Celebrity Name : Kirk Douglas

Celebrity Real Name : Issur Danielovitch

Date of Birth : December 9th 1916

Birth Location : Amsterdam, New York, USA

Biography of Kid Rock :
Kirk Douglas born (December 9th 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as “sons of bitches”. He is also father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas.

Early life :
Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch Demsky in Amsterdam, New York to Herschel Danielovitch and Bryna Sanglel, poor Belarusian Jewish parents who immigrated from Homel (also known as Gomel). He was on the wrestling team at St. Lawrence University. To help make his way through college, he thought getting an acting scholarship might work. His talents got him noticed at the acclaimed American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where he soon received a scholarship, alongside classmate Betty Joan Perske (soon to be better known as Lauren Bacall). He then served in the U.S. Navy from the entry of the US into World War II in 1941 until it ended in 1945. After the war, he returned to New York City and started doing radio theater and commercials, while trying to break in on Broadway.
Douglas was helped by actress Lauren Bacall in obtaining his first screen role in the Hal B. Wallis movie The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), starring Barbara Stanwyck. Wallis was on his way to New York to look for new talent when Bacall suggested he look up her old drama school classmate, who was working in an off-Broadway play at the time.

Career :
Kirk Douglas received three Academy Award nominations for his work in Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful and Lust for Life (as Vincent Van Gogh). Douglas did not win any competitive Oscars, but received a special Oscar in 1996 for “50 years as a moral and creative force in the motion picture community”.
He also played an important role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist by publicly opposing Stanley Kubrick’s intention to take credit for the screenplay of Spartacus, which had been adapted from Howard Fast’s novel by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. Douglas had collaborated closely with Kubrick in Paths of Glory, where Douglas played one of his most memorable roles, as Colonel Dax, the commander of a French regiment during World War I ordered to make a suicidal attack.
For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Kirk Douglas has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Blvd. In 1984, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In October 2004, the avenue “Kirk Douglas Way” in Palm Springs, California was named in his honor by the Palm Springs International Film Society and International Film Festival.
Popular at home and around the world, Kirk Douglas received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, the French Legion of Honor in 1985, and the National Medal of the Arts in 2001.
In 1996, he suffered a stroke, partially impairing his ability to speak.

Bibliography:
* Wisdom of the Elders (1986)
* The Ragman’s Son (1988)
* Dance With the Devil (1991)
* The Gift (1992)
* Last Tango in Brooklyn (1994)
* The Broken Mirror (1997)
* Young Heroes of the Bible (1999)
* Climbing The Mountain: My Search For Meaning (2000)
* Rabbis : Observations of 100 Leading and Influential Rabbis of the 21st Century (introduction) (2002)
* My Stroke of Luck (2003)[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Kid Rock

Celebrity Real Name : Robert James Ritchie

Date of Birth : 17 January, 1971

Birth Location : Rome,Michigan

Biography of Robert James Ritchie :
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), best known as Kid Rock, is an American rapper, singer, and rock musician.

Early years :
Robert James Ritchie was born in Romeo, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. His mother is Susan Elizabeth Ritchie. In addition he has several relatives in the Michigan area, including: Carol Ann (Shaheen), William Joseph, and Jill Suzanne. Growing up, Ritchie and his father, a well-to-do car dealer in the area, frequently disagreed over young Ritchie’s lifestyle choices. Following a lawn mower accident that resulted in his brother, Billy, losing a leg, his father shifted the burden of holding down the house and all the reponsibilty of his brother on to young Robert (as related by the song “My Oedipus Complex”). This led to increased friction between the two.
Ritchie eventually left home and moved to the housing projects in Mount Clemens, Michigan, where he took his turntables to basement parties hoping for a chance to play. Bo Wisdom, of Groove Time Production, offered him an opportunity to spin for the crowd; and their enthusiasm for the young DJ led Wisdom to dub him with a moniker after watching “that kid rock.”

Mainstream success :
In 1997, Kid Rock added Jason Krause and Stefanie Eulinberg a.k.a.Trucker Brown to his band, joining Kenny Olson, Jimmie Bones, Uncle Kracker, Mike Bradford, and Joe C. In August of 1998, he released Devil Without a Cause behind the single “Welcome 2 The Party” and went on the Vans Warped Tour.
“Welcome 2 The Party” was ignored by audiences and “Devil” sat on the shelves collecting dust for eight months. A chance meeting at a New York nightclub with MTV VJ Carson Daly led to a video of “I Am The Bullgod” to MTV and with Carson’s support, it became a moderate hit.
After two notable live performances at MTV’s “Fashionably Loud” and “Wanna B A VJ”, Kid released the single “Bawitdaba” to renewed interest and sales. He performed with Aerosmith and Run DMC at MTV’s 1999 VMA’s, as well as at Woodstock 1999 and the Grammy Awards. He released three more singles from the album: “Cowboy”; “Only God Knows Why”; and “Wasting Time”. Devil Without A Cause eventually sold 11 million copies.

Kid Rock today :
Kid Rock’s talent can be illustrated by the fact he is credited on his albums for not only vocals, but guitar (steel, rhythm, electric and acoustic), bass, percussion, mixing, mellotron, keyboard, backing vocals, slide guitar, scratching, programming, producer, and even banjo. He is famous for his high-energy personality on and off stage. Kid Rock’s music has changed and evolved considerably over time, which has caused him to lose and gain millions of fans.
Kid Rock And Twisted Brown Trucker will release a live DVD of their performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills on May 12 and May 13, 2006 by the end of 2006.
A new studio album from Kid Rock is in the works and is set for release in early 2007.[citation needed] In a recent interview with Real Detroit Weekly, Rock said he is attempting to create “a timeless rock-n-roll record” so there will be no rap or country on it; Rock also said the record will be produced by Rick Rubin and will feature the J. Geils Band’s Peter Wolf.
Kid Rock appeared in an episode of CSI: NY called All Access as himself, which aired on CBS on April 26, 2006. In the episode, Kid Rock is questioned by investigators as the last person to see his limo driver alive. [wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Celebrity Real Name : Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.

Date of Birth : 16 April, 1947

Birth Location : New York City,  New  York

Biography of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar :
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on April 16, 1947 in New York City, New York, United States; typically referred to as Lew Alcindor) is a former professional basketball player.
Considered one of the greatest players of all time, the 7ft-2in (2.18 m) Abdul-Jabbar played center for UCLA from 1965–69. Later, he played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks (1969–75) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1975–89), accumulating 38,387 points, the NBA’s highest career total. He was famous for his “Skyhook” shot which defenders found virtually impossible to block. His on-court success was superlative, as he won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, while playing on six NBA championship teams; at UCLA, he played on three NCAA championship teams. His high-school team won 71 consecutive games and his UCLA teams were an unmatched 88-2. After a then-record 20 professional seasons in the NBA, Abdul-Jabbar retired from the game in 1989, leaving a legacy of professionalism, class, and success. Following his success as a professional athlete, Abdul-Jabbar has become known as a successful basketball coach, author, and part-time actor.

Early years :
He was born to Cora and Ferdinand Lewis “Al” Alcindor in Harlem, New York City, in 1947, and was 12 pounds, 11 ounces, and was twenty-two and a half inches. [1] He was raised as a Catholic. From an early age he began his record-breaking basketball accomplishments. In high school, he led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic championships, a 71-game winning streak, and a 96–6 overall record.

College :
Heavily sought by collegiate basketball programs, he played for the UCLA Bruins from 1966 to 1969 under coach John Wooden, contributing to the team’s three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses (it must be noted that in his day, freshmen were not eligible for varsity athletics). During his college career, he was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969), was a three-time First Team All-American (1967-69), played on three NCAA Basketball champion teams (1967, 1968, 1969), was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969), and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969.
Lew Alcindor graduated with a B.A. in History from UCLA in 1969. While playing for UCLA, he suffered a scratched left cornea. This would occur again during his pro career and he would then wear goggles for protection.
Also during his studies at UCLA he converted to Islam and took his current name, which translates to “noble, powerful servant”. He converted after meeting Khalifah Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, a former Nation of Islam leader and founder of a Washington, D.C.-based mosque of the Hanafi Madhhab. In 1973, he traveled to Libya and Saudi Arabia, making pilgrimage. He details this conversion in his autobiography “Giant Steps”.

Professional athletics :
The Harlem Globetrotters offered him $1 million to play for them, but he declined, and he was picked first in the 1969 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, only in their second season, who won the coin-toss for first pick over the Phoenix Suns.
Lew Alcindor’s entry into the NBA was timely, as center Bill Russell had just left the Boston Celtics, and Wilt Chamberlain, though still effective, was aging, at almost 35 years. Alcindor’s presence enabled the 1969-70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA’s Eastern Division with a 56-26 record (up from 27-55 the previous year), and he was an instant star, ranking second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), for which he was awarded the title of NBA Rookie of the Year.
With the addition of Oscar Robertson, Milwaukee went on to record a league-best 66 victories in 1970-71, including a then-record of 20 straight wins. Alcindor was awarded his first of six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, along with his first scoring title (31.7 ppg). In the playoffs, the Bucks went 12-2 (including a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals) and Alcindor was named Finals MVP. On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he adopted the Arabic name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, meaning “noble, servant of the powerful one [i.e. of Allah].”

Film career :
Playing in Los Angeles facilitated Abdul-Jabbar’s trying his hand at acting. Kareem made his movie debut in Bruce Lee’s 1978 film Game of Death, in which his character Hakim fought Billy Lo (played by Lee). However, due to Lee’s death during production, the film was never finished, and much of the footage has been lost[citation needed].
In 1980, he played co-pilot Roger Murdock in David Zucker’s comedy, Airplane!. In this acclaimed movie, Abdul-Jabbar has a notable scene in which a little boy looks at him and remarks that he is in fact Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Staying in his role, he asserts he is merely Roger Murdock, but the boy continues that he thinks he is “the greatest”, but that his dad thinks he does not “work hard on defense” and “never really tries, except during the playoffs”. This causes Kareem to blow a fuse, grab the boy and snarl he has heard “that crap since UCLA”, he “busts his buns every night” and he should tell his father to “drag Bill Walton and Bob Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes”. When Murdock passes out later in the film, he is carried out wearing Abdul-Jabbar’s goggles and yellow Lakers’ shorts.
He had numerous other TV and film roles, often playing himself, such as in the hit Chevy Chase movie Fletch, the ABC sitcom Full House, and Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, and Scrubs. He also appeared in the telemovie version of Stephen King’s The Stand. He played himself in Slam Dunk Ernest starring Jim Varney and made a brief non-speaking cameo appearance in another David Zucker comedy, 1998’s BASEketball. In addition, Abdul-Jabbar was co-executive producer of the 1994 TV movie, The Vernon Johns Story.

Trivia :

* Abdul-Jabbar has a prescription to smoke marijuana in the state of California, the result of nausea-inducing migraine headaches [5].
* Abdul-Jabbar was successful in suing Miami Dolphins running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar because he felt Karim was sponging off of the name he made famous by having the Abdul-Jabbar moniker and number 33 on Dolphins jerseys. As a result the younger Abdul-Jabbar had to change his jersey nameplate to simply ‘Abdul’ while playing for the Dolphins[6]. The football player had also been an athlete at UCLA.
* Abdul-Jabbar has twice appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy!, coasting to dominant victories each time. His first appearance was against Larry King and Alexandra Paul in 1994; his second was against Martina Navratilova and Reggie Jackson in a special “athletes” edition in 1998.
* In The Simpsons episode The Way We Weren’t, Homer Simpson, as a child growing up and in an attempt to become more popular, says his name is “Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar” when asked what his name is; a referrence to Abdul-Jabbar’s status as a pop icon in the 1970s.
* The rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers honour him in their instrumental song “Salute to Kareem” and is an “all time great super super star” in their song “Magic Johnson”.
* Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam wrote a song about Abdul-Jabbar based on the urban myth that he lost all of his money investing in hotels for tall people. The song, entitled “Sweet Lew”, appears on the band’s album of B-sides, Lost Dogs. The liner notes explain that Ament was inspired to write the song after being brushed off by his boyhood idol after meeting him at a celebrity basketball game.
* Abdul-Jabbar also played Hakim in the film Game of Death. His character was the last and most dangerous guardian that Bruce Lee’s character had to face. In the extended footage of the final fight scenes of the film, which last about half an hour, Abdul-Jabbar and Bruce Lee fight on the highest level of a pagoda which Bruce’s character had to fight his way up. From Bruce’s viewpoint, the highest level on the pagoda is where Jeet Kune Do, represented by Abdul-Jabbar himself, is found. Through the entire fight, both men not only fight with an ease hard to obtain, but they both make it known neither of them fear death.[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Kane (WWE)

Celebrity Real Name : Glen Jacobs

Date of Birth : April 26, 1967

Birth Location : Madrid

Biography of Glen Jacobs :
Glen Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name, Kane. Jacobs is currently wrestling on the Smackdown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

College :
Jacobs attended Quincy College, where he played basketball, before joining Northeast Missouri State University on a basketball scholarship. In the 1988-1989 season he was an NCAA all-star and the single-season and career field goal percentage leader for the basketball team. However, despite his success, Jacobs opted to switch to playing on the college football team. He eventually graduated with a degree in English.

Early career :
Jacobs has portrayed several characters throughout his career since his professional wrestling debut in 1992. He was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Jacobs later moved south and began wrestling as Unabomb, appearing in the United States Wrestling Association, Smoky Mountain Wrestling (where held the SMW Tag Team Championship with Al Snow) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He also competed in the Japanese shoot style promotion Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi.

World Wrestling Federation :
Jacobs is believed to have debuted in the World Wrestling Federation as the masked Black Knight at the 1993 Survivor Series, though the Black Knight has also been said to have been Jeff Gaylord. He later appeared as the evil dentist of Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, DDS, in 1995 after Bret Hart damaged Lawler’s teeth by forcing his foot into his mouth, and as Diesel in 1996, replacing the original wrestler to have portrayed the Diesel character, Kevin Nash.

World Wrestling Entertainment :
Kane returned to a rebranded WWE in the summer of 2002, winning the World Tag Team Championship with The Hurricane. On October 7, 2002, Kane successfully single-handedly defended the World Tag Team Championship in a four team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC) (The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening and was thus unable to compete).
In October 2002, Kane began feuding with Triple H, leading to a match at No Mercy 2002 on October 20, 2002 in which both Kane’s WWE Intercontinental Championship and Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. In the weeks preceding the match, Triple H claimed that, several years earlier, Kane had had an unrequited relationship with a woman named Katie Vick. He went on to claim that, after Vick was killed in a car crash, Kane (the driver) raped her corpse. Triple H later threatened to show video footage of Kane committing the act in question; however, the footage that finally aired showed Triple H (dressed as Kane) simulating necrophilia with a mannequin in a casket. The storyline was very unpopular with fans, and was de-emphasised before the title match. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy, unifying the two titles.[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : 

Celebrity Real Name : Ella Geisman

Date of Birth : 7 October,1917

Birth Location : Bronx, New York

Biography of Ella Geisman :
June Allyson (October 7, 1917 in the The Bronx, New York– July 8, 2006 in Ojai, California) was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life :
Allyson was born Ella Geisman[1] in the Bronx, New York City to Clara Provost and Robert Geisman on October 7, 1917. Her paternal grandparents, Harry Geisman and Anna Hafner, were immigrants from Germany,[1] although Allyson has claimed that her last name was originally “Van Geisman”, and was of Dutch origin.[2] Her father worked as a janitor, June was 6 when her alcoholic father left. Her mother worked as a telephone operator and restaurant cashier. Allyson was brought up in near poverty. At 8, a dead tree branch fell on her while she was bicycling. Several bones were broken, and doctors said she would never walk again. She underwent months of swimming exercises and regained her health.

Life Career :
After graduating from a wheelchair to crutches to braces, she was inspired to dance by obsessively watching Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies. Fully recovered, she tried out for a chorus job in the Broadway show “Sing out the News.” The choreographer gave her a job and a new name: Allyson, a family name, and June, for the month.
She made her Broadway chorus-line debut in 1938 in the musical Sing Out the News. After her appearance in Best Foot Forward in 1941, she was selected for the 1943 film version, and followed it up with several other musicals, including Two Sisters from Boston (1946) and Good News (1947). She also played straight roles such as Constance in The Three Musketeers (1948), the tomboy Jo March in Little Women (1949), and Glenn Miller’s wife in The Glenn Miller Story (1953).
In 1950, June Allyson had been signed to appear opposite Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, but had to leave the production due to pregnancy. (She was replaced initially by Judy Garland, and later Jane Powell.)
Allyson was a very popular motion picture star in the 1940s and 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the comedy Too Young To Kiss in 1951. In 1955, she was named the ninth most popular movie star in the annual Quigley Exhibitor’s Poll, and the second most popular female star (behind Grace Kelly). After her film career ended in the late 1950s, Allyson starred on television as hostess and occasional star of The Dupont Show with June Allyson. The anthology series lasted two seasons. In later years the actress appeared on television shows such as Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.
For the past 20 years, Allyson represented Kimberly-Clark Corp in commercials for Depend adult diapers, and championed the importance of research in urological and gynecological diseases in seniors.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, June Allyson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1537 Vine Street.

Filmography :
* Ups and Downs (1937) (short subject)     * Pixilated (1937) (short subject)
* Swing for Sale (1937) (short subject)      * Dime a Dance (1937) (short subject)
* Dates and Nuts (1937) (short subject)    * Not Now (1938) (short subject)
* Sing for Sweetie (1938) (short sub)        * The Prisoner of Swing (1938)
* The Knight Is Young (1938) (short sub)    * All Girl Revue (1940) (short subject)
* Best Foot Forward (1943)                      * Thousands Cheer (1943)
* Girl Crazy (1943)                                   * Meet the People (1944)
* Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)                  * Music for Millions (1944)
* Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)       * The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945)
* Two Sisters from Boston (1946)             * Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
* The Secret Heart (1947)                         * High Barbaree (1947)
* Good News (1947)                                 * The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
* The Three Musketeers (1948)                  * Words and Music (1948)
* Little Women (1949)                              * The Stratton Story (1949)
* The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)    * Right Cross (1950)
* Too Young to Kiss (1951)                      * The Girl in White (1952)
* Battle Circus (1953)                              * Remains to Be Seen (1953)
* The Glenn Miller Story (1953)                 * Executive Suite (1954)
* Woman’s World (1954)                          * Strategic Air Command (1955)
* The Shrike (1955)                                  * The McConnell Story (1955)
* Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars (1956) (short subject)
* The Opposite Sex (1956)                       * You Can’t Run Away from It (1956)
* Interlude (1957)                                   * My Man Godfrey (1957)
* A Stranger in My Arms (1959)                * They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
* Blackout (1978)                                    * That’s Entertainment! III (1994)
* A Girl, Three Guys, and a Gun (2001)
[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Julie Andrews

Celebrity Real Name : Julia Wells

Date of Birth : October 1, 1935

Birth Location :  Walton-on-Thames,
Surrey, England

Biography of Julia Wells :
Dame Julie Andrews, DBE (born October 1, 1935) is an Emmy, Grammy and Academy Award-winning English actress, singer, and author, who became famous for her starring roles in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady and the musical films Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965). Currently, she is the Official Ambassador of the Happiest Homecoming on Earth for Disneyland and recently made her debut as a theatre director.

Early life :
Andrews was born Julia Elizabeth Wells in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, the daughter of Edward Wells, an actor, and Barbara Ward, a pianist. Her parents enrolled her in voice lessons to develop her abilities. Her earliest public performances were during World War II, entertaining troops throughout the United Kingdom with fellow child star Petula Clark.
Andrews made her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome in a new musical revue called Starlight Roof in 1947. On November 1, 1948, she became the youngest solo performer ever to be seen in a Royal Command Variety Performance, at the London Palladium, where she performed for King George VI, and members of the Royal Family.
Andrews appeared on the radio programme Educating Archie. She also appeared in the London West End production of Cinderella, and made her American debut starring in the Broadway production of The Boy Friend in 1954. Later in her career, she returned to The Boy Friend, directing productions at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, in 2003, and at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, in 2005.)

Revival :
Director Garry Marshall cast her in The Princess Diaries, opposite Anne Hathaway, and its sequel; playing the role of the Queen of an imaginary country, both of which proved to be major box office hits. She has also starred in two made-for-television movies based on the character of Eloise (playing her Nanny), the child who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. In 2004, she lent her voice in the role as Queen Lillian to the highly successful animated hit Shrek 2, the sequel to the 2001 smash.

Filmography :
* Mary Poppins (1964)     * The Americanization of Emily (1964)     * Salzburg Sight and Sound (1965) (short subject)     * The Sound Of Music (1965)     * Torn Curtain (1966)     * Hawaii (1966)     * Think Twentieth (1967) (short subject)     * Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)     * The Singing Princess (1967) (voice)     * STAR! (1968)     * Darling Lili (1970)     * The Moviemakers (1971) (short subject)     * The Tamarind Seed (1974)     * 10 (1979)     * Little Miss Marker (1980)     * S.O.B. (1981 film) (1981)     * Victor/Victoria (1982)     * Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) (Cameo)     * The Man Who Loved Women (1983)     * That’s Life! (1986)     * Duet for One (1986)     * A Fine Romance (1991)     * Relative Values (2000)     * The Princess Diaries (2001)     * Unconditional Love (2002) (Cameo)     * Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)     * The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)

Upcoming :
* Shrek 3 (2007) (voice)[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Judy Garland

Celebrity Real Name : Frances Gumm

Date of Birth : June 10, 1922

Birth Location : Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Biography of Frances Gumm :
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American film actress considered by many to be one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era of musical film. Garland’s singing voice had a natural vibrato, which she was able to maintain at extremely low volume. The effects which she was able to project enabled her to convey a wide range of emotion when she interpreted a song. The American Film Institute named Garland among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time, ranking at No. 8.

Honors :

Song of the Century :
Garland’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow” was placed as number 1 in the Songs of the Century project, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). According to RIAA, the list was put together for young people to “help further appreciation for the music development process, including songwriting, musicianship, recording, performing, distributing and the development of distribution and cultural values.”
The song was also chosen by the American Film Institute as the #1 movie song of all time, as part of their “100 Years…100 Songs” list. Four more Garland songs were also featured on the list: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me In St. Louis (#76), “Get Happy” from Summer Stock (#61), “The Trolley Song,” also from Meet Me In St. Louis (#26), and “The Man That Got Away” from A Star Is Born (#11).

Grammy Hall of Fame Awards :
Several of Garland’s many recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame Some of these include:
* Dear Mr. Gable (You Made Me Love You) (single) - inducted 1998
* Judy at Carnegie Hall (album) - inducted 1998
* Meet Me In St. Louis - Soundtrack (album) - inducted 2005
* Over the Rainbow (single) - inducted 1981
* The Wizard of Oz - Musical and Dramatic Selections Recorded Directly from the Soundtrack of MGM’s Technicolor Film (album) - inducted 2006

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award :
Garland was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously, in 1998.

Judy Garland Day :
For 31 years, her home state of Minnesota has held a yearlyJudy Garland Festival around June 22, in memory of her legacy. The ongoing tribute festival is held at Garland’s birthplace of Grand Rapids. At the 2006 occasion, Minnesota proclaimed June 22, as a temporary Minnesota “Judy Garland Day” recognizing and honoring Judy Garland for her dedication and exemplary achievements and to salute her as an outstanding citizen and patron of the Arts. In June of 2006, the festival was visited by her children Lorna and Joey Luft and a decision to change the Festival dates to a permanent Garland Festival date change: Fri.-Sun. nearest Judy’s birthday. 2007 dates are June 8, 9 & 10″
The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring Garland in the Legends of Hollywood series.[5] The stamp depicts Garland from the “A Star is Born” era and was painted by illustrator, Tim O’Brien. The first day ceremony for this stamp was on June 10, 2006, on what would have been Garland’s 84th birthday, in New York City with nationwide availability on June 12. The ceremony at New York’s Carnegie Hall featured her daughter, Lorna Luft, Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, Dick Cavett, Michael Feinstein, Rufus Wainwright, Terrence McNally, and Garland’s MGM colleagues Jane Powell and Margaret O’Brien. Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli taped a special greeting exclusively for the ceremony.

1989 US Postage Stamp Honor :
In 1989, the United States Postal Service issued a series of Classic Films postage stamps, to honor the 50th anniversary of films made in the United States in 1939 that were nominated for Academy Awards. These 25¢ stamps featured four films: The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, and Beau Geste. The stamp featuring Garland as “Dorothy”, with her dog Toto, is popular among collectors.

Hollywood Walk of Fame :
Judy Garland is one of the few stars to have been recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars; one for her contributions to American motion pictures and one for her contributions as a recording artist.

The Judy Garland Rose :
A new breed of roses was introduced in 1991, dedicated to Garland. The rose is still available (as of 2006).[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Johnny Rotten

Celebrity Real Name : John lydon

Date of Birth : January 31, 1956

Birth Location : Holloway, London

Biography of John Lydon :
John Joseph Lydon (born January 31, 1956), also known as Johnny Rotten, is an English rock musician. He was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. With his sarcastic and provocative public persona, he participated in laying down a new template for rebellious youth and band frontmen. His musical innovations have also been influential. He is currently working on a new album with a reggae influence.

Early Life career :
John Lydon was born in Holloway in London, England, according to his autobiography, though this hasn’t been confirmed, as his birth certificate has been lost.
His parents were both Irish Catholic immigrants. He grew up on a council estate in Finsbury Park, North London with three younger brothers. At the age of seven, he contracted spinal meningitis, putting him in and out of comas for half a year and erasing most of his memory. The disease left him with a permanent curve in his spine and his trademark stare.
He is married to Nora Forster. They have no children together, but Lydon is “grandfather” to Forster’s daughter Ari Up’s children.

Sex Pistols :
Lydon was hanging around Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s clothes shop, SEX in 1975, after McLaren had returned from a brief stint of travelling with American proto-punk band The New York Dolls, and was working on promoting a new band formed by Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook. Lydon was wearing a Pink Floyd T-Shirt with the words ‘I Hate’ scrawled in felt-tip pen above their name when offered the job as the new band’s singer. He auditioned in the shop tunelessly singing Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen” to the accompaniment of the jukebox. He was reportedly given the stage name Johnny Rotten because of his unclean teeth, and provocative manner. During his time as the band’s lead singer he continuously clashed with his fellow band members and McLaren. [wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : Johny Bench

Celebrity Real Name : Johnny Lee

Date of Birth : December 7, 1947

Birth Location : Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Biography of Johnny Lee :
John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), is a former baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in Major League Baseball history. He is also currently on the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Bench was a key member of the Reds’ 1975 and 1976 World Series championship teams known as “The Big Red Machine”‘.
Bench was a standout basketball player for Binger High School, in the small Western Oklahoma town of Binger, in addition to his baseball talents. His father advised him that the fastest route to the majors was being a catcher. He was drafted in the second round of the 1965 amateur draft and was called up in August, 1967 where he hit just .163, but impressed many with his defensive prowess and strong throwing arm. Among those he impressed during his first taste of Major League ball was Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams, who signed a baseball for him: “A Hall of Famer for sure!”
In addition to being an outstanding fielder, Bench was also a great hitter. In 1970, his finest statistical season, Bench hit .293 with 45 home runs and 148 RBIs. He hit .267 with 389 home runs and 1,376 runs-batted-in during his 17-year Major League career, all spent with the Reds. His career home run by a catcher record stood until surpassed by the Chicago White Sox’s Carlton Fisk. The San Diego Padres’ Mike Piazza has since broken the record and is still an active player.
He won the 1968 National League Rookie of the Year, batting .275 with 15 home runs and 82 RBI’s, and the honors and accomplishments only continued to pile up. In his career, Bench earned 10 Gold Gloves, was the 1970 and 1972 Most Valuable Player and was named to the National League All-Star team 12 times. He also won such awards as the Lou Gehrig Award (1975), the Babe Ruth Award (1976), and the Hutch Award (1981).

Trivia :
* Valedictorian of Binger High School.
* His autobiography is called “Catch You Later”
* Starred, with Tommy Lasorda and the San Diego Chicken on a syndicated baseball show called The Baseball Bunch in the early-1980s. A new version of the show is set to debut on ESPN in 2006.
* When the Reds retired Bench’s uniform number 5, it was the second time the number had been retired. In 1940, the Reds retired number 5 in honor of catcher Willard Hershberger, who had committed suicide during that season. They reactivated it in 1942.
* Has the unique ability amongst baseball players to hold seven baseballs in one hand simultaneously.[wikipedia]

Celebrity Name : John Wayne

Celebrity Real Name :Marion Morrison

Date of Birth : May 26, 1907

Birth Location : Winterset, Iowa in USA

Biography of Marion Morrison :
John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), popularly known as “The Duke,” was an Academy Award winning, American film actor whose career began in silent movies in the 1920s. He was a major star from the 1940s to the 1970s. He is most famous for his Westerns and World War II epics, but he also made a wide range of films from various Genres, biographies, romantic comedies, police dramas, and more. He epitomized a certain kind of rugged individualistic masculinity, and has become an enduring American icon.

Early life and college :
John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa in 1907, but his name was changed to Marion Michael Morrison when his parents decided to name their next son Robert. His family was Presbyterian; father Clyde Leonard Morrison was of Irish and Scottish descent and the son of an American Civil War veteran while mother Mary Alberta Brown was of Irish descent. Wayne’s family moved to Glendale, California in 1911; it was neighbors in Glendale who started calling him “Big Duke” because he never went anywhere without his Airedale Terrier dog, who was Little Duke. He preferred “Duke” to “Marion”, and the name stuck for the rest of his life.
Duke Morrison’s early life was marked by poverty; his father was a man who did not manage money well. Duke was a good and popular student. Tall from an early age, he was a star football player for Glendale High School and was recruited by the University of Southern California. As a teen, Wayne also worked in an ice cream shop for an individual who shoed horses for local Hollywood studios. He was also active as a member of the Order of DeMolay, a masonic youth organization run by the Freemasons, the latter which he would also join.
Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. He instead attended the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Trojan Knights and joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Wayne also played on the USC football team under legendary coach Howard Jones. An injury while supposedly swimming at the beach curtailed his athletic career, however; Wayne would later note that he was too terrified of Jones’ reaction to reveal the actual cause of his injury. He lost his athletic scholarship and with no funds was unable to continue at USC.
While at the university, Wayne began working around the local film studios. Western star Tom Mix got him a summer job in the prop department in exchange for football tickets, and Wayne soon moved on to bit parts, establishing a long friendship with director John Ford. During this period, Wayne appeared with his USC teammates as one of the featured football players in Columbia Pictures’ Maker of Men (filmed in 1930 and released in 1931), which starred Richard Cromwell and Jack Holt. In the film, Wayne was billed with his given name of Marion Morrison.
After two years working as a prop man at the William Fox Studios for $35 a week, his first starring role was in the 1930 movie The Big Trail; the director of that movie, Raoul Walsh, (who “discovered” Wayne) gave him the stage name “John Wayne”, after Revolutionary War general “Mad Anthony” Wayne. His pay was raised to $75 a week. He was tutored by the studio’s stuntmen in riding and other western skills.[wikipedia]