One of Italy's most celebrated funny men, Roberto Benigni has found fame all over the world with his sentimental comedy La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful). The film, inspired by memories of his father's two years spent in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, is about a man attempting to shield his child from the horrors of the Holocaust through humor. Life is Beautiful became the highest-grossing foreign film ever, earning seven Academy Award nominations (taking home Best Actor and Best Foreign-Language Film), and, along with Benigni's infectious attitude, made him the darling of the 1999 awards ceremony.

From early childhood, Benigni loved to entertain, often performing in the streets of Tuscany for various onlookers. At 19, after dropping out of seminary in Florence where he was studying for the priesthood, Benigni moved to Rome to perform with a stand-up comedy and acting troupe where he honed the comedic skills that would become his trademark. His repeated collaborations with such notable European filmmakers - including Bertolucci, Fellini and Costa-Gavras - brought him moderate success before coming into his own to write, direct and star in his own productions.

Benigni's first one-man project was a collection of four comic sketches, Tu Mi Turbi/You Disturb Me, which was well received in his native country and brought him a public that wanted more. His co-star in this film, actress Nicoletta Braschi, seemed to agree, as the two collaborated numerous times before finally marrying in 1991.

Benigni's influences - Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Peter Sellers - are obvious in his performances and in his writing, which rely on silly circumstances and characters (Benigni's forte). Yet the actor manages to bring his own personal enthusiasm to each role, endearing not only his characters, but also himself to an adoring public.
Work History
(1977) Writing & Acting film debut with Berlinguer ti voglio bene

(1994) Nominated for Razzie Awards as Worst New Star, for Son of the Pink Panther

(1983) Directing debut (as well as writing and acting in)Tu mi turbi

(1983 - present) Works continuously in film, winning the adoration of the Italian Public

(1994) Producing debut (as well as writing, directing and acting in) Il Mostro

(1997) Producing, writing, directing and acting in La Vita e bella or Life is Beautiful winning critical acclaim at numerous festivals (including Cannes) and recieving 7 Oscar Nomination, winning Best Actor. Now an international star.
Awards
Roberto Benigni has also won numerous Awards

Chuck Norris turned an interest in the martial arts into a highly lucrative film and television career playing the personification of America’s no-nonsense hero, effectively making him one of the world’s most popular action stars today. His nearly 30 action/adventure appearances on the screen have culminated in a large and loyal fan base both here and abroad, comfortably settling him on the hero throne in Hollywood.



Growing up with his mother and two brothers in a loving, if often financially challenged family, Norris graduated high school and joined the Air Force, eventually holding the rank of airman first class. It was during a stint in Korea that he first encountered the Asian martial art of Tang Soo Do, forever changing his course and outlook on life. He began mastering various forms of the martial arts, achieving a black belt in Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwan Do, a brown belt in Judo, and gaining familiarity with several other forms. Soon Norris began acquiring a reputation on the martial arts circuit, gaining several titles, including becoming the first Professional World Middleweight Karate Champion, as well as being named Black Belt Magazine’s 1969s Fighter of the Year and earning the prestigious Triple Crown for the greatest number of tournaments won.



By his early 30s, Norris had succeeded in opening nearly 30 karate schools and was ready for a new challenge. On the advice of friend and student, Steve McQueen, Norris began to diligently pursue an acting career.



In 1977, Norris found his first big break in the form of playing a villain opposite Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon. His stern-faced, often ridiculed, acting style attracted an audience seeking a hero and he continued with several action projects, including Missing in Action I & II, which landed Norris firmly on top of the action/adventure genre.



In 1993, after a highly successful box office career, Norris took his appeal to the small screen with a character created 10 years earlier, Walker, Texas Ranger. Drawing from his martial arts background, Cordell Walker was created to be a champion of right-over-wrong, only using violence as a last resort, with fans responding eagerly to the show’s moral content, allowing Walker, Texas Ranger to continually dominate it’s time-slot.



Norris has applied his hero title, not only to his characters, but also to his real-life, with associations to various philanthropic organizations, including strong ties to veteran’s societies, Funds for Kids and the United Way, as well as chairing KDOA (Kick Drugs Out of America), which he personally developed to offer the martial arts as an alternative to drugs and gangs.
Climb to Fame
Chuck Norris achieved fame as the "butt-kicking," all-american hero of both the big and small screens
Work History
(1993) Starred in title role for CBS's TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.

(1988) Co-wrote Braddock: Missing in Action III with James Bruner.

(1984) Scored a big hit with Missing in Action.

(1976) First starring role in Breaker, Breaker.

(1973) Plays a villian opposite Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon.

(1968) Opens a chain of karate schools, acquiring many famous students, including Steve McQueen.

(1962) After returning to US, begins teaching karate.

(1958) Enlists in Air Force, stationed in Korea and discovers the martial arts.
Affiliations
Chairman, cheif architect/fundraiser for Kick Drugs Out of America; Chairman of Hospitalized Vietnam Vets; Fund for Kids; United Way Make-a-Wish Foundation
Awards
Chuck Norris has also won numerous Awards

Dr. Sherry Turkle has seen over the course of her nearly two decades of field work the relationships that people develop with and through computers, while investigating a need to understand how computers affect our lives, our relationships and the ways in which we communicate.

Turkle grew up in New York City, attending Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an undergrad and then proceeded on to receive her doctorate in sociology and personality psychology at Harvard University. She received her license in clinical psychology from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, only to become the modern-day version of a ‘cybershrink,’ exploring the psychology behind such modern day phenomena as cyber pets, the internet, e-mail and on-line communities and companionship.

In 1976, after graduating from Harvard, Turkle moved on to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. She had several articles published, particularly on the subject of French Psychoanalysis and in 1978 published her first book, Psychoanalytic Politics: Freud’s French Revolution.

Her second effort, The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, skyrocketed her to the forefront of the modern investigatiors of the sociology involved with a computer age, and landed her square on the who’s who lists of modern technology, including Ms. Magazine, where she was one of their Women of the Year in 1985. She continued her exploration with her third book, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, examining the positive and negative effects that role-playing on the internet has on the people who participate.

In 1995, she was selected in Newsweek Magazine’s “50 for the Future: the Most Influential People to Watch in Cyberspace,” as well as Time Digital Magazine naming her one of it’s “Top 50 Cyber Elite” in 1997.

In a modern age, where technology has become a necessity, we have experienced dramatic changes in the way we use and view computers. Dr. Sherry Turkle has made it possible for us to understand these changes and in turn help us adapt to a technological world.
Climb to Fame
Acclaimed cybershrink in a technological age.
Work History
(1999) Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor.

(1997) Harvard University, University Health Services Department of Mental Health - Consultant in Psychology.

(1991-present) Professor of the Sociology of Science.

(1987) Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute - Graduate and Affiliate Member.

(1980-91) MIT Associate Professor of Sociology.

(1978) Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

(1978) First book is published, Psychoanalytic Politics: Freud's French Revolution.

(1976 - present) MIT, Member Laboratory for Computer Science.

(1976-80) MIT Assistant Professor of Sociology.

(1976) First published piece, "Symbol and Festival in the French Student Uprising (May and June 1968)," appears in Symbol and Politics in Communal Ideology: Cases and Questions, by Barbara Meyerhoff and Sally Moore.

(1975-76) MIT Research Fellow in Sociology.

(1974-75) Harvard University Health Services - Psychology Intern.

(1971-73) Cambridge Hospital, Harvard University - Psychology Intern.

(1971-73) Tutor and Teaching Fellow.
Affiliations
MIT, Professor of Social Science in the Program in Science, Technology and Society

Harvard University Visiting Committee on Information Technology

Boston Psychoanalytic Society
Awards
Sherry Turkle has also won numerous Awards

A controversial lawyer and US District Judge, Thomas Jackson has been involved in some of the most notorious civil and criminal cases of recent times. He is quick with a joke, hates to be wrong, at times stone-faced and other times easily shedding the courtroom reserve. Jackson has built his reputation through loyalty, honesty and steadfast decisions, many of which have been overturned on numerous occasions. He has a long list of admirers, and an equally long list of adversaries.

Born into the legal arena of Washington D.C., Jackson attended St. Alban's boys school on a choir scholarship until his grant was revoked when his voice changed. He went on to finish school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and was accepted into Dartmouth where, in 1958, he earned his AB in Government, seemingly foretelling what was to come. In 1964, Jackson received his law degree from Harvard University and joined his father's law firm, Jackson & Campbell, eventually attaining an Associate Partnership.

While juggling significant malpractice suits with Jackson & Campbell, Jackson acted as an attorney for CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President,) who funded President Richard Nixon's bid at re-election in 1972. His name came up for D.C. Superior Court in 1980, but failed to win the nomination, possibly due to his affiliation with the then whites-only Chevy Chase Club. This setback, however, did not phase Jackson, who has fervently refused to bow to politics. That same integrity may be what eventually landed him his appointment to the U.S. District Court in 1982

Since that time, he has continued to remain in the public eye, presiding over several high-profile criminal and civil trials. Jackson has been responsible for rulings against Mayor Marion Berry for cocaine possession and perjury, and against Senator Bob Packwood, for sexual harassment, where Jackson decided that Packwood must hand over his diaries to the Senate Ethics Committee. Most recently he presided over the US Governments' case against Microsoft, where Jackson affirmed that the company was indeed acting as a monopoly, forever altering the future of the computer age.
Climb to Fame
District judge who oversaw the landmark Microsoft ruling
Work History
(1964) Graduated with law degree from Harvard and joined father's law firm, Jackson & Campbell

(1972) Served as attorney for CREEP (Comittee to Re-Elect the President) Nixon's second bid at office

(1976) Lost significant malpractice case representing Washington Hospital Center

(1980) Name came up, but did not recieve nomination for D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals

(1982) Named U.S. district judge to U.S. District Court in Washington DC

(1994) Ruled that Senator Bob Packwood had to hand over his diaries to the Senate ethical committee

(1999) Ruled that Microsoft Corporation is indeed a monopoly
Affiliations
Chevy Chase Club, Metropolitan Club, Lawyers' Club, Barristers Club

(1965) American Bar Association

After years of dramatic training, Ellen Barkin, with her sensuous looks, easily went from soaps to stage to leading roles opposite some of the most notable actors of our time. Her fearless performances lit up the screen and placed her on the A-list of Hollywood actors.

Born and bred in New York City, Barkin attended the High School of the Performing Arts at the age of 15, deciding then and there that the actor’s life was for her. After graduating from Hunter College, she took to the stage with celebrated performances in Irish Coffee and the original off-Broadway production of Extremities, with Susan Sarandon. Garnering the attention of Hollywood with her stage reviews and honing her on-camera skills on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, Barkin was prepared when her big break came in the form of Barry Levinson’s 1982 hit, Diner.

Continuing to work in both stage and film, Barkin’s next breakthrough role, in The Big Easy, garnered her a reputation as the thinking man’s sex-pot and for several years gave her the opportunity to solidify her sultry appeal in similar projects, including Siesta (where she met and married her first husband, actor Gabriel Byrne), Sea of Love , and Bad Company.

Barkin has managed to avert being typecast by taking on different film genres, including the heartbreaking 1993 critical hit This Boy’s Life, as well as the television movie Before Women had Wings, for which she won both a Best Actress Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination. She continues to display her seemingly endless talents, hypnotizing audiences with an honesty that gives strength to her work and an innate sexuality that leaves her audiences wanting more.
Climb to Fame
Seductive actress from Sea of Love and The Big Easy.
Work History
(1997) Wins an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for Before Women Had Wings.

(1993) Performs opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy's Life.

(1989) Wins critical acclaim in Sea of Love, keeping up with Al Pacino.

(1986) Breakthrough role in The Big Easy.

(1982) First big break being cast in Barry Levinson's ensemble project, Diner.

(1981) Television movie debut, We're Fighting Back.

(1980) Stage debut in Irish Coffee in New York, New York.

(1969) Barkin is accepted into The High School of the Performing Arts at age 15.
Affiliations
Jew
Awards
Ellen Barkin has also won numerous Awards

A "good ol' boy" with a respected creative voice in the movie industry, Billy Bob Thornton did not have the luck of being an overnight success story. Thornton struggled for 15 years on various film sets and stages throughout Los Angeles - at one point taking the term "starving artist" to new heights by nearly dying of malnutrition - before his career finally began to take off. After roles in a number of TV series as well as in Tombstone and Indecent Proposal, he began to write and produce his own work.

Thornton secured his status as a preeminent filmmaker by calling on his experiences growing up in the backwoods of Arkansas to create the lead character in his critically acclaimed 1996 Sling Blade. The incredibly well received film, which Thornton directed, wrote and starred in, earned him an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as a nomination for Best Actor, and secured his continued success as one of this generation's most sought after filmmakers.

Thornton's chaotic personal life has, in many ways, mirrored his career. His first marriage, which occurred after a night of drinking and bowling, ended in divorce, as did three other unions. His last marriage, to Pietra Cherniak, ended in 1997 with a messy divorce concluding in his ex filing a civil suit in which she cited domestic violence. However, Cherniak may have lost credibility due to her publishing her exclusive story (along with a nude layout) to Playboy. Thornton's current (and celebrated) relationship with fiancée Laura Dern appears much less problematic. The couple plans to wed late in 1999.
Work History
Joined theatre group in L.A. developed Sling Blade Character over 10 years in one-man stage show.

started playing music in a local R&B rock band in Arkansas. In 70's worked as a roadie for the Canadian rock band Lighthouse Moved to NY in78 to be a rock star, went home after 10 days. Moved to LA to do the same in 1981 or 83. Still likes to jam.

(1986) Acting in television debut "Matlock"

(1987) Acting in film debut in Hunter's Blood

(1993) Wrote the first Screenplay of Slingblade, originally titled, Some Folks call it a Slingblade

(1994) Guest appearance as "the grocer" on Ellen, met current fiancee, Laura Dern on the set.

(1996) Writing, Directing & Acting in Sling Blade to critical acclaim, making him an international star

(1997) Won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, A Simple Plan as well as a nomination for Best Actor
Awards
Billy Bob Thornton has also won numerous Awards