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Background:
An actress since the 1980s, Sharon Stone first received recognition after
portraying scheming, bisexual murder suspect Catherine Tramell in the smash hit
movie Basic Instinct (1992). Stone's spectacular performance awarded her with a
Most Desirable Female and Best Female Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.
Model-turned-actress Stone later gained more recognition after starring in
Casino (1995), playing the role of ex-prostitute Ginger McKenna/Rothstein. The
role brought her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award for Best Actress
in a Motion Picture (drama) in 1995.
Off screen, the 24th of 100 Sexiest Stars of the Century, according to Playboy
Magazine (1999), Stone reportedly gives big support to such charity activities
as helping victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia by joining forces with
socialite music producer Denise Rich in the all-star charity single "Come
Together Now," funding bed nets to protect African children from
malaria-carrying mosquitoes, giving support in the fight against AIDS, and
supporting the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
5' 7" inch tall Stone was listed as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful
People and one of the 25 Most Intriguing People in 1992. As for her romantic
life, Stone had special relationships with several men including actor Dwight
Yoakam, actor Hart Bochner, comedian Garry Shandling, music producer Chris
Peters, producer Bill McDonald, assistant director Bob Wagner, Jim Connelly,
executive Barry Josephson, and businessman Michael Benasra. She was once married
to producer Michael Greenburg and journalist editor Phil Bronstein.
Intelligent Child
Childhood and Family:
Growing up in the small town Meadville in Pennsylvania, Sharon Vonne Stone was
born on March 10, 1958. Of Irish-American descent, her parents were Joseph Stone
(factory worker) and Dorothy Stone (homemaker). The second of four children,
Stone was raised in a big family together with sister Kelly (executive director
of Planet Hope) and brothers Patrick (younger) and actor Michael Stone.
Stone attended Saegertown High School in Pennsylvania before getting a
scholarship to study Writing and Fine Arts at the Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania. She was a bookworm and a highly intellectual student. While in
school, Stone became the winner of a Miss Pennsylvania beauty contest and
decided to fly to New York to pursue a modeling career after graduation. By the
end of the 70's, the former Ford model turned out to be a favorite model in
print and television ads.
Discovering an interest in acting, the big fan of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
honed in on her acting skills by studying with Marilyn Freid and Jack Waltzer,
and taking Tracy Roberts and Harvey Lembeck Improvisational Comedy Workshops.
Voted by Empire (UK) magazine to be the 77th of The Top 100 Movie Stars of All
Time (October 1997), Stone had bad luck with marriage.
She married associate producer Michael Greenburg on August 18 1984, but they
divorced on January 20, 1987. She was also married journalist editor Phil
Bronstein, but the couple divorced on January 29, 2004. Currently Stone resides
in Beverly Hills with her two adopted sons (Laird Vonne Stone and Roan Joseph
Bronstein).
Casino's Beauty
Career:
Initiating her career as a model for the Ford model agency, the Miss
Pennsylvania beauty contest winner became a booming model both on television and
in printed ads at the end of 70s. Stone, who once worked as a counter girl for
McDonalds, branched out to acting in the early 1980s and made her debut as a
pretty girl on a train in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980). Later, Stone
had an unaccredited part in Balero (1981), before she was seen in Wes Craven's
horror movie Deadly Blessing (1981). She also took part in such TV projects as
Not Just Another Affair (1982), Bay City Blues (1983), and Calendar Girl Murders
(1984). In 1984, Stone received the supporting role of moody actress Blake
Chandler/Amanda in the movie Irreconcilable Differences. She later could be seen
in such B-Movies as King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Action Jackson (1988).
In 1990, Stone eventually got her big break as the kickboxing, betraying wife of
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Verhoeven's Total Recall.
The role in the film boosted her name and won her a secondary female lead as
Linda in He Said, She Said (1991). The same year, she also starred in the 1991's
psychological thriller Scissors and she costarred in another thriller, Year of
the Gun.
After a stripped pose for PlayBoy, Stone's breakthrough moment came when she
played the memorable role of the scheming, bisexual murder suspect Catherine
Tramell in the blockbuster movie Basic Instinct (1992), also starring Michael
Douglas. Her sizzling performance gained two MTV awards: Most Desirable Female
and Best Female Performance Awards in 1993. Additionally, the role brought her a
nomination for Best Actress at the Golden Globes.
After her high-profile role in Basic Instinct, Stone did not want to be
typecast. She portrayed victim Carly Norris in Sliver (1993) and appeared as the
cold wife of Richard Gere in Intersection (1994).
Stone next played in such forceful roles as May Munro/Adrian Hastings in The
Specialist (1994, opposite Sylvester Stallone) and The Lady/Ellen in The Quick
and the Dead (1995, with Gene Hackman).
However, Stone's efforts did not pan out until she teamed up with Martin
Scorsese and Robert DeNiro in Casino (1995). She played the dramatic role of
ex-prostitute Ginger McKenna/Rothstein, which landed her an Oscar nomination and
a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (drama) in 1995.
The subsequent year, Stone worked with Isabelle Adjani in Diabolique (1996) and
played the role of a woman on death row, Cindy Liggett, in the drama Last Dance
(1996). In The Mighty (1998), Stone received her third Golden Globe nomination
for Best Supporting Actress. Stone finished the decade by playing Sarah Little
in the comedy The Muse (1999) and could be seen in Gloria (1999), Simpatico
(1999) and lent her voice to the animated The Sissy Duckling (1999, TV).
Entering the new millennium, Stone worked in the lesbian-themed drama If These
Walls Could Talk 2 (2000,TV) and played the role of Candy Cowley in the comedy
Picking Up the Pieces (2000). She was also seen in the role of an impulsive
woman in Beautiful Joe (all 2000). In 2002, Stone did voice work for the TV
series Harold and the Purple Crayon, then came back to perform on the wide
screen in Cold Creek Manor (2003), A Different Loyalty (2004) and costarred in
Catwoman (2004), with Benjamin Bratt and Halle Berry. Recently, Stone could be
seen in Broken Flowers (2005), Alpha Dog (2005) and will reprise her role of
Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction (2006).
She is also scheduled to play the role of Mrs. Robinson in Cougars (2006).
Awards:
- Women in Film Crystal: 1995
- Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (drama), Casino, 1995
- MTV Movie: Most Desirable Female, Basic Instinct, 1993
- MTV Movie: Best Female Performance, Basic Instinct, 1993
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