Sharon Stone!
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Sharon Stone Early life
Stone was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The second of four children, she is the daughter of Dorothy (née Lawson), an accountant and homemaker, and Joseph Stone, a tool and die manufacturer. She has Irish ancestry, with roots in Galway.As a teen, she worked at a McDonald's restaurant. When she was a young woman her IQ was tested at 154 points. After skipping a grade in school, she was involuntarily transferred from Saegertown High School to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, enrolling at the age of fifteen years. She returned for a visit to her college in March 2007 for academic purposes, and there, to her surprise, she received an honorary doctorate from former university president Frank Pogue.
Sharon Stone Career
Sharon Stone 1970s
Stone won the title of Miss Crawford County in Meadville. One of the pageant judges said she should quit school and move to New York to become a fashion model. When her mother heard this, she agreed, and, in 1977 Stone left Meadville, moving in with an aunt in New Jersey. Within four days of her arrival in New Jersey, she was signed by Ford Modeling Agency in New York. It was at this time that her name was linked with Peter Glaze, of BBC TV's Crackerjack fame. After signing with Ford, Stone spent a few years modeling and appeared in TV commercials for Burger King, Clairol and Maybelline, but she did not enjoy her work.Sharon Stone 1980-1990
While living in Europe, she decided to quit modeling and become an actress. "So I packed my bags, moved back to New York, and stood in line to be an extra in a Woody Allen movie," she later recalled. While auditioning, she met Michelle Pfeiffer, recognized her from the pageant she competed in, and the two began a friendship that lasts to this day. Stone was cast for a brief but memorable role in Allen's Stardust Memories (1980), and then had a speaking part a year later in the horror movie Deadly Blessing (1981). When French director Claude Lelouch saw Stone in Stardust Memories, he was so impressed that he cast her in Les Uns et Les Autres (1982) starring James Caan. She was only on screen for two minutes and did not appear in the credits.Her next role was in Irreconcilable Differences (1984), starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, and a young Drew Barrymore. Stone plays a starlet who breaks up the marriage of a successful director and his screenwriter wife. The story was based on the real-life experience of director Peter Bogdanovich, his set designer wife Polly Platt and Cybill Shepherd, who as a young actress had starred in Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971). The highlight of Stone's performance is when her cocaine-addict character plays Scarlett O'Hara in a musical pitched as a remake of Gone with the Wind.
Through the rest of the 1980s she appeared in Action Jackson (1988), King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987). She also played the wife of Steven Seagal's character in Above the Law (1988). She appeared in an episode of Magnum, P.I., titled "Echoes of the Mind", where she played a love interest of Thomas Magnum (1984).
Sharon Stone 1990-2004
Her appearance in Total Recall (1990) with Arnold Schwarzenegger gave Stone's career a much-needed jolt. To coincide with the movie's release, she posed nude for Playboy magazine, showing off the buff body she developed in preparation for the movie (she pumped iron and learned Tae Kwon Do). In 1999, she was rated among the 25 sexiest stars of the century by Playboy.The role that made her a star was that of Catherine Tramell, a brilliant, bisexual serial killer in Basic Instinct (1992). Stone had to wait and actually turned down offers for the mere prospect to play Tramell (the part was offered to 13 other actresses before being offered to Stone). Several better known actresses of the time such as Geena Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffith, Kelly Lynch and Julia Roberts turned down the part mostly because of the nudity required. In the movies most notorious scene, Tramell is being questioned by the police and she crosses and uncrosses her legs revealing the fact she was not wearing any underwear. When seeing her own vulva in the leg-crossing scene during a screening of the film, she went into the projection booth and slapped director Paul Verhoeven. "I knew that we were going to do this leg-crossing thing and I knew that we were going to allude to the concept that I was nude, but I did not think that you would see my vagina in the scene," she said. "Later, when I saw it in the screening I was shocked. I think seeing it in a room full of strangers was so disrespectful and so shocking, so I went into the booth and slapped him and left." Stone claims to have been tricked into the stunt and considered a lawsuit.
Stone claimed that although she agreed to film the flashing scene with no panties, and although she and director Paul Verhoeven had discussed the scene from the beginning of production, she was unaware just how explicit the infamous shot would be. Despite having earlier claimed "it was so fun" watching the film for the first time with strangers she later said it was "so disrespectful, and so shocking, so I went into the booth and slapped him (Verhoeven) and left". Verhoeven denied these claims and said, "As much as I love her, I hate her too, especially after the lies she told the press about the shot between her legs, which was a straight lie". Following this film, she was listed by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
Stone in the 1992 film Basic InstinctIn 1992, photographer George Hurrell took a series of photographs of Stone, Sherilyn Fenn, Julian Sands, Raquel Welch, Eric Roberts and Sean Penn. In these portraits he recreated his style of the 1930s, with the actors posing in costumes, hairstyle and makeup of the period.
Stone's stardom was such that she received top billing over Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio when cast as a gunslinger for Sam Raimi's 1995 western The Quick and the Dead.
In November 1995, Stone received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. That same year, Empire magazine chose her as one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history. In October 1997, she was ranked among the top 100 movie stars of all time by Empire.
In 1996, she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture for her role as "Ginger" in Martin Scorsese's Casino opposite Robert DeNiro. She also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the role.
The actress was hospitalized in late 2001 for a subarachnoid hemmorrhage, initially reported as a brain aneuryism, according to USA Today.
Stone starred opposite actress Ellen DeGeneres in the 2001 HBO movie If These Walls Could Talk 2, in which she played a lesbian trying to start a family. In 2003, she appeared in three episodes from the 8th season of The Practice as Sheila Carlisle. For her performances, she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Sharon Stone 2004-present
After years of litigation, Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction was released on March 31, 2006. After earning $3,200,000 in its debut weekend, the movie was declared a bomb. A reason for a long delay in releasing the film was reportedly Stone's dispute with the filmmakers over the nudity in the movie; she wanted more, while they wanted much much less. A group sex scene was cut in order to achieve an R rating from the MPAA for the U.S. release; the controversial scene remained in the U.K. version of the London-based film. Stone told an interviewer, "We are in a time of odd repression and if a popcorn movie allows us to create a platform for discussion, wouldn't that be great?" Stone has said that she would love to direct and act in a third Basic Instinct film.A subsequent film role came in the drama Alpha Dog opposite Bruce Willis, playing Olivia Mazursky, the mother of a real-life murder victim. Stone wore a fatsuit for the role. In February 2007, Stone found her role as a clinically depressed woman in her latest film, When a Man Falls in the Forest, strangely uplifting, as it challenged what she called "Prozac society". "It was a watershed experience," she said. "I think that we live in a... Prozac society where we're always told we're supposed to have this kind of equilibrium of emotion. We have all these assignments about how we're supposed to feel about something".
In 2007, she appeared in a television commercial demonstrating the symptoms of a stroke.
Sharon Stone Personal life
Stone in 2004Stone lives in Beverly Hills, California, and owns a ranch in New Zealand. In March 2006, Stone traveled to Israel to promote peace in the Middle East through a press conference with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres.Sharon Stone Chinese earthquake controversy
Stone sparked criticism for her comments made in an exchange on the red carpet with Hong Kong's "Cable Entertainment News" during the the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2008. When asked about the 2008 Sichuan earthquake she remarked;"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else,"..."And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
According to the Hollywood Reporter, after her comments, one of China's biggest cinema chains released statements stating its company would not show her films in its theaters. The founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Ng See-Yuen called Stone's comments "inappropriate" and said the UME Cineplex chain would not be releasing her films in the future. Christian Dior advertisements featuring Stone's image were also dropped from all ads in China amidst the public uproar.
Stone later apologized for her comments, saying in a statement issued by Dior China "My erroneous words and deeds angered and saddened the Chinese people, and I sincerely apologise for this," adding "I'm willing to participate in any earthquake relief activity and to do my utmost to help Chinese people affected by the disaster."
Sharon Stone Tanzania controversy
On January 28, 2005, Stone helped solicit pledges for $1 million in five minutes for mosquito nets in Tanzania, turning a panel on African poverty into an impromptu fund-raiser at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Many observers, including UNICEF, criticized her actions by claiming that Stone had reacted instinctively to the words of Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, because she had not done her research on the causes, consequences and methods of preventing malaria; if she had done so, she would have found out that most African governments already distribute free bed nets through public hospitals.Of the $1 million pledged, only $250,000 was actually raised. In order to fulfill the promise to send $1 million worth of bed nets to Tanzania, UNICEF contributed $750,000. This diverted funds from other UNICEF projects. According to prominent economist Xavier Sala-i-Martín, officials are largely unaware of what happened with the bed nets. Some were delivered to the local airport. These reportedly were stolen and later resurfaced as wedding dresses on the local black market.
Stone hosted the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Concert.
Sharon Stone AIDS research support
In April 2004, she was awarded the National Center for Lesbian Rights Spirit Award in San Francisco for her support and involvement with organizations that serve the lesbian, gay and HIV/AIDS community and performed Can't Get You Out of My Head with Kylie Minogue in Cannes for AIDS research. She was presented the award by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.It has been said that her parents raised her with feminist values. "My dad never raised me to believe that being a woman inhibited any of my choices or my possibilities to succeed. To be a feminist like Dad in that blue-collar, middle-class world is a big stand."
Sharon Stone Religion
In the early 1990s, Stone became a member of the Church of Scientology. Stone remained with the religion until recently when she converted to Buddhism, after fellow actor Richard Gere introduced her to the Dalai Lama. She is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.Sharon Stone Relationships
She married television producer Michael Greenburg in 1984 on the set of The Vegas Strip War, a TV movie he produced and she starred in, along with Rock Hudson and James Earl Jones. They separated three years later, and their divorce was finalized in 1990.Stone in Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2005She was engaged to producer Bill McDonald after they met on the film Sliver (1993). McDonald left his wife, Naomi Baca, for Stone. The tabloids initially labeled her a homewrecker, but their attention turned to Baca after she got involved with Basic Instinct screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who would leave his wife for her. Stone and McDonald would later end their engagement.
On February 14, 1998, she married Phil Bronstein, executive editor of the San Francisco Examiner and later San Francisco Chronicle. Stone and Bronstein were divorced in January 2004, after he had suffered a severe heart attack. They have an adopted son named Roan Joseph Bronstein, born on May 22, 2000. She also adopted her second son, Laird Vonne Stone on May 7, 2005. On June 28, 2006, Stone adopted her third son, Quinn Kelly.
In 2005, during a television interview for her movie Basic Instinct 2, Stone hinted an interest in bisexuality, stating "Middle age is an open-minded period". Stone has said that in the past she's "dated" girls. While filming Basic Instinct, her best girlfriend was there to hold her hand out of camera range during some of the scenes. And in a biography, Naked Instinct, author Frank Sanello details a sexual liaison with a woman in the bathroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel. In an interview on the Michael Parkinson talk show in England on March 18, 2006, she said she was "straight". However, in January 2008, she was quoted as saying, "Everybody is bisexual to an extent. Now men act like women and it's difficult to have a relationship because I like men in that old-fashioned way. I like masculinity and, in truth, only women do that now".
It has been rumored that Stone has recently been dating Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson, host of The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Sharon Stone Mensa controversy
For many years it was believed that Sharon Stone was a member of Mensa, but in April 2002, she admitted she was not, and had never been, a member of the high-IQ society. Jim Blackmore of Mensa said, "It's delightful to finally see Ms. Stone admit that she's not and never has been a member of our society. But then she goes on to say, 'I went to a Mensa school.' Not so." Blackmore said that would not have been possible as there have been no Mensa schools since the early 1960s.Sharon Stone Filmography
Date Film Role Notes2008 Five Dollars a Day Dolores awaiting release
2008 The Year of Getting to Know Us Jane Rocket awaiting release
2008 If I Had Known I Was a Genius Gloria Fremont
2008 When a Man Falls in the Forest Karen Fields
2007 Democrazy Patricia Hill Short
2007 Alpha Dog Olivia Mazursky
2006 Bobby Miriam Ebbers
2006 Basic Instinct 2 Catherine Tramell
2005 Broken Flowers Laura Daniels Miller
2004 Catwoman Laurel Hedare
2004 A Different Loyalty Sally Cauffield
2003 Cold Creek Manor Leah Tilson
2000 Beautiful Joe Alice 'Hush' Mason
2000 Picking Up the Pieces Candy Cowley
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Fran TV movie
1999 Simpatico Rosie Carter
1999 The Muse Sarah Little Golden Globe Nomination
1999 Gloria Gloria
1998 The Mighty Gwen Dillon Golden Globe Nomination
1998 Antz Princess Bala Voice
1998 Sphere Dr. Elizabeth 'Beth' Halperin
1996 Last Dance Cindy Liggett
1996 Diabolique Nicole Horner
1995 Casino Ginger McKenna Academy Award Nomination, Golden Globe Win
1995 The Quick and the Dead Ellen 'The Lady'
1994 The Specialist May Munro
1994 Intersection Sally Eastman
1993 Sliver Carly Norris
1992 Basic Instinct Catherine Tramell Golden Globe Nomination
1991 Where Sleeping Dogs Lie Serena Black
1991 Diary of a Hitman Kiki
1991 Year of the Gun Alison King
1991 Scissors Angie Anderson
1991 He Said, She Said Linda Metzger
1990 Total Recall Lori Quaid
1989 War and Remembrance Janice Henry TV Mini-series
1989 Blood and Sand Doña Sol
1989 Beyond the Stars Laurie McCall
1988 Above the Law Sara Toscani
1988 Action Jackson Patrice Dellaplane
1988 Tears in the Rain Casey Cantrell TV Movie
1987 Cold Steel Kathy Connors
1987 Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold Jesse Huston
1987 Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol Claire Mattson
1985 King Solomon's Mines Jesse Huston
1984 Irreconcilable Differences Blake Chandler
1984 The Vegas Strip War Sarah Shipman TV Movie
1984 Calendar Girl Murders Cassie Bascomb TV Movie
1984 Magnum, P.I. Diane Dupree and Diedra Dupree
1983 Bay City Blues Cathy St. Marie TV Series
1982 Not Just Another Affair Lynette TV Movie
1981 Deadly Blessing Lana Marcus
1981 Les Uns et les autres Girl with Glenn Senior Uncredited
1980 Stardust Memories Pretty girl on train Debut
