Actors Who Used One Name

Talented. Beautiful. Modest. These three words described R&B singer-turned-actress Aaliyah perfectly.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Diane (Hankerson) and Michael Haughton. Her uncle was music manager Barry Hankerson and her brother is director Rashad Haughton. Aaliyah was raised in Detroit. She got her first major exposure appearing on the syndicated television series Star Search (1983), where she awed the audience with her amazing voice and talent, singing "My Funny Valentine", a song which her mother had sung years earlier. At age 11, she sang with Gladys Knight in a five-night stint in Las Vegas. Withdrawing from the celebrity scene for a few years, Aaliyah lived the life of a normal teenage girl, attending Detroit's Performing Arts High School, where she majored in dance. It was around this same time that Aaliyah met singer/composer R. Kelly. Kelly assisted Aaliyah with the production of her debut album "Age Ain't Nothing But A number", which scored several number hits, specifically "Back and Forth." The album's title was a brief reference to her short-lived marriage to R. Kelly (she was 15 years of age at the time, and he was in his 20s). Thir marriage was annulled due to her status as a minor.

During her senior year, Aaliyah went on to record "One In A Million", which featured the songwriting talents of major R&B producers/writers Missy Elliott and Timbaland. The album was a major success and sealed Aaliyah's fame forever.

Aaliyah recorded the single 'Journey to the past' for the Anastasia (1997) soundtrack. After seeing her at an awards show and in the video for her hit song "Are You that Somebody?" (from the Eddie Murphy film Doctor Dolittle (1998)), film producer Joel Silver (producer of The Matrix (1999) and other major actor films) asked Aaliyah to audition for a role in an romance/action film, Romeo Must Die (2000). With her determination and sex appeal, Aaliyah won Silver over and was cast in her first major film role. Romeo Must Die (2000) was a hit at the box office. This film led to her being cast as one of the stars of the film based on Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned (2002), and in the two sequels to the major box office hit, The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).

During the busy schedule of her film career, Aaliyah took time to record her third album, the self-titled "Aaliyah". July 2001 was a busy time for Aaliyah. After the success of her song "Try Again", for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award and won several MTV Video Awards, Aaliyah finally released her "Aaliyah" album. Debuting at number two on the Billboard charts, "Aaliyah" was a sales success, despite some lackluster reviews.

In August 2001, Aaliyah took time off from her busy album promotional tour to fly to the Bahamas to film a video for the song "Rock the Boat". The video, filmed on Abaco Island, was directed by Hype Williams, a major music video director known for his style and wit.

On August 25, 2001, after filming the video, Aaliyah and about 9-11 of her entourage took off from Marsh Harbour airport at 6:50pm EDT in a small Cessna 404 en route to Opa-Locka, Florida. A few minutes after take-off, the plane crashed about 200 feet from the runaway, killing Aaliyah and many others instantly. Four passengers were pulled alive from the wreckage, and one later died at a hospital in Nassau. Aaliyah was only 22 years old. Her funeral was held on Friday August 31st in New York, and 22 white doves were flown to celebrate each year of her life. Soon after her death, the hit singles 'More Than a woman' and 'Rock The Boat' were released, from her third album. In 2002, the film Queen of the Damned (2002) was released, in which Aaliyah played Queen Akasha. She was nominated for best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards 2002.

Aaliyah's short-lived, but brilliant career, was a true success story for a young African-American woman who went against all odds to be herself in an industry where originality is scarce. Truly missed by her family, friends, and fans, her music and film contributions will live forever. It's no wonder that her name means 'Highest, most ex-halted one; the best' in Hebrew. She had achieved so much in her twenty-two years.

Abigail became Australia's undisputed number 1 female sex symbol through her role as virginal blonde Bev Houghton in Number 96 (1972). English born Abigail was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity. Abigail came to Australia in 1971 and played female lead in "There's a Girl in My Soup" in Perth. Moved to Sydney and got noticed in a TV commercial in which she played a Marilyn Monroe type bombshell opposite Phil Silvers. Landed the role of Bev in Number 96. Was an original cast member and one of the most popular stars of the series, though Abigail quickly tired of the monotonous storylines for Bev (she was a shy virgin and the scriptwriters conspired to simply throw her into bed with a series of men) and after several public disagreements with the show's producers left suddenly in June 1973. The role of Bev was hastily recast, with the new actress taking over mid-episode. Abigail was the only major star of the series not to appear in the movie version released in 1974. Abigail had difficulty gaining many serious roles after leaving the series, and appeared in several bit-parts closely following the contours of her sex-symbol image in various sex-comedy films of the mid 1970s. Later appeared in several comedy roles on the stage, played a prim French teacher in school based drama Class of '74 (1974) and a super-efficient secretary in the early episodes of hospital soap The Young Doctors (1976). Was finally lured back to Number 96 in 1976 briefly playing a new character called Eve who was to appear in a proposed spin-off series with Elaine Lee though the new series was never picked-up. Retired from acting and lived on a banana plantation in Queensland. Publicly criticized the increasingly overt sex-scenes and violence featured in the later episodes of Number 96. In 1984 after a long absence from the limelight was cast as comic heroine Caroline Morrell in television soap Sons and Daughters (1982) by producers desperate to revamp the show after the departure of the series most famous character Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton portrayed by Rowena Wallace. Abigail's character was a great success and the show survived a further three years with Caroline quickly becoming one of the central characters. She continued with the series until its demise in 1987. Later appeared in guest roles on TV shows such as the long-running series Neighbours (1985), and was added to the cast of floundering series Chances (1991) in a last ditch attempt to spice up its quickly fading popularity. In return to her sex-comedy roots, Abigail's Chances character was a sex-therapist named Bambi Chute.

Born as Mildred Davenport, Acquanetta was a movie actress of genre motion pictures. She was nicknamed the "Venezualan Volcano" by Universal Studios, although she doesn't appear to have been from that country. At one point, when asked for paperwork related to her birth, she said she was half Arapaho Native American. This also may be where the idea that she was born in Wyoming came from. Census records suggest that she was born in Pennsylvania as part of the Davenport family there. It's also likely that she was a light-skinned African American woman passing as white in an era when having black ancestry would severely hinder a career in movies. She was often seen in her trademark long black braids and beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry. She starred in Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) and also also had roles in Arabian Nights (1942), Jungle Woman (1944), Dead Man's Eyes (1944), Lost Continent (1951) and The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990). In the 1950s, Acquanetta moved to Phoenix and married the owner of a local car dealership. She achieved local celebrity status when she appeared in numerous ads for her husband's business. She also was the host of her own TV program, "Acqua's Corner," that played movies. Acquanetta also authored a book in 1974 called "The Audible Silence," a compilation of poems about life, love, and Indian jewelry. She used her celebrity and charming personality to support/raise money for a number of cultural groups and charities including Mesa Lutheran Hospital, the Heard Museum, the Phoenix Indian School, Stagebrush Theatre, and the Phoenix Symphony. She passed away of Alzheimer's complications in Ahwatukee, Arizona, on August 16, 2004, at the age of 83. She left behind four sons: Jack Ross Jr., 45; Lance Ross, 50; Tom Ross, 47; and Rex Ross, 43. She was also survived by her brother, Horace Davenport, 85, a retired Pennsylvania judge.

Born and raised in London, England, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje began his career as a model in Milan. He graduated with a masters degree in Law from London's prestigious Kings College, before moving to Los Angeles to make the transition to acting. Fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, Yoruba and Swahili, he is best known for his roles in the movies Congo (1995) and The Mummy Returns (2001), and the HBO series Oz (1997).

Ako is known for Shōgun (2024), I Origins (2014) and 30 Rock (2006).

Little known by the general public, Moroccan-born Amidou can nevertheless boast an onstage and on screen career spanning almost five decades. Appearing in French films most of the time, he also worked in Morocco, in Tunisia and in American action movies like William Friedkin's 'The Sorcerer' and 'Rules of Engagement', John Frankenheimer's 'Ronin' and Tony Scott's 'Spy Game'. Good-looking and charming, Amidou can easily become frightening and threatening. He is as convincing in the role of a friendly blue collar in 'Smic Smac Smoc' as in that of a dim-witted henchman in 'Fleur d'Oseille'. To be fair, he appeared more often as a dropout or a thug than as positive figure, but this is due to the fact that he started his career in the nineteen sixties, when French cinema was not yet ready to show a North African as just another citizen. Had Amidou debuted later he would have landed more rewarding roles like those now interpreted by Roschdy Zem or Sami Bouajila. Born in 1942 in Rabat, Amidou Ben Messaoud was the son of a justice of the peace and the nephew of the owner of several movie theaters, which gave him the opportunity to see lots of films. On the other hand, the young boy discovered at school that, although he was a bad pupil, he could captivate an audience when, during French lessons, he told and mimicked fables by La Fontaine. Later on, he studied drama at the Conservatoire de Paris and was immediately hired by Jean-Louis Barrault in 1961. Noticed by Jean Genet while he was rehearsing for a bit part, he was given the role of Said instead. At the same time, Claude Lelouch gave him his first part in 'Le Propre de l'Homme' Amidou would then appear in nine other films directed by Lelouch, who also gave him his only starring role in a French movie entitled 'La Vie, l'Amour, la Mort', a pamphlet against the death penalty. Kept busy by the big screen, Amidou was less active in the theatre but played a one man show in the late 1990s ('Le Piston') and held the lead in Mehdi Charef's '1962' in 2005. He also occasionally appeared on TV. Lately Amidou has been honored twice - and quite deservedly so. He was indeed awarded two best actor prizes, one at the Cairo International Festival, for Leila Triquie's 'Poursuite' (2005) and the other at the Tangiers Film Festival for 'Ici et Là' by Rachid Boutounès (2005)

Before Arlette-Leonie Bathiat went to the movies she was a secretary and had posed several times as a model for different painters and photographers. In 1920 she debuted on stage at a theatre. She only began to work in movies after 1930. After World War II she was condemned to prison for having been the lover of a German official during the ocupation of France. In 1963 she had an accident which left her almost blind. Her most important movies were filmed and directed by Marcel Carné ("Hotel du Nord (1938)" or "Enfants du Paradis, Les (1945)").

Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper. She has played supporting roles in the comedy films Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and her leading role in the comedy-drama The Farewell (2019) earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress nomination.

She has released two albums, Yellow Ranger (2014) and In Fina We Trust (2018). She has also ventured into comedy and hosting, making television appearances in Girl Code, Future Man, and Saturday Night Live.

Lum was born in New York City to painter and South Korean immigrant Tia, who died when she was four, and Chinese-American father Wally. She grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, raised by her father and his grandparents; she became especially close to her grandmother. One of her paternal great-grandfathers was a Chinese immigrant in the 1940s; he opened the Cantonese restaurant Lum's in Flushing, Queens that was one of that neighborhood's first Chinese restaurants.

Lum attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts where she played the trumpet and was trained in classical music and jazz. At age 16, she adopted the stage name Awkwafina, "definitely a person I repressed" and an alter ego to her "quiet and more passive" personality during her college years. Lum majored in journalism and women's studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. From 2006 to 2008, Lum attended Beijing Language and Culture University in China, where she studied Mandarin.

Lum states that Charles Bukowski, Anaïs Nin, Joan Didion, Tom Waits, and Chet Baker were early influences. Prior to her career in entertainment, she was an intern at local New York publications Gotham Gazette and the Times Union newspaper in Albany, and was a publicity assistant for publishing house Rodale.

Beano was born on 8 November 1949 in Bakersfield, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Nudity Required (1989), Deathrow Gameshow (1987) and Caged Fury (1990).

Beetlejuice was born on 2 June 1968 in Browns Mills, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Bubble Boy (2001), Scary Movie 2 (2001) and WCW Monday Nitro (1995).

Cantinflas, born Mario Moreno as the son of a Mexican postal employee, was a prolific and productive Mexican comedian/producer/writer/singer who also knew a fair bit about agriculture and medicine. He was married to Valentina Ivanova from 1936 until her death. He appeared in more than 55 films, including (as Passepartout) Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

With classic patrician features and an independent, non-conformist personality, Capucine began her film debut in 1949 at the age of 21 with an appearance in the film Rendezvous in July (1949). She attended school in France and received a BA degree in foreign languages. Married for six months in her early twenties, she never remarried. In 1957, she was discovered by director Charles K. Feldman while working as a high-fashion model for Givenchy in Paris and was brought to Hollywood to study acting under Gregory Ratoff. She was put under contract by Columbia studios in 1958 and had her first leading part in the movie Song Without End (1960). She made six more major movies in the early to mid 1960s, two of which (The Lion (1962) and The 7th Dawn (1964)) starred William Holden, with whom she had a two-year affair. Moving from Hollywood to a penthouse apartment in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1962, she continued making movies, mostly in Europe, until her suicide in 1990.

Charo was born on 15 January 1951 in Murcia, Spain. She is an actress, known for Thumbelina (1994), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) and Tiger by the Tail (1970). She was previously married to Kjell Rasten and Xavier Cugat.

First known as a rapper who became one of the more prominent voices in hip-hop's new millennium renaissance, Common later transitioned into acting. He was born in Chicago, and is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and Lonnie Lynn, an ABA basketball player turned youth counselor.

On October 6, 1992, Common released his first LP, "Can I Borrow A Dollar?" under the Common Sense moniker. Tracks like "Charm's Alarm" and "Breaker 1-9" established him as a lyricist with wit, street-smarts, and love for extended similes, while tracks like "Heidi Hoe" would touch on the misogyny that would surface sparingly on future work.

In 1994 he released "Resurrection", notable for the smooth 'Large Professor' produced title cut as well as "I Used To Love H.E.R.", an ode to hip-hop. This album further increased his underground reputation while giving the hip-hop nation a new solid conscientious voice in a year that was excellent for underground artists (Nas, Jeru the Damaja, Digable Planet, et al.)

After a name change brought on by a lawsuit, Common reemerged in 1997 with "One Day It'll All Make Sense". With guests ranging from Erykah Badu to Canibus to De La Soul and production help from mainstays No I.D. and Dug Infinite, the album had a distinctly underground flair. His big mainstream breakthrough album was yet to come.

After an appearance on The Roots smash 1999 album, "Things Fall Apart," Common moved to MCA Records. He soon was in the studio collaborating with the Okayplayer collective and with help from the forward-thinking production troupe Questlove (aka Questlove), J Dilla, James Poyser, et al), he released his fourth album, "Like Water For Chocolate" in the spring of 2000. With its varied sonic plateau (Afrobeat, funk, and old-school soul) it was much different from previous outings. On the strength of tracks like the 'DJ Premier' produced banger "The 6th Sense", the album was a success, becoming a worthy addition to "The Next Movement".

In 2003 he released "Electric Circus". The album, a hip-hop/funk/soul/rock/psychedelia hybrid, polarized hip-hop fans like no other album has in recent memory. Common has also chosen to redefine himself, swearing off the alcohol, marijuana, and fornication that he had once indulged in.

Also in 2003 he appeared in a TV sitcom episode. With only a couple minor roles between 2003 and 2004, in January of 2007 he made his big screen debut.

With over 17 million records sold worldwide, Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Coolio is an artist known around the world as a musical and cooking master of extraordinary reinvention. Growing up during the time of tremendous change in Compton, Calif., Coolio fed on struggle and used it as a launching pad of continual reinvention that led to selling over 17 million records globally and a long list of concerts to adoring fans in Africa, Israel, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Australia, Turkey, the United States and throughout Europe. He gave back to the community by serving as the spokesman for the Asthma and Allergies Foundation. Coolio initially took over the world rap scene through the "Gangsta's Paradise" release, which won a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Rap Performance, Solo. "Gangsta's Paradise" would also be featured on the "Dangerous Minds" soundtrack and movie. "Gangsta's Paradise," also featuring LV on vocals, was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Song of the Year and it sold over six million copies and was Billboard Magazine's number one single in 1995. The world recognition led to his music being featured Coolio for several major motion pictures including: Space Jam, Clueless, The Big Payback, Panther, New Jersey Drive, The Jerk Boys, Eddie, Half Baked and many more. He also composed the theme song for the popular kids TV series Kenan and Kel on Nickelodeon. The awards for his hard-hitting style are many. Coolio has won an American Music award, three MTV awards, two Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards and a World Music award. He has received six Grammy award nominations (1994, 1995 and 1996), two Billboard Music awards (1994 and 1996), two ASCAP awards (1996, 1997), three MTV video awards (1996 and 1997), four American Online awards (1996) and was the Playboy Music Poll winner in 1997. Coolio successfully made the transition from performer to actor during the 90s. He co-stared in the motion picture Retirement with Bill Cobb, Peter Falk, Charlie Murphy and Rip Torn. The film featured music from Coolio's "Return of the Gangsta" album. Coolio has also starred in several HBO films and series as well as making cameos in Bateman Dare Devil. His television accomplishments have included the reality TV show on the Oxygen network, "Coolio's Rules," and the ghetto funk cooking web series, "Cooking with Coolio," which logged over four million hits on the web. Television appearances included programs like Celebrity Cook Off and Celebrity Chopped. His musical collaborations continued with "From the Bottom to the Top." Coolio changed his style and opened up to working with many European and International disc jockeys such as Benny Benassi, Ives la rock, and Paul Oakenfold just to name a few. He also got the aide of his son A.I., who was a featured artist on the album. The first single is collaboration with Coolio and the Oscar-winning "Ennio Morricone," one of the most famous soundtrack composers of the last 50 years. Coolio's Album "El Cool Magnigico" was released in Europe on Jan 15, 2003. Featured artists on that album included hip-hop performer Miss Toi, country legend Kenny Rogers, Krazye Bone from Bone thugs n Harmony, B-real of Cypress Hill and Daz Dillinger. Associated Press stated that, "Coolio returns to Hip-Hop with El Cool Magnifico, and every track on the disc is a winner." The New York Post praised the album and wrote, "El Cool Magnifico is excellent from top to bottom". The album sold over 1.8 million copies worldwide. No stranger to the world of cartoons, Coolio recorded the single and music video "Dexter" (what's his name) for "Dexter's Laboratory: Home Boy Genius - The Hip-Hop Experiment." This was a creative and fun album featuring big name hip-hop artists such as De La Soul and Will I Am. "The Hip-Hop Experiment" album features original songs inspired by Dexter's Laboratory, the top rated, Emmy nominated Cartoon Network series. An ingenious chameleon, Coolio launched his book, "Cookin' with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price," in 2009, which would become a New York Times bestseller. This move expanded his audience base from the stage to kitchens across the globe. Branding himself as the "ghetto gourmet," Coolio used his creativity and the inspiration of his mother to refine old-school recipes into accessible, fresh options. Coolio's interest in cooking started as a youngster. After a failed grilled cheese, his mother chose to make him pay her back for the charred mess by helping out in the kitchen. Rather than hate every minute of cleaning and scrubbing, Coolio fell in love with cooking. Later in life, when his mother passed, the love of cooking turned into an obsession with rediscovering and reinventing all her old recipes. He interviewed aunts, friends and relatives until he found her lost secrets. Then, Coolio took the lessons of his elders and morphed the recipes into healthier options that remained affordable. The secret ingredient of Coolio's recipes is his unconventional approach to culinary instruction. His style is brash and in your face for which he doesn't apologize. "People learn better when they're entertained. Cooking isn't just for the starched-stiff elite. Everyone should know how to cook something," said the ghetto gourmet. Performing and touring worldwide as a musical artist, Coolio is also working on a new cookbook with his best friend and band mate, hip hop jazz saxophonist Jarez. The recipes will continue on the theme of insane deliciousness that anyone can recreate. The recipes are designed to be accessible with easy to assemble ingredients that everyone will recognize. From the tang of balsamic vinegar to the freshness of chopped peppers, the new cookbook is something that everyone needs in their kitchen.

Cory Williams was born on 9 November 1992 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for CoryxKenshin (2009), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) and Jacksepticeye (2012).

"87% of Criswell's predictions have come true!" -- The ones he reminds you of. Whereas it is true Criswell made an amazing forecast on The Jack Paar Program (1962) on March 10, 1963: "I predict that President Kennedy will not run for reelection in 1964, because of something that will happen to him in November 1963." Criswell also predicted the destruction of Denver, shifting polar caps, Castro's assassination and the end of the world. To start at the beginning, the world's most famous predictor was born Jerome King Criswell on Sunday, August 18th, 1907 in Princeton, Indiana. Criswell went to high school, and did some newspaper work for the local paper. Later he attended the University of Cincinnati, studying at their Conservatory of Music. After college, Criswell returned to newspaper work, making more and more predictions and having his forecasts printed in more and more papers. Over the years, an ever-increasing number of people followed his syndicated column. Criswell married a former speak-easy dancer who went by the name of Halo Meadows. She appeared on an episode of You Bet Your Life (1950) with Groucho Marx. She spent a great deal of time sunbathing and had a poodle named Buttercup that she was convinced was the reincarnation of her cousin Thomas. Criswell was almost 50 when he became associated with Edward D. Wood Jr., however this did little to further his reputation contrary to what some believe. Criswell played himself in Wood's movie Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) providing predictions at the beginning and end of the movie. Although the movie was filmed in 1956, it wasn't released until 1959. His next venture fared even worse, even though Criswell had a more substantial part. In Night of the Ghouls (1959), Wood was so broke he couldn't pay the lab to develop the film. It wasn't until 1983, after both Criswell and Wood were dead, that entrepreneur Wade Williams paid the 24-year-old lab bill, and the movie was finally released. Criswell's third movie with Wood, Orgy of the Dead (1965), provided Criswell with the most screen time, and the film was actually released. As Criswell's fame grew, he appeared a number of times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)'s and on December 31, 1965, Criswell predicted that Ronald Reagan would be California's next governor. In 1969, Criswell wrote a book, Criswell Predicts: From Now To The Year 2000! This book was Criswell's journal of the future--his only book of prophecy. It contained hundreds of predictions covering the following thirty years. Readers were asked to keep score on the accuracy of his predictions until, as Criswell predicted, August 1999--- after which it will not matter, thanks to doomsday. Whereas the end of the world did not occur in August of 1999 as he had predicted, Criswell had already departed our world on Monday, October 4, 1982.

Dakar was born in 1920 in Lima, Peru. He was an actor, known for Le tigri di Mompracem (1970), The Amazing Doctor G (1965) and I pirati della Malesia (1964). He died on 14 September 2004 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Dalida was a French-Italian singer, born to Italian parents in Egypt. She moved to France in her 30's, where she enjoyed the most successful part of her career. She was born on January 17, 1933 in Cairo, Egypt as Yolande Christina Gigliotti. She was married to Lucien Morisse. She died on May 3, 1987 in Paris, France.

DezBaa', a citizen of the Diné Nation is of Basque, Spanish, and Mexican descent. She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America (WGA). She is an actor, screenwriter, director, and indie film producer.

DezBaa' began her career in the New Mexico film industry as a background actor. In 2016 she auditioned for Scott Cooper's period Western, "Hostiles" and landed the heavily featured role but soon booked speaking roles-first in Woman Walks Ahead, a 2017 film directed by Susanna White and starring Jessica Chastain. Other supporting roles have been opposite Julianne Moore, Michael Shannon, Christian Bale, and Ciarán Hinds.

For three seasons, DezBaa' starred opposite Zahn McClarnon as Helen Atcitty in AMC's Dark Winds. She also was a staff writer on Season 2.

A former Division of Natural Resources Navajo Nation employee, DezBaa' has a bachelor's degree in geology from Amherst College and two Master of Fine Arts degrees-one in screenwriting, another in creative nonfiction-from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). She has also taught TV screenwriting and Indigenous Cinema courses at the college level and presented to grade school kids about the various aspects of the film industry.

The late Dr. Fred Begay, family friend and the first Navajo physicist, gave her the name DezBaa' which he told her means: She's Going on a Raid.

Her favorite dinosaur is the ankylosaurus - "the living tank of the late Cretaceous."

DezBaa' is born for the Nooda'í Dine'e (Ute clan) and raised in Española, New Mexico. She was born in Santa Fe, where she currently lives.

Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore's most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine.

Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John Waters, at high school in Baltimore, and the two combined to star in and direct several ultra low budget, taboo breaking cult films of the early 1970s. Their first efforts included Roman Candles (1967), Eat Your Makeup (1968) and Mondo Trasho (1969)....however, their most infamous work together was the amazing Pink Flamingos (1972), in which Divine starred as "Babs Johnson", the "filthiest person alive" living in a pink trailer with her egg-eating grandmother, chicken-loving son and voyeuristic daughter.

Divine also starred as career criminal Dawn Davenport in Female Trouble (1974), as bored housewife Francine Fishpaw in Polyester (1981), as outlaw gal Rosie Velez in Lust in the Dust (1984) and in Waters' loving (but still slightly bizarre) salute to teen dance TV shows as Ricki Lake's mother in the superb Hairspray (1988).

Milstead's health deteriorated due to to his obese frame, and he passed away in his sleep from a combination of heart attack and apnea in 1988.

Aubrey Drake Graham was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, a musician born in Memphis, Tennessee, and Sandi (Sher) Graham, a Canadian educator. As a young man, Drake appeared in several commercials, for such retailers as Sears and GMC. In 2001, Drake rose to fame playing the role of "Jimmy Brooks," a character on Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001), a basketball star who is confined to a wheelchair after being shot by a classmate. In 2006, Drake launched his music career by releasing his first mix tape, "Room for Improvement." Three years later, his third mix tape, "So Far Gone," garnered him critical and commercial success, and, the following year, he released his official debut album, "Thank Me Later," to generally positive reviews. Aubrey Drake Graham has established himself as a multi-talented young Canadian, and the entertainment industry has great expectations for him.

Elvy was born in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She is an actress and casting director, known for The Office (2005), Resident Alien (2021) and Mildred Pierce (2011).

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr., who were in a band together, Daddy Warbucks. He is of English, as well as some German, Scottish ancestry. Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved back and forth from Kansas City and Detroit. He settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Marshall attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, 1986-1989.

Being a rap fan for most of his life, Marshall began rapping at the age of 11. Rhyming words together, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. At the age of 14, he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M&M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". Being rejected by most fellow rappers because of his race, Marshall grew an anger that flows through his music to this day. After failing the 9th grade for three times in a row, he quit school, but has remarked that he does not consider himself stupid and does not advise that people should follow his example. He says that it just wasn't for him. Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and, while the album sold less than a thousand copies, it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott.

Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the "Slim Shady EP", the early work for the later Andre Young revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime, he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash prize which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Slim Shady EP" tape by way of a demo.

Andre Young got to hear it and eventually tracked him down. The two instantly hit it off, recording four songs in their first six hours of working - three which made it to his first LP. After the album was finished, Andre Young asked Marshall to come work with him on his new album. He helped produce several tracks and was on the best songs of the album. Now officially making it, Marshall and Dre set to make his second LP. The album became the Marshall Mathers LP and won 3 Grammies and was the first rap album ever to be nominated "Album of the Year", selling more than 8 million records in the United States alone. He also stunned critics when he shot down all homophobic remarks by performing "Stan" with Elton John. Eminem made a movie, 8 Mile (2002). Though 2001 was a rough year for the rapper, being charged with weapon offenses, divorcing his wife, and almost going to prison, Marshall has explained his life in one word: "Claimer".

The apocryphal biography of Fernand Contandin tells the invention of his artistic name Fernandel by his sister-in-law ("Voici le Fernand d'elles"). At the beginning of the thirties he became a typical actor of the comedy genre: popular, common, likable and with a concealed grain of drama. Marc Allégret was the director of his first successful film La meilleure bobonne (1931). He tried to work as director twice during World War II but was unsuccessful.