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| AL
PACINO
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One of the greatest film actors of all
time was born Alfredo James Pacino in 1940 in East Harlem New York, to
insurance salesman father Salvatore and mother Rose. His parents divorced when
Alfredo was two years old.
The man known for iconic performances as Mafia bosses, drug lords, cops,
robbers and the Devil himself, worked at various odd jobs before going on to
study at the famed Actors Studio.
After successful Broadway productions Pacino started his long journey as Don
Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 gangster epic The Godfather.
The first of a trilogy spanning nearly twenty years, The Godfather saw the
first in long line of moving and memorable Pacino performances.
In 1973 he was real-life honest New York cop Serpico. In 1975’s Dog Day
Afternoon he was Sonny, the gay bank robber trying to raise cash for his
lover’s sex-change operation.
Pausing only to turn down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars and Martin Sheen’s
character in Apocalypse Now, Pacino went on to deliver one of his finest cult
turns. As Cuban drug lord Tony Montana in Brian De Palma’s ultra-violent 1983
classic Scarface, he hissed the immortal words “Say hello to my little
friend”. Scarface is one of the biggest-selling DVDs of all time.
Over twenty years into his career, Pacino was awarded his first Best Actor
Oscar for his role as blind retired army officer Frank Slade, who employs Chris
O’Donnell as his seeing-eye dog in 1992’s Scent Of A Woman.
Pacino turned in another iconic performance for De Palma in 1993’s Carlito’s
Way, as the eponymous Puerto-Rican ex-con trying desperately to go straight.
Two years later he was, incredibly, sharing screen time with Robert De Niro for
the first time in Michael Mann’s heist movie Heat.
Then in 1997 starred opposite to of Hollywood’s brightest young stars - Johnny
Depp in Donnie Brasco and Keanu Reeves in The Devil’s Advocate.
With takings comparatively quiet at the box-office of late, Pacino looks like
stepping up a gear in 2007 with several new projects. He will star in Steven
Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen, alongside George Clooney, Brad Pit and Andy
Garcia.
Also Scheduled for release is Rififi, A remake of the 1955 French original
based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton. Pacino plays a career thief just out
of prison who finds his wife has left him and so in his anger starts planning a
heist.
Due too is the video game version of Heat, where Pacino is reportedly in
negotiations to voice his character. It would have to be a pretty good offer
though, as the actor turned down the voice of Michael Corleone in the recent
Godfather game.
One of the few Hollywood actors who has never married, Pacino is the father of
twins with his partner the actress Beverly D’Angelo. He also has a daughter
with previous partner, acting teacher Jan Tarrant.
Now in his Sixties Pacino is a big fan of the opera and Shakespeare. He’s just
a big old softy really!!
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| EMINEM |
Born Marshall Bruce
Mathers III in Kansas City in 1972, the boy later to become world famous,
hockey mask wearing/chainsaw wielding rapper Eminem, moved to Detroit when he
was 12.
During a troubled, impoverished childhood –his mother was 15 when he was born,
his father left forever when he was 6 months old – Marshall sought solace in
rap. By the time he was 17, he had made a local name for himself as rapper
M&M, later to change the spelling to Eminem.
Rejected by most fellow rappers because he was white, Eminem quit school after
failing the ninth grade three times. Away from academia he immersed himself in
Detroit’s rap scene, entering into freestyle battles and releasing debut album
Infinite in 1996, selling less than 1000 copies.
Hooking up with NWA man Dr Dre for the Slim Shady EP in 1997, Eminem has never
looked back. Hailed in equal measure both as a misunderstood genius and as a
misogynistic homophobe, Eminem’s lyrics and videos have always proved
controversial, notching him up as many awards as enemies while shifting
millions of albums in the process.
Controversy aside, the rapper has also been responsible for some of the finest
pop singles of the last ten years including My Name Is; Stan (which gave Dido a
leg-up by sampling her No Angel track); The Real Slim Shady; Just Lose it and
My Band, which he released with his occasional rap collective D12 –The Dirty
Dozen. All this and he’s contributed songs to numerous film soundtracks
including the Eddie Murphy comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps -
where he performed Off The Wall with
Redman - and the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller End Of Days, which
featured his song Bad Influence.
This relentless whirlwind of creativity, not to mention family problems with
his mum and now ex-wife, took its toll on the mouthy, peroxide-bonced
hip-hopster. While touting 2004’s Encore album, the tour's European leg was
cancelled due to "exhaustion," with Eminem going into rehab for a dependency on
sleeping pills.
By the end of 2005 he was back with new video When I'm Gone which typically
made fun of his rehab stay. The rapper also released a chart-topping
compilation, Curtain Call: The Hits, the title prompting rumours of the
rapper’s retirement.
Should he turn his back on music, he could always try acting. In 2002’s
8 Mile, a film based loosely on his life, Eminem delivers a fine
performance as Jimmy ‘B-Rabbit’ Smith, a young rapper who is struggling with
his anger through music. Kim Basinger plays his mum Stephanie in this film
directed by Curtis Hanson, the man who brought us LA Confidential and Wonder
Boys.
In June 2006, seemingly inspired by his experience with Hanson, Eminem
announced his intentions to return to the screen with a loose remake of the TV
western Have Gun, Will Travel. It is thought that the rapper will play a bounty
hunter and will also contribute to the soundtrack. We haven’t heard the last of
Marshall Bruce Mathers III.
Download Eminem now
or subscribe to Wippit.
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