Przenica

Paris Hilton

2007-06-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebrity, socialite, actress, and singer. She is an heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton.

Hilton rose to fame when a home-made sex video of her was leaked onto the Internet in late 2003. The release of the tape, later titled 1 Night in Paris (2004), attracted worldwide publicity and contributed to the success of Hilton's Fox reality series The Simple Life. As an actress, she has appeared in several minor roles, most notably in the horror film House of Wax (2005), and in 2006, she released the self-titled album Paris.

In September 2006, she was arrested for driving under the influence and subsequently sentenced to 36 months probation and had her license suspended. In February 2007, she was stopped for driving at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone and charged with violating her probation. Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail, which was later reduced to 23.

Early life and family background

Born in New York City, New York, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards. Her younger sister is Nicky Hilton, and her younger brothers are Barron Hilton II, and Conrad Hilton III. On the maternal side of her family, Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards. By marriage, she also is related to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor. Her paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Hilton's paternal great-grandparents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendants. Barron Hilton contested this decision and prevailed in court in 1988. The value of Paris's inheritance has been variously estimated at between $30 and $50 million.^[1]^[2]

Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. She attended her freshman year of high school in Rancho Mirage, California at the Marywood-Palm Valley School and her sophomore and junior years of high school at the Dwight School in New York, but dropped out,^[3] and eventually earned a GED.^[4]

Hilton began modeling as a child, appearing first in charity events.^[5] At 19, she signed with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management.^[5] Hilton has worked with modeling agencies such as Ford Models Management in New York, Models 1 Agency in London, Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, and Premier Model Management in London. She has appeared in numerous advertising campaigns, including Iceberg Vodka, GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, and Marciano. In 2001, Hilton began to develop a reputation as a 19-year-old socialite, being identified as "New York's leading It Girl" whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the New York tabloids".^[5]

Media career

Sex video and rise to fame

The leak of a three-year-old home-made sex video of Hilton with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon a week prior to the premiere of her Fox reality series The Simple Life attracted worldwide attention in late 2003.^[6] The release of the tape led to speculation that it was a deliberate publicity stunt,^[7] but Hilton has strongly denied such claims and stated she was "embarrassed" and "humiliated" by the publicity brought by the tape.^[8] The sex video, subsequently called 1 Night in Paris (2004) was later released on DVD and Hilton received directorial credit. The film earned three AVN Awards in 2005, including "Best Selling Title of the Year". Hilton originally sued Salomon over the release of the tape, but settled out of court in July 2005. Hilton was reportedly awarded up to $400,000 and planned to donate a percentage to charity,^[9] although in a 2006 interview with GQ magazine she stated that she never received money from the sale of the video.^[10]

The Simple Life premiered on December 2, 2003, starring Hilton and Nicole Richie, the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, and it became a mid-season success for Fox. During the course of the season they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. The show featured Hilton and Richie working at a variety of blue collar jobs, making out with local men, and performing menial tasks associated with farm life. The pair's resistance to appreciate and engage in the "simple life" was a central theme on the series.

Actress

After the success of the first season, The Simple Life was followed by two more seasons on Fox. The network then canceled the show after a falling out between Hilton and Richie, but the show was consequently picked up by E! Entertainment Television for a fourth season, and another season is scheduled to premiere in May 2007 on E!.^[11]

Hilton at the Cannes Film Festival, 2005

Hilton has appeared in minor and supporting roles in the feature films Nine Lives (2002), Raising Helen (2004), The Hillz (2004), and House of Wax (2005). Her role as Paige Edwards in House of Wax won the Teen Choice Award for "Best Scream" and earned her a nomination for "Choice Breakout Performance – Female".^[12] She also earned a nomination for "Best Frightened Performance" at the 2006. Hilton landed her first lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2006) and Bottom's Up (2006). She also appeared in cameo roles in films such as Zoolander (2001) among others.

Hilton has several upcoming theatrical releases in which she is the lead role, including The Hottie and the Nottie (2008), and an untitled superhero movie involving Stan Lee. Plans for Hilton to lend her name, and also star in a cartoon series which follows the animated life of herself, her sister Nicky, and her dog Tinkerbell are in production.^[13] Hilton has also guest starred in episodes of The O.C., The George Lopez Show, Las Vegas, American Dreams and Veronica Mars.

Hilton has also appeared in several music videos, including It Girl by John Oates and Just Lose It by Eminem.

Recording artist

Hilton began working on an album in 2004 and her self-titled debut, Paris, was released on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low.^[14]^[15] Producers for Paris include Greg Wells, Kara DioGuardi, Jane Wiedlin and Scott Storch. Hilton collaborated with Fat Joe and Jadakiss on the song "Fighting Over Me". The first single from Paris, "Stars Are Blind", produced by Fernando Garibay, was released for download on June 20, 2006 and peaked at number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100; "Turn It Up" and "Nothing in This World" followed as worldwide singles. While All Music Guide commented on the album, "it's more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too.", critical reception as a whole has been mixed.^[16]

In August 2006, it was revealed that underground artists Banksy and Danger Mouse replaced 500 copies of Hilton's debut album in various UK record stores with their own parody remixes and cover art. Along with completely reworked liner notes that included topless photos of Hilton slathered with slogans like "Every CD you buy puts me even further out of your league", Danger Mouse has replaced Hilton's original songs with his own remixes.^[17]^[18]

Hilton is the founder of Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, which she created in 2004. Heiress Records' only release as of yet has been Paris, though Hilton has said that she plans to sign new artists in the future. According to June 2007 news reports, however, Hilton has been dropped by Warner Bros. Records, because single and album sales did not meet expectations. Futhermore, a Warner reprensentative was quoted saying, "We are not expecting any new Paris Hilton material in the foreseeable future." ^[19]

Other business ventures

In the autumn of 2004, Hilton released an autobiographical book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, co-written by Merle Ginsberg, which includes full color photographs of her and gives her advice on the life as an heiress. Hilton reportedly received a $100,000 in advanced payment for this book. Some in the media panned the writing as amateurish, and the book was parodied by Robert Mundell on The Late Show with David Letterman. Nonetheless, the book became a New York Times bestseller. Hilton followed it up with a designer diary, also with Ginsberg, called Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me.

Hilton has helped design a collection of purses for Japanese label Samantha Thavasa,^[20] and has also been involved in the design of a jewelry line for Amazon.com.^[21] In 2004, Hilton was involved in the creation of a perfume line by Parlux Fragrances. Originally set to be a small release, demand was high and necessitated a wider release before Christmas of 2004. The launch was followed by a 47% increase in sales for Parlux, which was predominantly due to sales of the Hilton-branded perfume.^[22] After the success of Hilton's perfume, Parlux Fragrances released several more perfumes with Hilton's name, including fragrances lines for men.^[23]

Hilton lent her name to a chain of nightclubs known as Club Paris in 2005. The first of which in Orlando, Florida has been a success, and a second club located in Jacksonville, Florida opened in July 2006. Hilton was fired in January 2007 by the owner of Club Paris, Fred Khalilian, after she had failed to attend several scheduled promotional appearances.^[24]

According to Forbes Magazine, Hilton earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004,^[25] $6.5 million in 2004–2005,^[26] and $7 million in 2005–2006.^[27]

Personal life

Hilton was engaged to male fashion model Jason Shaw from mid-2002 to early 2003. On May 29, 2005, she announced her engagement to Paris Latsis, a Greek shipping heir; the engagement was called off five months later. Thereafter, she began dating another Greek shipping heir, Stavros Niarchos III, but in May 2006, Hilton publicist Elliot Mintz informed the press Paris and Stavros had broken up. In an attempt to rediscover herself, Hilton imposed a ban on sexual activity for one year starting in July 2006. She told Regis and Kelly: "One-night stands are not for me. I think it's gross when you just give it up. Guys want you more, if you don't just hand it to them on a platter."^[28]

On March 8, 2006, Brian Quintana, an event producer, was granted a three-year restraining order against Hilton after he testified that she harassed and threatened him.^[29]

In July 2006, Hilton was photographed kissing her best male friend Brandon Davis, the man who trashed Lindsay Lohan on national television, five days later.^[30]

In January 2007, Hilton's private life again created headlines with the launch of ParisExposed.com, a website that featured images of personal documents, video, and other private material, allegedly obtained when the contents of a storage locker rented by Hilton were auctioned off due to lack of payment.^[31] CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 discussed footage obtained from the website which features Hilton using several ethnic slurs.^[32] On February 3, 2007 Hilton obtained a temporary injunction against ParisExposed.com, closing down the website.^[33]

Civic involvement

In November 2004, Hilton participated in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Citizen Change campaign to encourage youths to vote in the presidential election. She drew criticism after it was revealed she had neither voted nor registered to do so.^[34]

Legal problems

Hilton was arrested and charged with driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the limit in California, in September 2006. Hilton's drivers license was subsequently suspended in November 2006^[35], and in January 2007 she pled no contest to the alcohol-related reckless driving charge.^[36] Her punishment was a 36 month probation sentence and fines of about $1,500.^[37]

On February 27, 2007 Hilton was caught driving 70 MPH in a 35 MPH zone with a suspended license. She also did not have her headlights on, even though it was after dark. Prosecutors in the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney charged that those actions, along with the failure to enroll in a court-ordered alcohol education program constituted a violation of the terms of her probation.^[35] On May 4, 2007 Hilton was sentenced by Judge Michael T. Sauer to 45 days in jail for violating her probation, and she is required to begin her jail term June 5, 2007 or risk a doubling of her sentence.^[6]

Initially, Hilton planned to appeal her sentence, and supported an online petition asking California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a pardon.^[38]. In response, various opponents started a petition to maintain the sentence.^[39] Both petitions attracted tens of thousands of signatures. Paris later switched lawyers, and dropped her plans to appeal.^[40] Due to various reasons, the Los Angeles County Sheriff anticipates Hilton to only serve about 23 days of her sentence. She will be housed in a special location within the jail facility "reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates".^[41]

On June 3, 2007, after attending the 2007 MTV Movie Awards Hilton checked herself into the Men's Central Jail of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles at 11:38 pm. From there Hilton was then taken by authorities to the Century Regional Detention Facility an all female jail in Lynwood, California. Hilton was given the inmate booking number 9818783.^[42]

In popular culture

While Hilton has been quoted as saying that she is the "iconic blonde of the decade"' and comparing herself to Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe (a claim she later denied in the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar),^[43] she will reportedly appear in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the world's "Most Overrated Celebrity".^[44] In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL, Hilton was voted the second "Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006", behind Britney Spears.^[45] Critics have alleged that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous; echoing that sentiment, the Associated Press conducted what they called an experiment in late February 2007, trying not to report on Hilton for a whole week.^[46]

On May 11, 2007, a statue by Daniel Edwards entitled Paris Hilton Autopsy was revealed at Capla Kesting Fine Art in New York featuring her dead, naked, and with her legs spread. The sculpture is aimed at stopping young women from drinking and driving.^[47]

In The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, London Tipton, the daughter of the Tipton Hotel's mega-rich owner, is a parody of Paris Hilton.

Filmography

Wishman (1991)
Sweetie Pie (2000)
Zoolander (2001; cameo)
Nine Lives (2002)
QIK2JDG (2002)
L.A. Knights (2003)
Wonderland (2003)
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
The Hillz (2004)
Raising Helen (2004)
House of Wax (2005)
Bottoms Up (2006)
Pledge This! (2006)
The Hottie and the Nottie (2008)

Discography

Albums

Paris

Released: August 22, 2006
Label: Heiress Records / Warner Music
Chart position(s): #4 CAN, #6 U.S., #6 SWE, #7 SUI, #8 JAP, #9 AUT, #18 GER, #24 AUS, #29 UK
Sales: 600,000^[48]
Singles: "Stars Are Blind", "Turn It Up", "Nothing in This World"

Homer

2007-05-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Biography of Homer Simpson

Full Name: Homer Jay Simpson
Height: 6 feet
Weight: Depends on the episode. Homer has weighed between 239 pounds and 300 pounds.
Age/Birthdate: Again depends on the episode. Could be 17-23-56, 05-12-56 or 05-10-55.
Social Security Number: 568-47-0008
Blood Type: B positive
Earmuff Size: XL

Homer has had many life-long dreams. Some of them include Monorail conductor, run out on a baseball field during a game, manage a beautiful country singer, eat the world's biggest hoagie, be a blackjack dealer, appear on "The Gong Show", to own the Dallas Cowboys, to live in the woods and bowling a perfect game.

He has also won several awards, including the 1st Annual Montgomery Burns Award For Outstanding Acheivement In The Field Of Excellence, Grammy for "outstanding soul, spoken word, or barbershop album of the year with the B-Sharps and a medal for "making what could have been a Chernobyl into Three Mile Island."

Homer is also full of nuggets of wisdom. Following are some of my favorite words of advice he has given.

"Marge, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen."
"If something's hard to do then it's not worth doing."
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

He also waxes philosphical about beer.

"Beer. Now there's a temporary solution."
"To alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."
"Homer no function beer well without."

Finally, here are a few of my favorite Homer Simpson prayers.

"Lord help me, I'm just not that bright."
"Dear God, give a bald guy a break."
"As God as my witness, I'll always be hungry again!"

Homer Simpson continues to be a favorite character for many fans. After reading about his life and philosphies, it's easy to see why.

More

n the episode "Duffless", Homer's license said he was born on May 12, 1956. Although The Simpsons has a floating timeline in which the characters do not age, and the show is set in the current year, certain dates have been given. He was raised on a farm with his parents, Mona and Abraham Simpson. In the mid-1960s, while Homer was between nine and twelve years of age, Mona went into hiding following a run-in with the law.^[14] Homer attended Springfield High School and fell in love with Marge Bouvier in 1974.^[15]^[16] Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980, while Homer was working at a miniature golf course, turning the crank that spins the windmill (sometimes too quickly). The two were wed in a small wedding chapel across the state line,^[17] spent their wedding reception alone at a truck stop,^[18] and the rest of their wedding night at Marge's parents' house. After failing to get a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer left Marge to find a job by which he could support his family. He briefly worked at a taco restaurant called the Gulp n' Blow, until Marge found him, and convinced him to return. As a result, Homer confronted Mr. Burns and secured a job at the Plant. Homer's salary is only $6,000 a year.^[17] Marge became pregnant with Lisa in 1983, shortly before the new couple bought their new house. In 1985 and 1986, Homer saw brief success as the lead singer and songwriter for the barbershop quartet the Be Sharps, even winning a Grammy. During his time with the group, Homer was frequently absent from home, which put stress on his marriage. After the group broke up due to creative differences, Homer went back to Springfield to continue his old life.^[19] Some time in the late 1980s, Homer and Marge carefully budgeted so Homer could work at his dream job, pin monkey in a bowling alley. Unfortunately for Homer, Marge became pregnant shortly after he started his new job, and not being able to support his family, he went back to the Nuclear Plant.^[20]

According to comments made on The Simpsons DVDs by the writers and producers, Homer's age was initially 34, but as the writers aged, they found that he seemed a bit older too, so they changed his age to 38.^[21] Some episodes have different ages. In "The Homer They Fall", he is 38 years old; in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", he is 39; and in "Springfield Up", he is 40.

Can life get any better for Homer J. Simpson? He juggles the roles of husband, father, safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, bowler, beer drinker, astronaut, small business owner and dreamer, and makes it all look easy. But it wasn't always so easy for Homer J. Raised by his father, Abe, who tried to compensate for the absence of Homer's radical hippie mother, Homer graduated at the bottom of his high school class and managed to earn the distinction of being the longest-term entry-level employee at the plant. Together with his high school sweetheart, Marge Bouvier, Homer settled down in Evergreen Terrace, the nicest upper-lower-middle class section of Springfield, to raise his three precious children. Homer is fond of Duff Beer, donuts, Marge's pork chops and watching the Bee Guy on the Spanish channel. His dislikes include his boss, Mr. Burns, yard work and his neighbor, Ned Flanders.

Brad Pitt

2007-05-10T04:30:00.000-07:00

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He became known during the mid 1990s, after starring roles in several major Hollywood films, including Interview with the Vampire in 1994 and the thriller Se7en in 1995. Pitt has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won a Golden Globe Award, both for his role in Twelve Monkeys (1996).

BIOGRAPHY

William Bradley Pitt is the eldest of three children. He was born on 18 December 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His mother was a school counselor and his father worked as an executive at his own trucking company. The family moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Brad attended Kickapoo High School. In Springfield Brad also worked for Colonel Day's Levi Emporium as a salesman.

1978-82 - Kickapoo High School

In high school Brad was involved in tennis, basketball, debating, student government and school musicals. He was also named 'best dressed student' by his peers.

1982-86 - University of Missouri

Pitt originally aspired to be an advertising art director and studied journalism at the University of Missouri. At the university he also joined the fraternity Sigma Chi, and 'got in enough trouble to keep things interesting.' He posed for the "Men of Mizzou" pinup calender.

1987 - Arriving in Hollywood

In 1987 (his senior year), he left the university, two credits shy of graduation, and packed his battered silver Datsun named 'Runaround Sue' and headed for California (with $375 in his pocket). Pitt told his parents he intended to enroll in the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His first jobs was handing out free cigarette samples, standing outside El Pollo Loco restaurant in a chicken outfit and also escorting strippers around in a limousine. He also worked as a swimming pool attendant, bus boy and refrigerator boy. The money from these odd-jobs helped to pay for community theater and acting lessons. After only seven months in Los Angeles, Pitt had secured an agent and regular acting work. Slowly, he began to find his way into television and later to his breakout role.

1987-1990 - The first struggling years in Hollywood

Soon after arriving in California, Brad appeared on 'Growing Pains', 'Another World', a short appearence in 'Less Than Zero' and 'No Man's Land'. He also appeared on a five-episode stint on Dallas as Randy. He also appeared on '21 Jump Street' and in the television movie 'A Stoning in Fulham County'. Brad's first movie 'Dark Side of the Sun' was was shot in Yugoslavia a few years before the war, during the summer of 1987.

1991-1994 - The breaktrough

Brad was cast in the role of 'J.D.' a lanky cowboy in the movie 'Thelma & Louise.' Pitt's performance as a renegade, sugar-tongued hitchhiker who gets picked up by the two title characters in Ridley Scott's Thelma and Louise grabbed universal attention despite only a few minutes of screen time. Pitt's combination of charming bad boy charisma and sexual playfulness (particularly in a fiery love scene with Geena Davis) secured him as a genuine sex symbol. He followed up that success with a good turn in 'A River Runs Through It'. Pitt's next few films failed to boost his acting credibility and establish him as more than just a pretty face in Hollywood. He appeared in The Favor (1992) with Elizabeth McGovern, Tom CiCillo's directorial debut, Johnny Suede (1992), and the unconvincing, half-animated Cool World (1992). In 1993, Brad teamed with his girlfriend Lewis in Dominic Sela's 'Kalifornia'. Pitt played Early Grayce, a man who goes on a cross-country killing spree with his girlfriend. The film was deemed self-indulgently violent and nihilistic by many reviewers and did not do well in the box office. Pitt and Lewis also broke up soon after filming, creating a publicity disaster. In 1994, Brad starred in two great movies, Interview with the Vampire and Legends of the Fall.

1995-1998 - Good and bad times in Hollywood

In 1995 Brad played a police detective on the trail of a serial killer in David Fincher's disturbing and gory thriller, 'Seven'. During filming, he met and began dating his then relatively unknown costar, Gwyneth Paltrow. Both claimed it was “love at first sight.” The two stayed together for two and a half years and were one of Hollywood's most admired and celebrated couples. In 1995, Brad also starred as a mental patient in Terry Gilliam's psychological thriller 'Twelve Monkeys' and won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. He followed with another dark thriller, Sleepers (1996), and Alan J. Pakula's Devil's Own with Harrison Ford, before heading to Argentina to film Seven Years in Tibet, an ambitious, seventy million dollar project, which met disappointingly mixed reviews. Unfortunately, his next film, the three-hour movie 'Meet Joe Black', co-starring Anthony Hopkins, in which he played a very comely version of Death, also inspired little praise. On June 16th 1997, after a seven-month engagement, Brad's publicist announced that the relationship with Gwyneth was over.

Filmography

1987: No Man's Land
1987: Less Than Zero
1989: Happy Together
1989: Cutting Class
1990: Too Young to Die?
1991: Across the Tracks
1991: Thelma & Louise
1991: Johnny Suede
1992: Contact (short subject)
1992: Cool World
1992: A River Runs Through It
1993: Kalifornia
1993: True Romance
1994: The Favor
1994: Interview with the Vampire
1994: Legends of the Fall
1995: Se7en
1995: Twelve Monkeys
1996: Sleepers
1997: The Devil's Own
1997: Seven Years in Tibet
1997: The Dark Side of the Sun (filmed in 1988)
1998: Meet Joe Black
1999: Being John Malkovich (cameo)
1999: Fight Club
2000: Snatch
2001: The Mexican
2001: Spy Game
2001: Ocean's Eleven
2002: Full Frontal (cameo)
2002: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (cameo)
2003: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (voice)
2003: Abby Singer (cameo)
2004: Troy
2004: Ocean's Twelve
2005: Special Thanks to Roy London (documentary)
2005: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2006: The Departed (producer)
2006: Babel
2006: Robert Wilson Video Portrait
2007: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2007: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (filming)
2007: Ocean's Thirteen (post-production)
2008: Shantaram (Co-Producer)
2008: State of Play (Co-Producer & Star)
2008: Burn After Reading

przenica

2007-04-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

bilo jednom u tiganju jaje s hlebom