99 Words

Steven Spielberg is no doubt one of the best movie directors of all time. Premiere magazine hailed him as the most prominent icon in the movie industry. Spielberg is often a household name as his movies are quite popular. His award-winning movies include E.T.. the Extraterrestrial, Indiana Jones series, Schindler’s List, Jaws, and Saving Private Ryan.

Born and raised in Ohio to a Jewish parents, Spielberg had showed promise in film making in his childhood. He made amateur movies and won awards for it. At present he has won the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards, and the BAFTA Award for Best Film to name a few. He also co-founded the Starlight Children’s Foudation, a non-profit organization helping children with chronic illnesses.

Fray Wray will always be remembered as the gorgeous blond heroine in the 1930’s adventure flick King Kong. But in real life, Vina Fay Wray, was a brunette. Wray was born on September 15, 1907. The Canadian-American actress who made significant contributions to the motion picture industry, having filmed over a hundred of movies, has a five-pointed star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1988, her autobiography On the Other Hand was put to print. Wray died on August 8, 2004. She has a park named after her.

Toni Morrison is the pen name for Chloe Anthony Wofford, the Ohio-born author of the novel Beloved which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. Morrison is best known for her epic themes of the roles of black women in a racist and patriarchal society. In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison was dubbed one of t he “30 Most Powerful Women in America” by the Ladies’ Home Journal in 2001. She was an educator and and editor. Her other popular novels are The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1974), Song of Solomon (1977), and Jazz (1992).

Geisha or Geiko are traditional, female Japanese entertainers, whose talent and skills include performing various Japanese arts, such as classical dance and music. The word comes from a Chinese origin and signifies an individual of artistic accomplishments. Contrary to most western beliefs, Geisha are not prostitutes.

Traditionally and until now, the training of becoming a geisha begins at the age of seven; apprentice geisha are called maiko. When sufficiently proficient, a geisha is bound by her parents in a contract with an employer for a span of time. Geisha are expected to be single women; those who marry have to retire from the profession, this is usually the way for a geisha to escape from the signed contract. Geisha attends male parties and entertains the guests with song, dance, poetry, recital and light conversation. Geisha always wear a kimono with an obi at their back, this distinguishes them from the prostitures and their clothing is made up of several layers of kimonos and undergarments.

Warren Buffet is an American financier, investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Berkshire and Hathaway Inc., an investment company with corporate holdings in excess of $2 billion. He was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world as of February 2008, with an estimated net worth of around 62 billion dollars. Nicknamed as the “Oracle of Omaha”, Buffet is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his extensive wealth. Last 2006 Buffet revealed his intention to give away $37 billion, a huge proportion of his fortune to charity, mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Bounarroti Simoni or commonly known as Michelangelo was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and poet whose artistic works exerted a great influence on his contemporaries and on subsequent European art. Two of his best known works are the Pietà and the David. Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo made two of the most influencial works in fresco in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgmenton the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. He also designed the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and revolutionized classical architecture with his use of the giant order of pilasters. During his lifetime, he was often called II Divino which means “the divine one” and was the only artist whose biography was published while he was still alive. Michelangelo was known to be a perfectionist, even if the tinest flaw was found in one of his works, he would consider it ruined.

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren was a Swedish screenwriter and children’s book auther, whose works have been translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. She sold about 145 million copies around the world. Astrid Lindgren is greatly remembered for writing the Pippi Longstocking and Karisson-on-the-Roof book series. Her works uses a variety of styles and themes but most are influenced by her country childhood, in some way or another. Interesting style that she incorporate in her writings is the ability to create drama out of everyday situations and her tendency to introduce unique, wild and fantastic elements. Britt-Mari lättar sitt hjärta was the first published book that Lindgren wrote, the title immediately won second prize in a competition organized by Sweden’s largest children’s literature publisher, Rabén & Sjögren. The win launched the writer’s career as a literary artist. During the mid-20^th century, Lindgren has had a revolutionary impact on children’s fiction in Scandinavia; rejecting the restrictive, moralizing conventions during that era. Lindgren wrote books from children’s prespective and tackled issues as far ranging as tradegy, violence, pain and death.

Rob “Bob” Nesta Marley was a Jamaican musician, singer-songwriter who was a strong believer of the Rastafarian movement. He was the front man and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band, The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers. Popularly known as Bob Marley, this musician remains a legend as he was the prime mover in helping spread Jamaican music worldwide aside from being a revered performer of the reggae music genre. The compilation album, Legend, proves Marley’s great influence to its audience when the album became the best-selling reggae album ever, with sales over 12 million copies and was awarded ten times platinum after it was released in 1984, three years after he passed away.

Paris Whitney Hilton or more known as Paris Hilton is an American socialite, movie and television personality, singer, model and businesswoman. She became known on her appearance of her hit television series, The Simple life which also starred friend Nicole Richie. Following the success of her reality TV show, she did several minor roles in films, published a tongue-in-cheek autobiography, modeled and endorsed for several designers and products, released a recording album and was involved in a video tape scandal with former boyfriend. Paris is the oldest of four siblings, born in New York City by Richard and Kathy Hilton. At 19 she signed a modeling contract under Donald Trump’s modeling agency. In 2001, Paris began to develop and identity as a socialite and a reputation as “New York’s leading It Girl”.

Oprah Gail Winfrey or simply referred to as Oprah, is an American television host, magazine publisher, book critic and philanthropist and media mogul. Her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest rated talk show in the history of television. She has been tagged as the richest African-American of all time and according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world. Aside from her talk show, she also publishes 2 other magazines : O, The Oprah Magazine and O at Home. Winfrey’s company also runs Oprah.com, a website that provide resources and interactive content relating to her shows, charity, magazines and book club. In the site, she initiated the “Oprah’s Child Predator Watch List”, to help track down accused child molesters. Oprah also starred in Steven Spielberg’s epic film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple and in other movies as well.

Oprah was born to a teenage single mother in rural Mississippi and at age 9 was raped and gave birth at the age of fourteen, his son died later on from infancy. She first landed a job in radio and was later on transferred to the daytime talk show arena after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, after she launched her own production company she eventually became an international success.