SARAH JESSICA PARKER
Name: Sarah Jessica Parker
Born: 25 March 1965 Nelsonville, Ohio, United States
Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and producer,
with a portfolio of television, film and theater performances. She is best known
for her role as Carrie Bradshaw, a newspaper journalist, on the HBO television
series Sex and the City, for which she won four Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy
Awards.
Parker was born in Nelsonville, Ohio, the daughter of Barbara, a nursery school
operator and teacher, and Steven Parker, an entrepreneur and journalist.
Parker's father, a native of Brooklyn, was Jewish, the original family surname
being "Bar-Kahn" ("son of Kohen"); Parker has said of herself, "I always just
considered myself a Jew". Parker's parents divorced early on in Parker's life
and her mother remarried Paul Forste. Parker grew up with her mother, stepfather
and seven siblings (three from her parents' marriage, and four from her mother's
second marriage). As a young girl, she trained in singing and ballet, soon being
cast in the Broadway production of The Innocents. Her family moved to Cincinnati,
Ohio, and then to Dobbs Ferry, New York, near New York City, where Parker was
developing her career as a child actress. In 1977, the family moved to the newly
opened planned community on Roosevelt Island, in the East River between
Manhattan and Queens, and later to Manhattan proper; her parents later moved to
Englewood, New Jersey where she attended Dwight Morrow High School.
Parker attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, the School of
American Ballet and the Professional Children's School, and later Dwight Morrow
High School. She and four siblings appeared in a revival of The Sound of Music,
and Parker went on to the new 1977-81 Broadway musical Annie first in the
small role of "July," and then succeeding Andrea McArdle and Shelley Bruce in
the lead role of the plucky Depression-era orphan, beginning March 6, 1979.
Parker held the role for a year.
In 1982, Parker was cast as the co-lead of the CBS-TV sitcom Square Pegs. The
show lasted only one season before being canceled by the network, but Parker's
performance, as a shy, misfit teen who showed hidden depths, was critically well-received.
In the three years that followed, she was cast in four films the most
significant of those being Footloose in 1984 and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, co-starring
Helen Hunt, in 1985. Also that year, she became romantically involved with actor
Robert Downey Jr., whom she met on the set of Firstborn and with whom she lived
until 1991; during their relationship, Downey had a drug problem, and Parker has
commented that she thought that she was "the person holding him together". In
1986, Parker appeared in cult classic Flight of the Navigator, a Disney science
fiction film about a boy, David, who is somehow transported in time eight years
into the future without aging which turns out to have been done by an alien
space craft.
By the early 1990s, Parker's career was gaining momentum. In 1991, she appeared
in a supporting role in the romantic comedy, L.A. Story; both the movie and her
performance garnered positive reviews. The following year she landed an
important starring role in the well-received film Honeymoon in Vegas, co-starring
Nicolas Cage. Her 1993 role in the film Hocus Pocus was a higher grosser at the
box office but received negative reviews. The following year, she appeared
opposite Johnny Depp in the critically acclaimed movie Ed Wood. The film Miami
Rhapsody, in 1995, saw her back on familiar territory with more romantic comedy
material and a leading role. She appeared in another Tim Burton-directed movie,
Mars Attacks!, The First Wives Club, and The Substance of Fire, in which she
reprised her 1991 stage role, in 1996.
In 1997, she appeared as Francesca Lanfield, a washed-up former child actress,
in the comedy Til There Was You. Later that year, the script for an HBO drama/comedy
series titled Sex and the City was sent to Parker; the show's creator, Darren
Star, was determined that she be cast in his project. Despite some early doubts
about being cast in a long-term television series, Parker agreed to star.
The show proved to be an instant success, raising Parker's profile considerably.
Despite the show's increasingly risque storylines, Parker retained the strict no-nudity
clause in her contract throughout the show's six-season run. Parker became a
producer for the show starting with its third season. In 2004, Parker won an
Emmy award for her lead role (after five consecutive losses). Many gambling and
betting establishments stopped taking bets on her Emmy victory, because it was
so widely predicted that she would win. Parker has since stated that she will "never
do a television show again", although she will co-executive produce a new HBO
series based on Washingtonienne, but will not star in it.
After Sex and the City ended in 2004, rumors of a film version circulated and it
has since been revealed that a script had been completed for such a project.
However, Parker commented that it would likely never be made. Two years later,
however, preparations were resumed. The film is currently in post-production,
and is scheduled to be released in May 2008. In addition to work in movies and
television, Parker is also a respected stage actor, having appeared in well-reviewed
lead roles in the off-Broadway play Sylvia, alongside husband Matthew Broderick
in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the Tony Award-nominated
Once Upon A Mattress, as Princess Winifred the Woebegone.
In December 2005, Parker appeared in her first theatrical film in several years,
The Family Stone; she received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress -
Comedy for the role. Her next film, the romantic comedy Failure to Launch, co-starring
Matthew McConaughey, was released on March 10, 2006 and opened at #1 in the
North American box office, grossing slightly over $24 million in its opening
weekend, despite mediocre reviews. Parker's work as a producer continues
with the independent film Spinning Into Butter, based on the Rebecca Gilman play
scheduled for a 2006 release, which she will also star in. Her latest confirmed
project is Slammer, a prison-themed musical comedy to be directed by Adam
Shankman and released in 2007. The role as an imprisoned publicist who stages an
all-inmate musical will give Parker the opportunity to revisit her musical roots,
which have yet to be explored in her film and television work. Parker was
initially set to star in Vacancy, along with her co-star from The Family Stone,
Luke Wilson, but she dropped out in favor of other projects. Kate Beckinsale
later won the role.
Name: Sarah Jessica Parker
Born: 25 March 1965 Nelsonville, Ohio, United States
Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and producer,
with a portfolio of television, film and theater performances. She is best known
for her role as Carrie Bradshaw, a newspaper journalist, on the HBO television
series Sex and the City, for which she won four Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy
Awards.
Parker was born in Nelsonville, Ohio, the daughter of Barbara, a nursery school
operator and teacher, and Steven Parker, an entrepreneur and journalist.
Parker's father, a native of Brooklyn, was Jewish, the original family surname
being "Bar-Kahn" ("son of Kohen"); Parker has said of herself, "I always just
considered myself a Jew". Parker's parents divorced early on in Parker's life
and her mother remarried Paul Forste. Parker grew up with her mother, stepfather
and seven siblings (three from her parents' marriage, and four from her mother's
second marriage). As a young girl, she trained in singing and ballet, soon being
cast in the Broadway production of The Innocents. Her family moved to Cincinnati,
Ohio, and then to Dobbs Ferry, New York, near New York City, where Parker was
developing her career as a child actress. In 1977, the family moved to the newly
opened planned community on Roosevelt Island, in the East River between
Manhattan and Queens, and later to Manhattan proper; her parents later moved to
Englewood, New Jersey where she attended Dwight Morrow High School.
Parker attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, the School of
American Ballet and the Professional Children's School, and later Dwight Morrow
High School. She and four siblings appeared in a revival of The Sound of Music,
and Parker went on to the new 1977-81 Broadway musical Annie first in the
small role of "July," and then succeeding Andrea McArdle and Shelley Bruce in
the lead role of the plucky Depression-era orphan, beginning March 6, 1979.
Parker held the role for a year.
In 1982, Parker was cast as the co-lead of the CBS-TV sitcom Square Pegs. The
show lasted only one season before being canceled by the network, but Parker's
performance, as a shy, misfit teen who showed hidden depths, was critically well-received.
In the three years that followed, she was cast in four films the most
significant of those being Footloose in 1984 and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, co-starring
Helen Hunt, in 1985. Also that year, she became romantically involved with actor
Robert Downey Jr., whom she met on the set of Firstborn and with whom she lived
until 1991; during their relationship, Downey had a drug problem, and Parker has
commented that she thought that she was "the person holding him together". In
1986, Parker appeared in cult classic Flight of the Navigator, a Disney science
fiction film about a boy, David, who is somehow transported in time eight years
into the future without aging which turns out to have been done by an alien
space craft.
By the early 1990s, Parker's career was gaining momentum. In 1991, she appeared
in a supporting role in the romantic comedy, L.A. Story; both the movie and her
performance garnered positive reviews. The following year she landed an
important starring role in the well-received film Honeymoon in Vegas, co-starring
Nicolas Cage. Her 1993 role in the film Hocus Pocus was a higher grosser at the
box office but received negative reviews. The following year, she appeared
opposite Johnny Depp in the critically acclaimed movie Ed Wood. The film Miami
Rhapsody, in 1995, saw her back on familiar territory with more romantic comedy
material and a leading role. She appeared in another Tim Burton-directed movie,
Mars Attacks!, The First Wives Club, and The Substance of Fire, in which she
reprised her 1991 stage role, in 1996.
In 1997, she appeared as Francesca Lanfield, a washed-up former child actress,
in the comedy Til There Was You. Later that year, the script for an HBO drama/comedy
series titled Sex and the City was sent to Parker; the show's creator, Darren
Star, was determined that she be cast in his project. Despite some early doubts
about being cast in a long-term television series, Parker agreed to star.
The show proved to be an instant success, raising Parker's profile considerably.
Despite the show's increasingly risque storylines, Parker retained the strict no-nudity
clause in her contract throughout the show's six-season run. Parker became a
producer for the show starting with its third season. In 2004, Parker won an
Emmy award for her lead role (after five consecutive losses). Many gambling and
betting establishments stopped taking bets on her Emmy victory, because it was
so widely predicted that she would win. Parker has since stated that she will "never
do a television show again", although she will co-executive produce a new HBO
series based on Washingtonienne, but will not star in it.
After Sex and the City ended in 2004, rumors of a film version circulated and it
has since been revealed that a script had been completed for such a project.
However, Parker commented that it would likely never be made. Two years later,
however, preparations were resumed. The film is currently in post-production,
and is scheduled to be released in May 2008. In addition to work in movies and
television, Parker is also a respected stage actor, having appeared in well-reviewed
lead roles in the off-Broadway play Sylvia, alongside husband Matthew Broderick
in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the Tony Award-nominated
Once Upon A Mattress, as Princess Winifred the Woebegone.
In December 2005, Parker appeared in her first theatrical film in several years,
The Family Stone; she received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress -
Comedy for the role. Her next film, the romantic comedy Failure to Launch, co-starring
Matthew McConaughey, was released on March 10, 2006 and opened at #1 in the
North American box office, grossing slightly over $24 million in its opening
weekend, despite mediocre reviews. Parker's work as a producer continues
with the independent film Spinning Into Butter, based on the Rebecca Gilman play
scheduled for a 2006 release, which she will also star in. Her latest confirmed
project is Slammer, a prison-themed musical comedy to be directed by Adam
Shankman and released in 2007. The role as an imprisoned publicist who stages an
all-inmate musical will give Parker the opportunity to revisit her musical roots,
which have yet to be explored in her film and television work. Parker was
initially set to star in Vacancy, along with her co-star from The Family Stone,
Luke Wilson, but she dropped out in favor of other projects. Kate Beckinsale
later won the role.