Saturday, December 25, 2010

Hollywood Brad Pitt

PROFILE



Name : Brad Pitt


Birth Name : William Bradley Pitt


Date of Birth : 18 December 1963


Place of Birth : Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA


Height : 5' 11" (1.80 m)


Awards : Won 1 Golden Globe; nominated for 2 Oscars and 2 BAFTAs


Occupation : Actor


Sign : Sagittarius


Years active : 1987–present


Spouse : Jennifer Aniston(2000–2005; divorced)


Partner : Angelina Jolie(2005–present; 6 children)






BIOGRAPHY

Born December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri, the eldest of three children in a devoutly Southern Baptist family. His father, Bill Pitt, owned a trucking company and his mother, Jane Pitt, was a family counselor. Pitt originally aspired to be an advertising art director, studying journalism at the University of Missouri. However, the young college student had other quiet aspirations, the product of a childhood love of movies, which finally seemed tangible his last semester at university when he realized, "I can leave." On a whim, Pitt dropped out of college, packed up his Datsun, and headed West to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles, just two credits shy of a college degree.
Pitt told his parents he intended to enroll in the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, but instead spent the next several months driving a limousine chauffeuring strippers from one bachelor party to the next, delivering refrigerators, and trying to break into the L.A. acting scene. He joined an acting class and, shortly after, accompanied a classmate as her scene partner on an audition with an agent. In a twist of fate, the agent signed Pitt instead of his classmate. After weathering only seven months in Los Angeles, Pitt had secured an agent and regular acting work.
Pitt's first jobs came in television, appearing in episodes of Dallas, the daytime soap Another World, the sitcom Growing Pains, and in 1990's short-lived Fox Television series, Glory Days. In 1989, Pitt played Billy Canton, the drug-addicted pimp of a teenage runaway, played by Juliette Lewis, in the NBC made-for-television movie Too Young to Die. Pitt and Lewis (9 years his junior at age 16) started dating and eventually moved in together.
Pitt made his big screen debut in 1989's horror/slasher film Cutting Class with Donovan Leitch, and played a teen track star in Sandy Tung's Across the Tracks, but it was a well-timed bit part in a controversial Hollywood film that pushed him into the glare of instant stardom. 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 (1991) grabbed universal attention despite only a few minutes worth 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 (and wore out the rewind button on many a VCR).
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).
CAREER
In 1999, Pitt portrayed Tyler Durden, an uncompromising and charismatic individual, in Fight Club, a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, directed by David Fincher. Pitt prepared for the part with lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling. To look the part, Pitt consented to the removal of pieces of his front teeth which were restored when filming ended. While promoting Fight Club, Pitt said that the purpose of the film was not necessarily to take one's aggressions out on someone else but rather to "have an experience, take a punch more" and see how you come out on the other end. Fight Club premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival and, despite divided critical opinion on the film as a whole, Pitt's performance was broadly praised. Paul Clinton of CNN noted the risky yet successful nature of the film while Variety remarked upon Pitt's ability to be "cool, charismatic and more dynamically physical, perhaps than [...] his breakthrough role in Thelma and Louise". In spite of a worse-than-expected box office performance, Fight Club became a cult classic after its DVD release in 2000.

Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, cast of Ocean's Eleven and director Steven Soderbergh in December 2001
Following Fight Club, Pitt was cast as an Irish Gypsy boxer with a barely intelligible accent in Guy Ritchie's 2000 gangster film Snatch. Several reviewers were critical of Snatch, however most praised Pitt. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said Pitt was "ideally cast as an Irishman whose accent is so thick even Brits can't understand him", going on to say that, before Snatch, Pitt had been "shackled by roles that called for brooding introspection, but recently he has found his calling in black comic outrageousness and flashy extroversion;" while Amy Taubinof The Village Voice claimed that "Pitt gets maximum comic mileage out of a one-joke role".
The following year Pitt starred opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican, a film that garnered a broad range of reviews but enjoyed box office success. Pitt's next role, in 2001's $143 million-grossing Cold War thriller Spy Game, was as Tom Bishop, an operative of the CIA's Special Activities Division, mentored by Robert Redford's character. Salon.com enjoyed the film, though noting that neither Pitt nor Redford provided "much of an emotional connection for the audience". On November 22, 2001, Pitt made a guest appearance in the eighth season of the television series Friends, playing a man with a grudge against Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, to whom Pitt was married at the time. For this performance he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. In December 2001, Pitt had the role of Rusty Ryan in the heist film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts. Well-received by critics, Ocean's Eleven was successful at the box office, earning $450 million worldwide.
Pitt appeared in two episodes of MTV's reality series Jackass in February 2002, first running through the streets of Los Angeles with several cast members in gorilla suits and participating in his own staged abduction in another episode. In the same year, Pitt had a cameo role in George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He took on his first voice-acting roles in 2003, lending his voice to the titular character of the DreamWorks animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and playing Boomhauer's brother, Patch, in an episode of the animated television series King of the Hill.

Pitt had two major film roles in 2004, starring as Achilles in Troy, and making a second appearance as Rusty Ryan, in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He spent six months sword training before the filming of Troy, based on the Iliad. An on-set injury to his Achilles tendon delayed production on the picture for several weeks. With a total worldwide gross of $497 million, Troy remains Pitt's most commercially successful picture to date. The film earned $364 million outside the U.S. and $133 million domestically. Stephen Hunter of The Washington Times stated that Pitt excelled at such a demanding role. Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide and Pitt and Clooney's dynamic was described (by CNN's Paul Clinton) as "the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford".
In 2005, Pitt starred in the Doug Liman-directed action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which a bored married couple discover that each is an assassin sent to kill the other. The feature received reasonable reviews but was generally lauded for the chemistry between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife Jane Smith. The Star Tribune noted that "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.

For his next feature film, Pitt starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu's multi-narrative drama Babel (2006). Pitt's performance was critically well-received, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer believed that he was credible and gave the film visibility. Pitt later said he regarded taking the part as one of the best decisions of his career. The film was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was later featured at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. Babel received seven Academy and Golden Globe award nominations, wining the Best Drama Golden Globe, and earned Pitt a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.
Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen. While less lucrative than the first two films, this sequel earned $311 million at the international box office. Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name. Directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company Plan B, the film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, with Pitt playing a "scary and charismatic" role, according to Lewis Beale of Film Journal International and earning Pitt the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival. Although Pitt attended the festival to promote the film, he left early after being attacked by a fan who pushed through his bodyguards. He eventually collected the award one year later at the 2008 festival.
Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with The Guardian calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy", noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest. He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse, with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making Benjamin Button a "timeless masterpiece," according to Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun. The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination, all in the category for Best Actor. The film itself received thirteen Academy Award nominations in total, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.
Since 2008, Pitt's work has included a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, released in August 2009 at a special presentation at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis in German-occupied France. The film was a box office hit, taking $311 million worldwide and garnering generally favorable reviews. The film received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations and seven MTV Movie Award nominations, including Best Male Performance for Pitt. He voiced the superhero character Metro Man in the 2010 animated feature Megamind. Pitt is due to appear in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Sean Penn and has signed on to appear as a British explorer searching for a mysterious Amazonian civilization in the Lost City of Z, based on David Grann's eponymous book.
As a Producer
God Grew Tired of Us (2006)
Executive producer

The Departed (2006)
Academy Award for Best Picture
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture
Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama
Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Film

Running with Scissors (2006)

The Tehuacan Project (2007)
Executive producer

Year of the Dog (2007)
Executive producer

A Mighty Heart (2007)
Co-producer
Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
The Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Pretty/Handsome (2008)
Executive producer (TV)

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
Executive producer
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)
Executive producer

Kick-Ass (2010)

Eat Pray Love (2010)

The Tree of Life (2011)
MOVIES & AWARDS

No Way Out (1987)
No Man's Land (1987)
Less Than Zero (1987)
Growing Pains (1987)
Dallas (1987)
21 Jump Street (1988)
Happy Together (1987)
Cutting Class (1987)
Head of the Class (1987)

Freddy's Nightmares (1987)
The Image (1990)
Too Young to Die? (1990)
Glory Days (1990)
Across the Tracks (1991)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Johnny Suede (1991)
Contact (1992)
Cool World (1992)
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Kalifornia (1993)
True Romance (1993)
The Favor (1994)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male
MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Tom Cruise
Nominated–Saturn Award for Best Actor

Legends of the Fall (1994)
Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Seven (1995)
MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Morgan Freeman
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male

12 Monkeys (1995)
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance

Sleepers (1996)
The Devil's Own (1997)
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
The Dark Side of the Sun (1997)
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Fight Club (1999)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Snatch (2000)
Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
The Mexican (2001)

Spy Game (2001)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team
Nominated–Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Friends (2001)
TV series (one episode: "The One with the Rumor")
Nominated–Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Full Frontal (2002)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Abby Singer (2003)
Troy (2004)
Teen Choice Award for Best Action Actor
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Eric Bana
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male

Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Angelina Jolie
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Angelina Jolie

Babel (2006)
Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Palm Springs International Film Festival for Best Cast
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Burn After Reading (2008)
Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Nominated–Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated–Saturn Award for Best Actor
Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Megamind (2010)
The Tree of Life (2011)
Moneyball (2011)

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