Sharon Stone

'Sharon Stone' (qv) was born and raised in Meadville, a small town in Pennsylvania. Her strict father was a factory worker, and her mother was a homemaker. She was the second of four children. At the age of 15, she studied in Saegertown High School, Pennsylvania, and at that same age, entered Edinboro State University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in creative writing and fine arts. She was a very smart girl (with an IQ of 154), became a bookworm, and once was told that a suitable job for her (and her brains) was to become a lawyer. However, her first love was still the black-and-white movies, especially those featuring 'Fred Astaire' (qv) and 'Ginger Rogers' (qv). So, the 17-year-old Sharon got herself into the Miss Crawford County and won the beauty contest.From working part-time as a McDonald's counter girl, she worked her way up to become a successful Ford model, both in TV commercials and print ads. In 1980, she made her acting debut in 'Woody Allen' (qv)'s _Stardust Memories (1980)_ (qv) as "pretty girl in train". Her first speaking part, though, was in 'Wes Craven' (qv)'s horror movie, _Deadly Blessing (1981)_ (qv). She struggled through many parts in B-movies, notably _King Solomon's Mines (1985)_ (qv) and _Action Jackson (1988)_ (qv). She was also married in 1984 to 'Michael Greenburg' (qv), the producer of _MacGyver (1985)_ (qv), but they divorced two years later.She finally got her big break with 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' (qv) in _Total Recall (1990)_ (qv) and also posed nude for Playboy, a daring move for a 32-year-old actress. But it worked; she landed the breakthrough role as a sociopath novelist, "Catherine Tramell", in _Basic Instinct (1992)_ (qv). Her interrogation scene has become a classic in film history and her performance captivated everyone, from MTV viewers, who honored her with Most Desirable Female and Best Female Performance 'Awards' (qv), to a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. After she got famous, she didn't want to be typecast, so she played a victim in _Sliver (1993)_ (qv), and, in _Intersection (1994)_ (qv), she was the aloof, estranged wife of 'Richard Gere' (qv). These movies didn't "work," so she got herself again into more aggressive roles , such as _The Specialist (1994)_ (qv) with 'Sylvester Stallone' (qv) and _The Quick and the Dead (1995)_ (qv) with 'Gene Hackman' (qv).But it wasn't until she played a beautiful but drug-crazy wife of 'Robert De Niro' (qv) in _Casino (1995)_ (qv) that she got far more than just fame and fortune--she also received the acknowledgment of the movie industry for her acting ability. She received her first Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. She did a couple of films afterwards, teaming up with 'Isabelle Adjani' (qv) in _Diabolique (1996)_ (qv), and as a woman waiting for her death penalty in _Last Dance (1996)_ (qv). In 1998, she married a newspaper editor,'Phil Bronstein' (qv) but they divorced later in 2004. She received her third Golden Globe nomination for _The Mighty (1998)_ (qv), a film that her company, "Chaos", also co-executive produced. The next year, she played the title role in _Gloria (1999)_ (qv) and entered her first comedic role in _The Muse (1999)_ (qv), which gave her another Golden Globe nomination.'Sharon Stone' (qv), a diva who thoroughly enjoys her hard-won stardom, is now a mother of three children: Roan, Laird and Quinn.::Johannes Prayudhi