Madonna
Vintage postcard, no. AB 79. Photo: Steven Meisel. Publicity still for Madonna: Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna (Alek Keshishian, 1991). Madonna impersonating Jayne Mansfield.
Madonna or Madonna Louise Ciccone (1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. During the MTV craze in the 1980s, Madonna pushed boundaries with her song texts and her provocative performances. She frequently reinvented herself and her music and stayed the 'Queen of Pop' for decades. Her global bestsellers were hits such as Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986), but for us she became more interesting with songs like Like a Prayer (1989), Vogue (1991) and Frozen (1998). And we're still fan, even of some of her films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Truth or Dare (1991), and Evita (1996). The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops reinventing herself, Madonna is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner who has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide.
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. Her father is Italian, her mother was French-Canadian. Her siblings are Anthony Ciccone (1956), Martin Ciccone (1957), Paula Ciccone (1959), Christopher Ciccone (1960), and Melanie Henry (1962). In 1962, Madonna's mother, pregnant with her sixth child, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She delayed treatment until her baby was born, but by that time it was too late. A harrowing, yearlong battle with the disease ensued. She lost her battle with cancer in 1963. In 1978, Madonna moved to New York and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey. She joined up with the Patrick Hernandez Revue, formed a pop/dance band called 'Breakfast Club', and began working with then-boyfriend Stephen Bray on recording several disco-oriented songs. New York producer/D.J. Mark Kamins passed her demo tapes to Sire Records in early 1982 and the rest is history. The 1980s was Madonna's boom decade, and she dominated the music charts with a succession of multimillion-selling albums. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (Stephen Jon Lewicki, 1979) and Crazy for You (Harold Becker, 1985), starring Matthew Modine. Her first film, A Certain Sacrifice (1979), was released in 1985, after she became a star, but was actually shot in two parts, the first in 1979, and the other, in 1981. However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. In 1984, she started fashion trends with her unique look using rosaries and crosses as jewelry and black rubber typewriter bands as bracelets. Legions of adolescent girls mimicked her look and a Madonna clothing store was opened in New York. Again in 2001, another huge fashion trend was set off by the "Material Mom", this time with western wear - cowboy hats and mud-splattered jeans. In 1986, she starred with then-husband Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986), which was savaged by critics. She managed to somewhat improve her standing in the cinema with her next two films, the off-beat Who's That Girl (James Foley, 1987) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (Howard Brookner, 1989).
Madonna played in the big-budget and star-filled Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990) bad girl Breathless Mahoney flirting with Warren Beatty. The epic failed to catch fire at the box office. Taking an earthier role, Madonna was much more entertaining alongside Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992), a story about female baseball players during W.W.II. However, she again drew the wrath of critics with the whodunit Body of Evidence (Uli Edel, 1992) with Willem Dafoe, an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of the sexy Sharon Stone thriller Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992). Several other minor screen roles followed, then Madonna starred as Eva Perón opposite Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in Evita (Alan Parker, 1996), a fairly well-received screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Material Girl stayed away from the film cameras for several years, returning to co-star with Rupert Everett in the lukewarm romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (John Schlesinger, 2000), followed by the painful Swept Away (2002) for husband Guy Ritchie. If those films weren't bad enough, she was woefully miscast as a vampish fencing instructor in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002) starring Pierce Brosnan. Madonna began a directing career in 2008 with the comedy Filth and Wisdom (Madonna, 2008), and a year later she reunited with Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) director Alek Keshishian to develop a script about the relationship between the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication in 1936: the result, a movie named W.E. (Madonna, 2011), starring James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough as the infernal but still royal couple. The film was released in 2011 to lukewarm critics but it gathered one Oscar nomination for costumes and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for 'Masterpiece'. Madonna has 6 children: daughter, Lourdes Leon (1996) with an ex-boyfriend, Carlos Leon, son, Rocco Ritchie (2000), and adoptive son, David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie (2005) with ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, and adoptive daughters, Mercy James Ciccone (2006), Estere Ciccone and Stella Ciccone (2012).
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Madonna
Vintage postcard, no. AB 79. Photo: Steven Meisel. Publicity still for Madonna: Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna (Alek Keshishian, 1991). Madonna impersonating Jayne Mansfield.
Madonna or Madonna Louise Ciccone (1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. During the MTV craze in the 1980s, Madonna pushed boundaries with her song texts and her provocative performances. She frequently reinvented herself and her music and stayed the 'Queen of Pop' for decades. Her global bestsellers were hits such as Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986), but for us she became more interesting with songs like Like a Prayer (1989), Vogue (1991) and Frozen (1998). And we're still fan, even of some of her films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Truth or Dare (1991), and Evita (1996). The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops reinventing herself, Madonna is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner who has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide.
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. Her father is Italian, her mother was French-Canadian. Her siblings are Anthony Ciccone (1956), Martin Ciccone (1957), Paula Ciccone (1959), Christopher Ciccone (1960), and Melanie Henry (1962). In 1962, Madonna's mother, pregnant with her sixth child, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She delayed treatment until her baby was born, but by that time it was too late. A harrowing, yearlong battle with the disease ensued. She lost her battle with cancer in 1963. In 1978, Madonna moved to New York and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey. She joined up with the Patrick Hernandez Revue, formed a pop/dance band called 'Breakfast Club', and began working with then-boyfriend Stephen Bray on recording several disco-oriented songs. New York producer/D.J. Mark Kamins passed her demo tapes to Sire Records in early 1982 and the rest is history. The 1980s was Madonna's boom decade, and she dominated the music charts with a succession of multimillion-selling albums. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (Stephen Jon Lewicki, 1979) and Crazy for You (Harold Becker, 1985), starring Matthew Modine. Her first film, A Certain Sacrifice (1979), was released in 1985, after she became a star, but was actually shot in two parts, the first in 1979, and the other, in 1981. However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. In 1984, she started fashion trends with her unique look using rosaries and crosses as jewelry and black rubber typewriter bands as bracelets. Legions of adolescent girls mimicked her look and a Madonna clothing store was opened in New York. Again in 2001, another huge fashion trend was set off by the "Material Mom", this time with western wear - cowboy hats and mud-splattered jeans. In 1986, she starred with then-husband Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986), which was savaged by critics. She managed to somewhat improve her standing in the cinema with her next two films, the off-beat Who's That Girl (James Foley, 1987) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (Howard Brookner, 1989).
Madonna played in the big-budget and star-filled Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990) bad girl Breathless Mahoney flirting with Warren Beatty. The epic failed to catch fire at the box office. Taking an earthier role, Madonna was much more entertaining alongside Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992), a story about female baseball players during W.W.II. However, she again drew the wrath of critics with the whodunit Body of Evidence (Uli Edel, 1992) with Willem Dafoe, an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of the sexy Sharon Stone thriller Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992). Several other minor screen roles followed, then Madonna starred as Eva Perón opposite Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in Evita (Alan Parker, 1996), a fairly well-received screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Material Girl stayed away from the film cameras for several years, returning to co-star with Rupert Everett in the lukewarm romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (John Schlesinger, 2000), followed by the painful Swept Away (2002) for husband Guy Ritchie. If those films weren't bad enough, she was woefully miscast as a vampish fencing instructor in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002) starring Pierce Brosnan. Madonna began a directing career in 2008 with the comedy Filth and Wisdom (Madonna, 2008), and a year later she reunited with Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) director Alek Keshishian to develop a script about the relationship between the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication in 1936: the result, a movie named W.E. (Madonna, 2011), starring James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough as the infernal but still royal couple. The film was released in 2011 to lukewarm critics but it gathered one Oscar nomination for costumes and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for 'Masterpiece'. Madonna has 6 children: daughter, Lourdes Leon (1996) with an ex-boyfriend, Carlos Leon, son, Rocco Ritchie (2000), and adoptive son, David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie (2005) with ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, and adoptive daughters, Mercy James Ciccone (2006), Estere Ciccone and Stella Ciccone (2012).
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.