Sarah Jessica Parker - Actresses
Summary
"Sarah Jessica Parker" (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and producer, with a portfolio of television, movie, and theater performances. She is known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw, a newspaper journalist, on the HBO television series "Sex and the City", for which she won four Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Awards.
Biography
Early life and career
Parker was born in Nelsonville, Ohio, the daughter of Barbara, a nursery school operator and teacher, and Steven Parker, an entrepreneur and journalist.http://www.filmreference.com/film/48/Sarah-Jessica-Parker.html Parker's father, a native of Brooklyn, was Jewish, the original family surname being 'Bar-Kahn' ('son of Kohen'); Parker has said of herself, 'I always just considered myself a Jew'. Parker's parents divorced early on in Parker's life and her mother remarried Paul Forste. Parker grew up with her mother, stepfather and seven siblings. As a young girl, she trained in singing and ballet, soon being cast in the Broadway production of "The Innocents". Her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then to Dobbs Ferry, New York, near New York City, where Parker was developing her career as a child actress. In 1977, the family moved to the newly opened planned community on Roosevelt Island, in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, and later to Manhattan properly; her parents later moved to Englewood, New Jersey where she attended Dwight Morrow High School.
Parker attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet and the Professional Children's School, and later Dwight Morrow High School. She and four siblings appeared in a revival of "The Sound of Music", and Parker went on to the new 1977-81 Broadway musical "Annie" - first in the small role of 'July,' and then succeeding Andrea McArdle and Shelley Bruce in the lead role as the plucky Depression-era orphan, for a year beginning March 6, 1979.
In 1982, Parker was cast in the co-lead role of the CBS-TV sitcom "Square Pegs". The show lasted only one season before being canceled by the network, but Parker's performance was critically well-received. In the three years that followed, she was cast in four films - the most significant of those being "Footloose" in 1984 and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", co-starring Helen Hunt, in 1985. Also that year, she became romantically involved with actor Robert Downey Jr., whom she met on the set of "Firstborn" and with whom she lived through 1991; during their relationship, Downey Jr. had a drug problem, and Parker has commented that she thought that she was 'the person holding him together'.
Later career
By the early 1990s, Parker's career was gaining momentum. In 1991, she appeared in a supporting role in the romantic comedy, "L.A. Story"; both the movie and her performance garnered some positive reviews. The following year she landed an important starring role in the well-received film, "Honeymoon in Vegas", co-starring Nicolas Cage. Her 1993 role in the film "Hocus Pocus" was a higher grosser at the box office but received negative reviews. The following year, she appeared opposite Johnny Depp in the critically acclaimed movie "Ed Wood". The film "Miami Rhapsody", in 1995, saw her back on familiar territory with more romantic comedy material and a leading role. She appeared in another Tim Burton-directed movie, "Mars Attacks!", "The First Wives Club", and "The Substance of Fire", in which she reprised her 1991 stage role, in 1996.
In 1997, she appeared as Francesca Lanfield, a washed-up former child actress in the comedy "Til There Was You". Later that year, the script for an HBO drama/comedy series titled "Sex and the City" was sent to Parker and the show's creator Darren Star was determined that she be cast in his project. Despite some early doubts about being cast in a long-term television series, Parker agreed to star.
The first season of the show proved to be an instant success, elevating Parker to a higher status. Despite the show's increasingly raunchy storylines, Parker retained the strict no-nudity clause of her contract throughout the show's six-season run. Parker became a producer for the show starting with its third season. In 2004, Parker won an Emmy award for her lead role (after five consecutive losses). Many gambling and betting establishments stopped taking bets on her Emmy victory, because it was so widely predicted that she would win. Parker has since stated that she will 'never do a television show again', although she will co-executive produce a new HBO series based on Washingtonienne, but will not star in it.
After "Sex and the City" ended in 2004, rumours of a film version circulated and it has since been revealed that a script had been completed for such a project. However, Parker has commented that it will likely never be made. Two years later, however, preparations were already underway and HBO is currently in negotiations with executive producer Michael Patrick King and the cast from the "Sex and the City" TV series, including Parker, to produce a feature film of the same name. ('Sex and the City' movie close to green light) In addition to work in movies and television, she is also a respected stage actor, having appeared in well-reviewed lead roles in the off-Broadway play "Sylvia", alongside husband Matthew Broderick in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", and the Tony Award-nominated "Once Upon A Mattress", as Princess Winifred the Woebegone.
In December 2005, Parker appeared in her first theatrical film in several years, "The Family Stone"; she received a Golden Globe nomination as "Best Actress - Comedy" for the role. Her next film, the romantic comedy "Failure to Launch", co-starring Matthew McConaughey, was released on March 10, 2006 and opened at #1 in the North American box office, grossing slightly over $24 million in its opening weekend, despite mediocre reviews.. Parker's work as a producer continues with the independent film "Spinning Into Butter", based on the Rebecca Gilman play scheduled for a 2006 release, which she will also star in. Her latest confirmed project is "Slammer", a prison-themed musical comedy to be directed by Adam Shankman and released in 2007. The role as imprisoned publicist who stages an all-inmate musical will give Parker the opportunity to revisit her musical roots, which have yet to be explored in her film and television work. Parker was initially set to star in "Vacancy", along with her co-star from "The Family Stone", Luke Wilson, but she dropped out because she was getting better movie offers. Kate Beckinsale later won the role.
Personal style
Parker has become very influential in the world of fashion. In 2000, she hosted the MTV Movie Awards and appeared in no fewer than 15 different costumes throughout the show.
She has also become the face of many of the world's biggest fashion brands through her work in a variety of advertising campaigns. In August 2003, Parker signed a highly lucrative deal with Garnier to appear in television and print advertising promoting their Nutrisse hair products. In 2004, she fronted an international campaign by Gap but her contract with the clothing giant was suddenly terminated in Spring of 2005 in favour of British soul singer Joss Stone. A friend of Parker commented to the press that 'Sarah's spring campaign for GAP has only just started and she feels the announcement of her replacement in the same week that the new ads are appearing is a bit of a snub'. In addition to her advertising work, Parker released her own fragrance in 2005 called 'Lovely' - an innocent parody in itself. (sarahjessicaparkerbeauty.com) In March 2007, Parker announced that she is launching her own fashion line, Bitten, (bittensjp.com) in partnership with discount clothing chain Steve & Barry's. (Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is launching her own fashion line) EnjoyFashion, March 14, 2007 The line, which features hundreds of clothing items and accessories under $20, launched on June 7th, 2007, exclusively at Steve and Barry's. (Bitten Revealed!) Fashion Week Daily, March 13,2007 In July 2007, following the enormous success of 'Lovely', Parker released her second fragrance 'Covet'. (caseofthecovetedbottle.com)
Personal life
As her career continued to blossom into the 1990s, she met journalist John Kennedy Jr. and dated him for several months. Prior to this, Parker had a serious relationship with Robert Downey Jr. She was also romantically linked to singer-songwriter Joshua Kadison in the early 1990s, who described their tumultuous relationship and their cat Moses in the song 'Jessie' on the album "Painted Desert Serenade".
On May 19, 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick, to whom she was introduced by her brother. The couple married in a civil ceremony in a historic synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that is no longer used as a house of worship; both Parker and Broderick consider themselves to be 'culturally Jewish.' The couple's first child, son James Wilkie Broderick, was born on October 28, 2002. He was named after Broderick's father, the distinguished Irish-American actor James Broderick. Given her public declarations of support for public schools, school choice advocates are anxious to see if Parker makes good on her 2004 promise to enter James Wilke into the New York City public school system when he turns five in 2007. Parker and Broderick live in New York City and frequent the arts.
Parker and Broderick also spend a considerable amount of time at their holiday home in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Parker is a prominent member of the Hollywood's Women's Political Committee and is UNICEF's Representative for the Performing Arts; in 2006, she traveled to Liberia as a UNICEF celebrity ambassador, and has commented that, 'It's a place that gets little or no attention, so we're going to try and bring some attention to it.'She is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States.
As of 2007, she lives in New York City with her husband and son.
Awards
Golden Globes
2005: Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy - "The Family Stone"
2005: Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy - "Sex and the City"
2004: "Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy" - "Sex and the City"
2003: Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy - "Sex and the City"
2002: "Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy" - "Sex and the City"
2001: "Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy" - "Sex and the City"
2000: "Winner: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy" - "Sex and the City"
1999: Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series: Musical or Comedy - "Sex and the City"
Emmy Awards
2004:" Winner: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2004: Nominee: Outstanding Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2003: Nominee: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2003: Nominee: Outstanding Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2002: Nominee: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2002: Nominee: Outstanding Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2001: Nominee: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2001: "Winner: Outstanding Comedy Series" - "Sex and the City"
2000: Nominee: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
1999: Nominee: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2005: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2005: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2004: "Winner: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" - "Sex and the City"
2003: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2002: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2002: "Winner: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" - "Sex and the City"
2001: "Winner: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series" - "Sex and the City"
2001: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
2000: Nominee: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - "Sex and the City"
External links
(Biography) at Inside the Actors Studio
(Maxim naming her as one 'The Five Unsexiest Women Alive') at Maxim
(Biography) at Playbill
(Biography at "Sex and the City"s website)
(Archive of the original "Sex and the City" newspaper columns)
(Food Bank For New York City public service announcement)
(Sarah Jessica Parker Sending Son to Public School)
Interviews
("New York Newsday" interview, March 8, 2006)
(BBC interview) (December, 2005)
(FemaleFirst.uk interview) (December 13, 2005)
(Dark Horizons interview) (December 8, 2005)
(Sarah Jessica Parker Interview)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Sarah Jessica Parker.
