War II. Norma Jeane worked in the Radioplane Munitions Factory. She sprayed airplane parts with fire retardant and inspected parachutes.
Army photographer David Conover snapped a photograph of her for a Yank magazine article. He encouraged her to apply to The Blue Book Modeling Agency. She signed with the agency and began researching the work of Jean Harlow and Lana Turner. She was told that they were looking for models with lighter hair, so Norma Jeane bleached her brunette hair to a golden blonde.
Norma Jeane Dougherty became one of Blue Book's most successful models, appearing on dozens of magazine covers.
Jim Dougherty was oblivious of his wife's new job until he discovered one of his shipmates admiring a revealing photo of Norma Jeane in a magazine. Dougherty corresponded with her via several letters stating that once he returned from service, she would have to give up her modeling. A dissatisfied Norma Jeane, who now saw the possibilities of a modeling and acting career, decided to divorce Dougherty when he returned from overseas in 1946.
Her successful modeling career caught the attention of Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, who arranged a screen test for her. Lyon was impressed and commented, "It's Jean Harlow all over again."
(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)
(Press album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):
-----
She was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week. Lyon did not like the name Norma Jeane and chose "Carole Lind" as a stage-name, after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind, but the name was quickly abandoned. Following her idol Jean Harlow, Norma Jeane decided to choose her mother's maiden name of Monroe.
Several variations such as Norma Jeane Monroe and Norma Monroe were tried and initially "Jeane Monroe" was chosen. Since there were so many actresses with the name Jean, and wanting a more alliterative sounding name, Lyon suggested "Marilyn," commenting that she reminded him of Marilyn Miller, the sexy 1920's Broadway actress.
Norma Jeane was initially hesitant. Lyon, however, felt that the name "Marilyn Monroe" was sexy, had a "nice flow," and would be "lucky" due to the double "M" and thus Norma Jeane Baker took the name Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn Monroe's first movie role was an uncredited role as a telephone operator in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim in 1947.
Her 1950 performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve were well received.
By 1953, Monroe had progressed to leading roles. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comedic effect in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953, How toMarry a Millionaire the same year and The Seven Year Itch two years later.
Convinced her roles were being limited by typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio to broaden her range. Her dramatic performance in Bus Stop in 1956 was hailed by critics, and she received a Golden Globe nomination.
Her production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, released The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957, for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination and won a David di Donatello award. She received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like It Hot in 1959.
Marilyn Monroe could sing. And she did so in a number of movies including Ladies of the Chorus, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, Some Like it Hot and Let’s Make Love. And, she could sing with dramatic effect, Her performance as Chérie in Bus Stop, a saloon singer with little talent, marked a departure from her earlier comedies.
She also recorded a few songs for RCA; "She Acts Like A Woman Should," "You'd Be Surprised," "A Fine Romance" and "Do It Again."
Of course, her best known singing performance was a birthday wish to President John F. Kennedy.
-----
The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal problems, and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates, have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a "probable suicide," the possibility of an accidental overdose, as well as the possibility of homicide, have not been ruled out.
-----
In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. In the years and decades following her death, Monroe has often been cited as a pop and cultural icon as well as an eminent American sex symbol.
Darryl "D.M.C." is one of the pioneers of hip hop culture and founding members of the hip hop group Run-D.M.C.
-----
McDaniels grew up in Hollis, Queens, New York and attended St. John's University. He first became interested in hip hop music after listening to recordings of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. In 1978, McDaniels taught himself to DJ in the basement of his adopted parents' home, using turntables and a mixer given to him by his older brother, Alford. During this period he adopted the stage name "Grandmaster Get High.”
McDaniels sold his DJ equipment, after his friend Joseph "Run" Simmons acquired his own turntables and mixer. After Jam-Master Jay - who already had a solid reputation as a young DJ joined the group—Run encouraged McDaniels to rap rather than DJ. McDaniels agreed, and adopted the nickname of "Easy D.” In 1981, he dropped the "Easy D" moniker in favor of "DMcD,” then to the shorter "D.M.C..” (D.M.C. stood for both "Devastating Mic Controller" and his childhood nickname "Darryl Mac.”)
In 1984, the trio released their self-titled, debut album. The group's success continued to grow and reached its peak with their third album Raising Hell. The album went to #6 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on its Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making Run-D.M.C. the most popular hip-hop group at the time. During this time, McDaniels began to build a reputation as a heavy drinker and was arrested twice for public intoxication and driving while intoxicated.
In 1997, McDaniels began to slide into a deep depression. He became extremely unhappy with the rigorous routine of touring and performing and being apart from his wife and newborn son. While on tour, McDaniels’ voice weakened. He was later diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a vocal disorder which causes involuntary spasms of the larynx muscles.
McDaniels also began to have creative differences with his bandmates in Run-DMC, which by then, was a commercially successful hip-hop group. A longtime fan of artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Harry Chapin, McDaniels wanted to move towards a slower, softer sound, while Run wanted to continue with the aggressive, hard rock-edged, sound that the group was known for.
These disagreements caused McDaniels to sit out most of the recording of the album Crown Royal - appearing on only three songs.
McDaniels heard Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel" on the radio. The song touched McDaniels deeply that it inspired him to reassess his life and career. (He has credited McLachlan and her album Surfacing with saving his life.)
(NOTE: A video of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" is featured on her post.)
(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)
(Press book or album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):
-----
With a new outlook, McDaniels decided to write his autobiography. While researching his early years, he found out he was three months old. He also learned that he was born in Harlem, Manhattan, not Hollis, Queens, as he had always believed. He began working with the VH1 network on a documentary chronicling his quest. His autobiography, King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility, and My Life with Run-DMC, was released in January 2001.
In February 2006, VH1 premiered the documentary titled DMC: My Adoption Journey. The program ends with McDaniels reuniting with his birth mother, and, despite previous information, was not of Dominican descent.
In March 2006, McDaniels released his long-awaited solo album, Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll. The first single, "Just Like Me,” features an interpolation of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" performed by Sarah McLachlan. During a recording session, McLachlan revealed to McDaniels that she, too, was adopted.
In September 2006, Darryl McDaniels was presented with the Congressional Angels in Adoption Award for his work with children in foster care and promotion of adoption. He founded a summer camp providing 170 foster children a childhood experience.
He is currently working on writing an updated autobiography In his earlier autobiography, the first draft of the book was written before McDaniels found out that he was adopted.
McDaniels was also said to be working on a second solo album. Three tracks off the new album have been released ("Next Level,” "Hip Hop,” and "Beef Eater.")
McDaniels is featured in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith singing Run-D.M.C.'s singles "King of Rock" and "Walk This Way.” In June 2007, McDaniels joined Aerosmith on stage at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London, England to perform "Walk This Way."
In 2009, McDaniels performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.
-----
According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll:
"Run-D.M.C. took hardcore hip-hop from an underground street sensation to a pop-culture phenomenon. Although earlier artists, such as Grandmaster Flash and the Sugar Hill Gang, made rap's initial strides on the airwaves, it was Run-D.M.C. that introduced hats, gold chains, and untied sneakers to youth culture..."
The group achieved a number of notable firsts and other achievements in hip hop music and are credited with pushing hip hop into mainstream popular music:
* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once
* The second rap act to appear on American Bandstand (the Sugar Hill Gang appeared first on the program in 1981)
* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once
* The first rap artist with a Top 10 pop charting rap album
* The first rap artist with gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums
* The first rap act to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
* One of The first rap acts to receive a Grammy Award nomination
* The second rap act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He was born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway in Atlanta, Georgia, but is best known by his stage name, Cee Lo Green. Both his parents were ordained ministers and he started his music career in church. His father died when he was two years old, and when he was 18, his mother was involved in a car crash, leaving her paralyzed. She died two years later.
At the time, Cee Lo's career with the southern hip hop group Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. (The Goodie Mob were a part of the Atlanta rap collective the Dungeon Family, which also included OutKast.)
Cee Lo's depression after his mother's death led is evident in various songs throughout his career, including "Free" by Goodie Mob, songs on St. Elsewhere, and on The Odd Couple ("She Knows," "A Little Better"). Cee Lo also expresses his love for his mother in the song "Guess Who" from Goodie Mob's Soul Food album.
(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)
(Press album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):
-----
Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob had released their debut album, Soul Food in 1995. The album received much critical praise as a pioneering record for the then emerging Southern rap scene. was produced by Organized Noize, who had also produced OutKast's debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Cee Lo got considerable praise for his rapping and singing, especially on "Cell Therapy" and "Soul Food."
The group's second album, Still Standing came out in 1998 and also received much critical praise. By now, Cee Lo focused primarily on rapping over singing. Cee Lo took more creative control on the group's next album, World Party.
During the making of the album World Party, Cee Lo left the group to pursue a solo career under Arista and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did however collaborate in combinations in the Dungeon Family album Even in Darkness.
In 1999, Cee Lo, credited as "Cee-Lo" was one of ten famous guest musicians who contributed to the highly successful Santana album Supernatural.
Internationally, Cee Lo is best known for his work within the hip hop duo Gnarls Barkley along with DJ Danger Mouse. (Gnarls Barkley is named after former basketball star Charles Barkley.)
Gnarls Barkley
Their 2006 worldwide hit "Crazy," reached number one on many singles charts worldwide, including the UK. In the U.S. "Crazy" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The album St. Elsewhere was also a hit, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200 album charts.
Cee Lo, taking a break from recording with Gnarls Barkley, released the single "Fuck You!" in August 2010 as a solo recording artist. The song was an instant hit. It has been certified Gold in the U.S, and Denmark. It reached platinum status in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK; and multi-platinum status in Australia.
On December 1, 2010, Cee Lo received five Grammy nominations for "Fuck You!" which His solo album, The Lady Killer was also successful, reaching the top five of the UK Album Charts and debuting within the top ten on the Billboard 200 album charts. His second single "It's OK" was a hit in Europe and the third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" has also seen similar charting success.
Cee Lo is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton.
Melissa Etheridge (has received fifteen Grammy Award nominations winning two, one Academy Award and has sold twenty-seven million albums worldwide and almost fourteen million in the United States alone.
Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals. She has also been a gay and lesbian activist since January 1993.
----
Melissa Lou Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was a member of the first "Power and Life" musical/dance group at Leavenworth High School. She began learning to play guitar when sew was eight years-old. She began to play in all-men country music groups during her teenage years, then moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music.
While in Berklee, Etheridge played the club circuit around Boston. After three semesters, she dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles. Etheridge was discovered in a bar called Vermie's in Pasadena, CA. A husband of a friend of hers on a women's soccer team she played on, Bill Leopold, watched her perform live, and was impressed. He has remained a pivotal part of Etheridge's career ever since.
In addition, gigs in lesbian bars around Los Angeles, got her discovered by Island Records chief Chris Blackwell. As a result, Melissa received a publishing deal to write songs for movies including the 1986 movie Weeds.
After an unreleased first effort was rejected by Island Records as being too polished, she recorded her simpler self-titled debut album in four days. The album, Melissa Etheridge, was an underground hit, and the single, "Bring Me Some Water,” was nominated for a Grammy.
She followed up her first album's modest success by contributing background and contributing vocals to Don Henley's album The End of the Innocence.
She went into the studio and recorded her second album Brave and Crazy which was released in 1989. The album peaked at #22 on the Billboard charts. Etheridge then went on the road to build up her fan base.
In 1992, Etheridge released her third album Never Enough. Similar to her prior two albums, Never Enough peaked at #21 but gave Etheridge her first Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Ain't It Heavy.” Never Enough was considered more personal and mature, and seemed to inadvertently address rumors about her sexuality.
(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)
(Press book or album cover for direct link to the entireAmazon Website):
-----
On September 21, 1993, Etheridge released what would become her mainstream breakthrough recording Yes I Am. The album spent 138 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and peaked at #15 and scored mainstream hits "Come to My Window" and her only Billboard Top 10 single "I'm the Only One,” which also hit #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Yes I Am earned a RIAA certification of 6× Platinum.
Etheridge earned her second Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Come to My Window.” She also garnered two additional nominations in the Best Rock Song category for "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window" losing to Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia.”
In a visit to Leavenworth in November 1994, she performed a benefit concert for a new park to be built near the high school. A ball field at the park is named after her father, John Etheridge. (In 1992, Etheridge established a performing arts scholarship at Leavenworth High School in honor of her father.)
The success of Yes I Am helped increase sales of Etheridge's earlier albums. In 1995 Melissa Etheridge earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum while Never Enough earned a RIAA certification of Platinum.
Etheridge's follow-up to Yes I Am was the moderately successful Your Little Secret which wasn't as well received by critics as her prior recordings. Still, Your Little Secret has become the highest charting album of Etheridge's career reaching #6 on the Billboard album charts. The album produced two Top 40 singles "I Want to Come Over" and "Nowhere to Go" and earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum.
In 1996, Etheridge won ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award. She also took a lengthy break from the music business to concentrate on her private life. She also recorded "Sin Tener A Donde Ir (Nowhere to Go)" for the AIDS benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin produced by the Red Hot Organization.
In 1997, she appeared as herself on the sitcom Ellen in "The Puppy Episode Part 2.”
Etheridge returned to the music charts with the release of Breakdown in October 1999 which peaked at #12 on the Billboard charts. Breakdown became her first album of Etheridge's career to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. In addition, her single "Angels Would Fall" was nominated in two categories: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female and Best Rock Song. A year later, another single from the album "Enough of Me" was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. The album earned a RIAA Gold certification.
2001 saw the release of Skin. Recorded after her breakup with first partner. Despite positive reviews, Skin sold less than 500,000 copies. The single "I Want to Be in Love" was nominated for the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. The next year, Etheridge released her autobiography titled, The Truth Is: My Life in Love and Music.
Etheridge began 2004 with the release of her eighth album Lucky on February 10. The album was a more joyful Etheridge who was now in the midst of celebrating a new relationship with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. Lucky also sold less than 500,000 copies.
In April 2006, Etheridge and Michaels announced that Michaels was pregnant with twins via an anonymous sperm donor. Michaels gave birth to a daughter and son the following October.
In November 2008, in response to the passing of California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, Etheridge announced that she would not pay her state taxes as an act of civil disobedience.
Then in 2010, Tammy and Melissa separated. At the time, Melissa’s rep said: "Melissa and Tammy Etheridge are saddened to announce that they are now separated. We ask for consideration and respect for our family as we go through this difficult period."
