AMANDA RIGHETTI PROFILE

Amanda Righetti born April 4, 1983 is an American actress and film producer. She is best known for her roles in The Mentalist, Friday the 13th and The O.C. In 2008, Righetti was the winner of the Best Actress award at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for the Short Film category.

She was born in St. George, Utah, and raised in Overton, Nevada, some 60 miles from Las Vegas. The youngest of eight children, Amanda has six older sisters and one older brother. She has a background in dancing jazz and ballet. She moved to Los Angeles to seek further acting opportunities. She married film director and writer Jordan Alan on April 29, 2006. Righetti is a close friend of actress Alexa Davalos, who was Righetti's bridesmaid at her wedding.

Working as a film producer, Righetti oversaw production on numerous TV commercials and short films. After securing a role in the pilot for a proposed, but ultimately scrapped series by the name of No Place Like Home, Righetti caught the eye of FOX executives. She played a recurring character in teen drama The O.C., was a regular in the short-lived primetime soap North Shore and in late 2005, Righetti starred in FOX's drama Reunion.

In 2006, Righetti signed on to star as the female lead in horror sequel Return to House on Haunted Hill. The film was released straight to DVD in October 2007. In April 2008, she was cast as the female lead in the slasher reboot Friday the 13th. Production ended in June 2008 and the film was released to theaters on February 13, 2009. Since September 23, 2008, Righetti has been a regular cast member on the CBS hit series The Mentalist. While working on The Mentalist, she has starred as the female lead in three movies to be released in 2011.
Righetti appeared on the cover of the November 2005 issue of FHM magazine. She was ranked #59 and #84 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2005 and 2006,respectively. Righetti has appeared on the covers of LAX, Maxim, and Vegas Magazine. In 2009, she was also ranked #65 on Maxim's Hot 100

Filmography

2012 Shadow

2011 Captain America: The First Avenger

2011 Cats Dancing on Jupiter

2011 Wandering Eye

2011 The Chateau Meroux

2009 Friday the 13th

2008 Role Models

2008 Matter

2007 Pipeline

2007 Return to House on Haunted Hill

2005 E-train

2003 No Place Like Home

1996 Kiss & Tell

1995 Love and Happiness


Television

2008–Present The Mentalist

2007 K-Ville

2007 Marlowe (2007)

2006 Entourage

2006 Enemies

2005 Reunion

2005 Romy and Michele: In the Beginning

2004-05 North Shore

2003-05 The O.C.

2003 No Place Like Home

2001 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Source:wikipedia

AMY WINEHOUSE PROFILE

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was a British singer-songwriter known for her powerful contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz.

Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British singer to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game", among other prestigious distinctions. The album was the third biggest seller of the 2000s in the United Kingdom.

Winehouse was credited as an influence in the rise in popularity of female musicians and soul music, and also for revitalising British music. Winehouse's distinctive style made her a muse for fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld. The singer's problems with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as self-destructive behaviour, were regular tabloid news from 2007 until her death. She and her former husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were plagued by legal troubles that left him serving prison time. In 2008, Winehouse faced a series of health complications that threatened both her career and her life.

Winehouse died at the age of 27 on 23 July 2011 at her home in London; police have said that the cause of her death was "as yet unexplained".

Singer, performer. Born Amy Jade Winehouse on September 14, 1983, in the suburb of Southgate, North London. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, worked as a cab driver, while mother Janis was employed as a pharmacist. Winehouse's upbringing was surrounded by jazz; many of her uncles on her mother's side were professional jazz musicians, and her grandmother was once romantically involved with British jazz legend Ronnie Scott. Because of this musical background, Winehouse grew up listening to a diverse range of music, from James Taylor to Sarah Vaughan. At the age of 10, she became drawn to the rebellious spirit of TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and other American R&B and hip-hop acts, and founded a short-lived amateur rap group called Sweet 'n Sour.

At 12, Winehouse was accepted into the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School, and a year later she received her first guitar. But by the age of 16, Winehouse was expelled for "not applying herself" and piercing her nose. That same year, she caught her first big break when a schoolmate and close friend, pop singer Tyler James, passed her demo tape to his label, A&R, who was searching for a jazz vocalist. The opportunity led her to a record deal with Island/Universal.

Her debut album, Frank (2003), was a critically acclaimed mixture of jazz, pop, soul, and hip-hop. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize as well as two BRIT awards for Best Female Solo Artist and Best Urban Act. The debut single on the album, "Stronger Than Me," earned the new artist an Ivor Novello award. Frank also hit double platinum status.

During this time, Winehouse began developing a reputation as an unstable party girl, often showing up to her club or TV performances too drunk to sing a whole set. She also started a tumultuos, on-again-off-again relationship with music video assistant, Blake Fielder-Civil, who admitted to introducing Winehouse to hard drugs. In public, the couples' arguments often devolved into fist-fights and dramatic scenes. In private, their romance centered around drugs, alcohol, physical abuse, and even self-harm.

By 2006, her management company finally suggested that Winehouse enter rehab for alcohol abuse. Instead, she dumped the company and turned the experience into the lead single for her second, critically acclaimed album, Back to Black (2006). The song "Rehab," which discussed her refusal to receive treatment for substance abuse, became an instant Top 10 hit in the U.K. and earned the artist another Ivor Novello award for Best Contemporary Song. The album was also a critical success, winning the artist a BRIT award for Best Female Solo Artist and a BRIT nomination for Best British Album in 2007. Less than a month after her BRIT win, Back to Black made its American debut. It was an instant smash, hitting higher on the Billboard music charts than any other American debut by a British female recording artist in history. The album stayed in the Top 10 for several months, selling 1 million copies by the end of that summer.

source:wikipedia