Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker

Parker at the 2009 premiere of Wonderful World
Born March 25, 1965 (1965-03-25) (age 45)
, U.S.
Occupation Actress, producer
Years active 1974–present
Spouse Matthew Broderick (1997–present)

Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer. She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City (1998–2004), for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards. She played the same role in the 2008 feature film based on the show, Sex and the City: The Movie, and its sequel, Sex and the City 2, which opened on May 26, 2010.

Parker has also appeared in many other films, including Footloose (1984), L.A. Story (1991), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Mars Attacks! (1996), The Family Stone (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), Smart People (2008), and Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009).

Contents

Early life

Sarah Jessica Parker was born in Nelsonville, Ohio, the daughter of Barbara (née Keck), a nursery school operator and teacher, and Stephen Parker, an entrepreneur and journalist.[1][2] She was one of a total of eight children from her parents' marriage and her mother's second marriage (her full siblings include actors Timothy Britten Parker and Pippin Parker). After her parents' divorce, her mother married Paul Forste, a truck driver and account executive who was a part of Parker's life from an early age.[3] Parker's mother was of English and German descent; through her mother, Parker is descended from Esther Elwell, one of the accused during the Salem witch trials.[4][5] Parker's father, a native of Brooklyn, was of Eastern European Jewish background; his family's original surname was "Bar-Kahn" ("son of Kohen").[2][6] Parker has identified culturally and ethnically with her father's religion, Judaism, although she had no religious training.[6] She has said that even while her family lived in Cincinnati, her mother emulated a New York lifestyle.[6]

As a young girl, Parker trained in singing and ballet, and was soon cast in the Broadway revival of William Archibald's The Innocents.[7] Her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and then to Dobbs Ferry, New York, near New York City, so that she could get specialized training. There, her mother and stepfather helped Parker develop 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. The family later moved to Englewood, New Jersey, where Parker attended Dwight Morrow High School.[8]

Parker attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, the School of American Ballet in New York, Dwight Morrow High School in New Jersey, and the Professional Children's School, Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California.

Early acting career

Parker and four siblings appeared in a production of The Sound of Music at the outdoor Municipal Theatre (Muny) in St. Louis, Missouri.[9] She was selected for a role in 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 Depression-era orphan, beginning March 1979. Parker held the role for a year.

In 1982, Parker was cast as the co-lead of the CBS sitcom Square Pegs. The show lasted just one season, but Parker's performance, as a shy teen who showed hidden depths, was critically well-received. In the three years that followed, she was cast in four films: the most significant being Footloose in 1984 and 1984's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, co-starring Helen Hunt. In 1986, Parker appeared in the cult classic Flight of the Navigator, a Disney science fiction film.

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.[7] 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. Also in 1993, she starred as a police diver opposite Bruce Willis in the film Striking Distance. The following year, she appeared opposite Johnny Depp in the critically acclaimed movie Ed Wood[7] as Wood's girlfriend Dolores Fuller.

The film Miami Rhapsody, in 1995, was a romantic comedy in which she had a leading role. In 1996, she appeared in another Tim Burton-directed movie, Mars Attacks!, as well as in The First Wives Club and The Substance of Fire, in which she reprised her 1991 stage role. In 1997, she appeared as Francesca Lanfield, a washed-up former child actress, in the comedy Till There Was You.

Sex and the City (1998–2004, 2008–present)

Parker in New York City, June 2003

The script for an HBO drama/comedy series titled Sex and the City was sent to Parker. The show's creator, Darren Star, wanted her for his project. Despite some doubts about being cast in a long-term television series, Parker agreed to star.[10]

After five nominations, in 2004, Parker won an Emmy Award for her lead role. Parker said in 2006 that she "will never do a television show again".[11][12]

After Sex and the City ended in 2004, rumors of a film version circulated. It was revealed that a script had been completed for such a project. At the time, Parker said such a film would likely never be made.[13] Two years later, preparations were resumed, and the film was released on May 30, 2008.

Later career

In addition to work in film and television, Parker has gained respect as a stage actor, having appeared in well-reviewed lead roles in the off-Broadway play Sylvia, alongside future husband Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the Tony Award-nominated Once Upon a Mattress.

In December 2005, Parker appeared in her first 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,[14] despite mediocre reviews.[15] Parker's work as a producer continued with the independent film Spinning Into Butter (which she also starred in), based on the Rebecca Gilman play. 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.

On July 20, US cable network Bravo announced it had picked up a reality show produced by Parker under the working title American Artist.[16] As a self-described "art enthusiast", Parker will feature artists of any age over 17, with each show having 13 finalists. Parker's inspiration comes from her mother-in-law, whose artwork became noticed only after she died.[17]

Parker is producing a new comedy series for HBO called Washingtonienne. The pilot is currently in production and will air in 2009. The show revolves around the lives of three smart and sophisticated friends, all working for powerful men on Capitol Hill.

Parker participated in the United States version of the hit UK television series Who Do You Think You Are? for NBC, in which celebrities were helped to trace their family trees. The executive producer was Lisa Kudrow, and the series featured Parker, husband Matthew Broderick, Kudrow and others.[18]

Fashion industry

In 2000, Parker hosted the MTV Movie Awards, appearing in fourteen different outfits during the show.[19]

She has also become the face of many of the world's biggest fashion brands through her work in a variety of advertising campaigns. In August 2003, Parker signed a lucrative deal with Garnier to appear in TV and print advertising promoting their Nutrisse hair products. In 2004, she fronted an international campaign by Gap, but her contract was terminated in spring 2005 in favor of British soul singer Joss Stone.[20]

Parker released her own perfume in 2005, called "Lovely".[7] In March 2007, Parker announced the launch of her own fashion line, "Bitten",[21] in partnership with discount clothing chain Steve & Barry's.[22] The line, featuring clothing items and accessories under $20, launched on June 7, 2007, exclusively at Steve and Barry's.[23]

In July 2007, following the success of "Lovely," Parker released her second fragrance "Covet." In 2007, Parker was a guest on Project Runway for the second challenge.[24] In 2008, Covet Pure Bloom was released as continuous series of Covet.[25] In February 2009, as part of the "Lovely" collection, Parker launched a series of three new fragrances called "Dawn", "Endless" and "Twilight".

Personal life

Parker was romantically involved with actor Robert Downey, Jr. from 1984 until 1991. They met on the set of Firstborn. Downey had a drug problem, which affected their relationship. Parker has said, "I believed I was the person holding him together."[26]

Matthew Broderick and Parker in 2009.

On May 19, 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick, to whom she was introduced to by one of her brothers at the Naked Angels theater company, where they both performed.[27] The couple married in a civil ceremony in an historic synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The couple's son, James Wilke Broderick, was born on October 28, 2002. He was named after Broderick's father, the actor James Joseph Broderick, and writer Wilkie Collins.[28]

Parker and Broderick's surrogate mother delivered their twin daughters, Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge, on June 22, 2009. Their middle names of "Elwell" and "Hodge" are from Parker's mother's family.[29]

As of 2009, she lives in New York City with her husband, son, and daughters. The couple frequently attend arts performances. They also spend considerable time at their holiday home near Kilcar, a village in County Donegal, Ireland, where Broderick spent summers as a child.[30]

Parker is a prominent member of the Hollywood's Women's Political Committee. She is UNICEF's Representative for the Performing Arts; in 2006, she traveled to Liberia as a UNICEF celebrity ambassador. She said, "It's a place that gets little or no attention, so we're going to try and bring some attention to it".[31] She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States. Parker has defended Israel's actions in trying to protect its people.[6] Parker appeared in the premiere episode of the US version of Who Do You Think You Are? on March 5, 2010, where she discovered she had ancestors in the California Gold Rush of 1849-50 and in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.[32]

Awards

Golden Globes

Emmy Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Razzie Award

Maxim Magazine Award

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1974 The Little Match Girl The Little Match Girl as Sarah Parker
1982 My Body, My Child Katy TV movie
1983 Somewhere Tomorrow Lori Anderson
1984 Footloose Rusty
Firstborn Lisa
1985 Girls Just Want to Have Fun Janey Glenn
1986 Flight of the Navigator Carolyn McAdams
1991 L.A. Story SanDeE*
1992 In the Best Interest of the Children Callie Cain
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas Betsy/Donna
1993 Striking Distance Jo Christman/Det. Emily Harper
Hocus Pocus Sarah Sanderson
1994 Ed Wood Dolores Fuller
1995 Miami Rhapsody Gwyn Marcus
1996 Mars Attacks! Nathalie Lake
If Lucy Fell Lucy Ackerman
The First Wives Club Shelly Stewart
Extreme Measures Jodie Trammel
1997 'Til There Was You Francesca Lanfield
1999 Dudley Do-Right Nell Fenwick
2000 State and Main Claire Wellesley
2001 Life Without Dick Colleen Gibson direct-to-video
2005 The Family Stone Meredith Morton
2006 Strangers with Candy Peggy Callas
Failure to Launch Paula
2007 Spinning Into Butter Sarah Daniels
2008 Smart People Janet Hartigan
Sex and the City: The Movie Carrie Bradshaw
2009 Did You Hear About the Morgans? Meryl Morgan
2010 Sex and the City 2 Carrie Bradshaw

TV shows

Year Title Role Notes
1982–1983 Square Pegs Patty Greene season 1
1987–1988 A Year in the Life Kay Erickson A miniseries in 1986 Aired for one season.
1990–1991 Equal Justice Jo Ann Harris two seasons
1999 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Herself TV series, one episode
1998–2004 Sex and the City Carrie Bradshaw Lead role
2010 Who Do You Think You Are? Herself TV series

Producer

Year Title Role Notes
2002–2004 Sex and the City Producer 28 episodes
2008 Sex and the City: The Movie Co-producer

References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Jessica Parker Biography (1965-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/48/Sarah-Jessica-Parker.html. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "1". Who Do You Think You Are?. NBC. 2010-03-05. No. 1, season 1.
  3. ↑ Fabrikant, Geraldine (2000-07-30). "Talking Money With - Sarah Jessica Parker - Talking Money With - Sarah Jessica Parker - From A Start On Welfare To Riches In The City". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/30/business/talking-money-with-sarah-jessica-parker-start-welfare-riches-city.html. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  4. ↑ Who Do You Think You Are? NBC transmitted 5 March 2010
  5. ↑ [1] Sarah Jessica Parker on the Who Do You Think You Are? website
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Pogrebin, Abigail (2005-12-26). "Excerpt: 'Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish' by Abigail Pogrebin". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=1429337. Retrieved 2007-09-26. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2008
  8. ↑ Klein, Alvin. "ACTRESS, 18, HAS SOME REGRETS", The New York Times, October 30, 1983. Accessed December 27, 2007. "Before attending Hollywood High School, she was a student at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood. After living for a while on Roosevelt Island, between Manhattan and Queens, Mr. and Mrs. Forste bought a house in Englewood."
  9. ↑ "History", The Municipal Theatre
  10. ↑ "365gay.com". Sarah Jessica Parker. http://www.365gay.com/entertainment/feature/022706feature.htm. Retrieved March 13, 2006. 
  11. ↑ "365gay.com". Sarah Jessica Parker. http://www.365gay.com/entertainment/feature/022706feature.htm. Retrieved March 16, 2006.  available at the Internet Archive
  12. ↑ "United Press". Sarah Jessica Parker in new HBO project. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060315-085052-8876r. Retrieved March 16, 2006. 
  13. ↑ "Winnipeg Sun". No Sex for Sarah. http://winnipegsun.com/SundayFocus/2006/02/26/1462865-sun.html. Retrieved March 13, 2006. 
  14. ↑ "13Wham.com". McConaughey & Parker's Film Soars to the Top. http://www.13wham.com/entertainment/story.aspx?content_id=8669C83F-4E19-465F-8D14-7B88D1FA0D53. Retrieved March 13, 2006. 
  15. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes". Failure to Launch. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/failure_to_launch/. Retrieved March 13, 2006. 
  16. ↑ "Sarah Jessica Parker lands show at Bravo". The Live Feed. http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/07/sarah-jessica-p.html. 
  17. ↑ Douglas, Sarah. ""Sarah Jessica Parker on Bringing Art to Reality", ARTINFO, July 2, 2009.
  18. ↑ Permalink. "LISA KUDROW, SARAH JESSICA PARKER AND SUSAN SARANDON STAR IN NBC'S 'WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?' PREMIERING APRIL 20". NBC.com. http://www.nbc.com/news/2009/01/28/lisa-kudrow-sarah-jessica-parker-and-susan-sarandon-star-in-nbcs-who-do-you-think-you-are-premiering. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  19. ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62487540.html
  20. ↑ http://www.andpop.com/2005/03/23/gap-replaces-sarah-jessica-parker-with-joss-stone/
  21. ↑ "bittensjp.com". bittensjp.com. http://www.bittensjp.com/. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  22. ↑ Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is launching her own fashion line EnjoyFashion, March 14, 2007
  23. ↑ "Bitten Revealed!", Fashion Week Daily, March 13, 2007
  24. ↑ "caseofthecovetedbottle.com". caseofthecovetedbottle.com. 2010-02-18. http://www.caseofthecovetedbottle.com/. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  25. ↑ "Feeling Sexy - Pure Bloom Perfume by Sarah Jessica Parker". feelingsexy.com.au. http://www.feelingsexy.com.au/description.aspx?brandid=14480&designer=SARAH%20JESSICA%20PARKER&gen=F. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  26. ↑ "Entertainment Wise". Sarah Jessica Parker Knows All About Addiction. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=14640. Retrieved March 15, 2006. 
  27. ↑ "For Naked Angels, the Party's Over. Time to Get Serious Again", "The New York Times", May 14, 2006
  28. ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/life-after-sex/2006/03/30/1143441271333.html
  29. ↑ "Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick Reveal Twins' Names". people.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20286959,00.html. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
  30. ↑ http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Star39s-could-fight-for-Donegal.4861423.jp
  31. ↑ "Star Pulse". Sarah Jessica Parker Joins UNICEF, Will Travel to Liberia. http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/03/13/sarah_jessica_parker_joins_unicef_will_t. Retrieved 2006-03-16. 
  32. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1255905/Stunned-Sarah-Jessica-Parker-learns-relative-accused-witchcraft-Salem-trials-traces-family-roots.html
  33. ↑ 5:54 p.m. ET (2007-10-26). "Maxim Names Sara Jessica Parker Unsexiest". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494412/. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 

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