ProfileDonna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. In 1953, she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lorene Burke in the war drama From Here to Eternity. Reed is known for her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class American mother and housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966), in which her character was more assertive than most other television mothers of the era. She received numerous Emmy Award nominations for this role and the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star in 1963. BiographyReed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near Denison, Iowa, the eldest of five children. In 1936, while she was a sophomore at Denison High School, her chemistry teacher Edward Tompkins gave her the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. The book is said to have greatly influenced her life. After graduating from Denison High School, Reed decided to move to California to attend Los Angeles City College on the advice of her aunt. While attending college, she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with the condition of finishing her education first. In 1941 after signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Reed made her film debut in The Get-Away opposite Robert Sterling. MGM soon changed her name to Donna Reed, as there was anti-German feeling during World War II. Like many starlets at MGM, she played opposite Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, in her case the hugely popular The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942). She also had a support role in The Human Comedy (1943) with Mickey Rooney, a big film for MGM. That year, she was married to make-up artist William Tuttle, but the marriage only lasted two years. Her "girl-next-door" good looks and warm onstage personality made her a popular pin-up for many GIs during World War II. In 1945 after divorcing her first husband, Donna Reed married producer Tony Owen. They raised four children together, with the two older children being adopted. MGM lent her to RKO Pictures for the role of Mary Bailey in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. The film has since been named as one of the 100 best American films ever made by the American Film Institute and is regularly aired on television during the Christmas season. Reed later said it was "the most difficult film I ever did. No director ever demanded as much of me." Back at MGM she appeared in Green Dolphin Street (1947) with Lana Turner and Van Heflin, a big hit. In June 1950 Reed signed a contract with Columbia Studios. In 1953, Donna Reed played the role of Alma "Lorene" Burke, girlfriend of Montgomery Clift's character in the World War II drama From Here to Eternity (1953). The role earned Reed an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. But the qualities of her parts did not seem to improve afterwards. In 1954, she returned to MGM to act in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)which starred Elizabeth Taylor. From 1958 to 1966, Reed starred in The Donna Reed Show, a television series produced by her then-husband, Tony Owen. The show featured her as Donna Stone, the wife of pediatrician Alex Stone (Carl Betz) and mother of Jeff (Paul Petersen) and Mary Stone (Shelley Fabares). Reed was attracted to the idea of being in a comedy, something with which she did not have much experience. She also liked playing a wife. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC and Reed won a Golden Globe Award and earned four Emmy Award nominations for her work on the series. When The Donna Reed Show ended its run in 1966, Reed took time off from acting to concentrate on raising her children and engaging in political activism. She returned to acting in the late '70s, appearing in some TV movies. In 1971, Donna Reed and her second husband Tony Owen divorced after 26 years of marriage. Three years later, Reed married Grover W. Asmus (1926–2003), a retired United States Army colonel. They remained married until her death in 1986. Donna Reed died of pancreatic cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on January 14, 1986, 13 days shy of her 65th birthday. She had been diagnosed with the illness three months earlier and told it was at a terminal stage. Further interestArticles
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Profile of Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg (German: Diane Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg; born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin; December 31, 1946), is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. Following their separation in 1973 and divorce in 1983[citation needed], she has continued to use his family name. Her fashion company, Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) is available in over 70 countries and 45 free-standing shops worldwide, with the company's headquarters and flagship boutique located in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. She is president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a position she has held since 2006; in 2014 was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes; and in 2015 was included in the Time 100, as an Icon, by Time Magazine. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from The New School. Biography of Diane von FürstenbergDiane von Fürstenberg was born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin in Brussels, Belgium to Jewish parents. And 18 months before Fürstenberg was born, her mother, the Greek-born Liliane Nahmias was a prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp. Fürstenberg has spoken broadly about her mother's influence in her life, crediting her with teaching her that "fear is not an option". Fürstenberg attended a boarding school in Oxfordshire. She studied at Madrid University before transferring to the University of Geneva to study economics. At university, when she was 18, she met Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, the elder son of Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg, a German Roman Catholic prince, and his first wife, Clara Agnelli, an heiress to the Fiat automotive fortune and member of the Italian nobility. She then moved to Paris and worked as an assistant to fashion photographer's agent Albert Koski. She left Paris for Italy to apprentice to the textile manufacturer Angelo Ferretti in his factory, where she learned about cut, color and fabric. It was here that she designed and produced her first silk jersey dresses. Diane Simone Michelle Halfin married Egon von Fürstenberg in 1969 and became Her Serene Highness Princess Diane of Fürstenberg. A year after marrying, Fürstenberg began designing women's clothes: After moving to New York, she met high-profile Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who declared her designs "absolutely smashing". She had her name listed on the Fashion Calendar for New York Fashion Week, and so her business was created. In 1973, Diane von Fürstenbergs separated from her husband Egon von Fürstenberg. In 1974, she introduced the knitted jersey "wrap dress", an example of which, due to its influence on women's fashion, is in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After the success of the wrap dress, Furstenberg was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1976. The accompanying article declared her "the most marketable woman since Coco Chanel." She launched a cosmetic line and her first fragrance, "Tatiana", named after her daughter. The New York Times reported that by 1979 the annual retail sales for the company were $150 million. In 1983, Diane von Fürstenbergs and Egon von Fürstenberg divorced and two years later, Fürstenberg moved to Paris, France where she founded Salvy, a French-language publishing house. Fürstenberg started a number of other businesses including a line of cosmetics and a home-shopping business, which she launched in 1991. In 1992, Fürstenberg sold $1.2 million dollars of her Silk Assets collection in two hours on QVC. Fürstenberg relaunched her company in 1997, and reintroduced the wrap dress, which gained traction with a new generation of women. In 1998, she published her business memoir, Diane: A Signature Life. In 2001, Diane von Fürstenberg married American media mogul Barry Diller, and she built The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation with her husband for which she serves as director. It provides support to nonprofit organizations in the area of community building, education, human rights, arts, health and the environment. The foundation supports The DVF Awards, presented annually to four women who display leadership, strength and courage in their commitment to women's causes. In 2011, the foundation made a $20 million commitment to the High Line. In 2004, Diane von Fürstenbergs introduced the DVF by H. Stern fine jewelry collection, and launched scarves and beachwear. In 2006, she was elected as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a position she still holds. In 2008, she received a star on Seventh Avenue's Fashion Walk of Fame In 2009, Michelle Obama wore the DVF signature Chain Link print wrap dress on the official White House Christmas card. That same year, a large-scale retrospective exhibition entitled "Diane von Furstenberg: Journey of a Dress" opened at the Manezh, one of Moscow's largest public exhibition spaces. It was curated by Andre Leon Talley and attracted a lot of media attention. In 2010, the exhibition traveled to São Paulo; and in 2011, to the Pace Gallery in Beijing. In 2010, Fürstenberg was awarded a Gold Medal at the annual Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Gold Medal Gala. In 2011, DVF introduced a home collection, and a signature fragrance, DIANE. In 2012, Fürstenberg launched her first children’s collection with GapKids and a denim collaboration with CURRENT/ELLIOTT. Her clothes have been worn by many celebrities including Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, Madonna, Tina Brown, Jessica Alba, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez. Google Glass made its New York Fashion Week Debut at the designer's Spring 2013 fashion show. In 2018, the brand banned mohair use after a PETA exposé showed workers mutilating and killing goats to obtain it. All fur, angora and exotic skins were also banned from future collections. Further reading
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name: Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
birth place: New York City, New York, USA birth date: 9 December 1909 zodiac sign: Sagittarius death place: New York City, New York, USA death date: 7 May 2000 languages: English, French Profile of Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., KBE, DSC (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000), was an American actor and producer, and a decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939) and The Corsican Brothers (1941). He was the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks and was once married to Joan Crawford.
I am not a socialite, although I seem to have got the reputation for being one. I have some very good friends who happen to be in the so-called Society; but Society as such is a bore and holds no fascination for me.¨` Biography of Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City; he was the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. Fairbanks's father was one of cinema's first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief of Bagdad.
His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and he lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London.
Largely on the basis of his father's name, in May 1923 Fairbanks Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 13, at $1,000 a week for three years.
Paramount and he parted ways by mutual consent and Doug went to Paris to resume his studies. A year later he returned to the studio, hired at what Fairbanks called "starvation wages" also having him work as a camera assistant.
In 1927 Fairbanks made his stage debut in Young Woodley based on a book by John Van Druten. Fairbanks Jr received excellent reviews and the production was a success - the play did much to improve his reputation in Hollywood. A regular audience member was Joan Crawford with whom Fairbanks would become romantically involved and then married on June 3, 1929 at St. Malachy in New York City.
They travelled to Britain on a delayed honeymoon, where he was entertained by Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Prince George, Duke of Kent. He became active in both society and politics, but Crawford was far more interested in her career and had an affair with Clark Gable. The couple divorced in 1933, but the divorce would not become final for another year.
In 1930, Fairbanks Jr. went to Warner Bros. to test for the second lead in Moby Dick (1930). Although he did not win the part, head of production Darryl F. Zanuck was impressed with Douglas's screen test, and cast him in an important role in The Dawn Patrol directed by Howard Hawks.
Fairbanks had an excellent role supporting Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar (1931), filmed in August 1930. The movie was a big hit, and Warner Bros. offered Fairbanks Jr. a contract with cast and script approval. "By sheer accident, I had four successes in a row in the early '30s, and although I was still in my 20s, I demanded and received approval of cast, story and director. I don't know how I got away with it, but I did!" "The original script for Morning Glory, included the fantasy dream sequence in which Miss Hepburn and I would play at least two scenes, and possibly a third, of the greatest scenes between Romeo and Juliet. That certainly intrigued and tempted me. It seemed a unique opportunity for me to play Romeo, a dream part.
In 1934, Warner asked all its stars to take a 50 percent pay cut because of the Depression. Fairbanks Jr. refused and was fired from the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and spent the next few years there, taking a residence in London's Park Lane.
In 1934, Warner asked all its stars to take a 50 percent pay cut because of the Depression. Fairbanks Jr. refused and was fired from the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and spent the next few years there, taking a residence in London's Park Lane.
Fairbanks Jr. returned to Hollywood when David O. Selznick offered him the role of Rupert of Hentzau in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). He had been reluctant to accept the role but his father urged him to do it, saying it was "actor proof".The movie was a big success.
In December 1937 he signed a non-exclusive contract with RKO to make two films a year for five years, at $75,000 a film. Fairbanks had his biggest-ever hit with RKO's Gunga Din (1939), alongside Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen.
On April 22, 1939, Fairbanks married Mary Lee Hartford (née Mary Lee Epling), a former wife of Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir. He remained devoted to her until her death in 1988.
Although celebrated as an actor, Fairbanks was commissioned as a reserve officer in the United States Navy when the United States entered World War II and was assigned to Lord Mountbatten's Commando staff in the United Kingdom.
Fairbanks returned to Hollywood at the conclusion of World War II. But the few movies he made during the next two years were not very successful.
As a confirmed Anglophile, Fairbanks spent much time in the United Kingdom, where he was well known in the highest social circles. He was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1949 and moved there in the early 1950s.
On May 30, 1991, Fairbanks married Vera Lee Shelton, a merchandiser for QVC Network Inc.
On the morning of May 7, 2000, Fairbanks died at the age of 90 of a heart attack and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, in the same tomb as his father. |
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