Sharon Stone
Born in Meadville, Pennsylvania Sharon Stone is the second of four children. Long before she became a commercial model, she demonstrated a driving interest in acting. After winning several local beauty pageants and a writing scholarship to Edinboro College where she majored in creative writing and fine arts (with a minor in art history), Stone moved to New York where she began a successful modelling career. She was immediately signed by Eileen Ford and was soon modelling throughout the world, appearing in print and television ads for Clairol, Revlon and Diet Coke.
Sharon made her debut film appearance (albeit fleeting) as the blond goddess glimpsed by Woody Allen on a passing train in STARDUST MEMORIES (1980). During the 80™s she faired well on television with numerous guest roles on police dramas like Remington Steele and T J Hooker Her four-episode appearance on Magnum P.I. is probably her most notable television credit, along with a supporting role as Robert Mitchum™s daughter-in-law in the epic mini-series, War and Remembrance. Her first major film role was in IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES (1984), playing the conniving young actress-girlfriend of Ryan O™Neal.
After 10 years of serious dramatic study, she was able to make the most of her role as Arnold Schwarzenegger™s wife in Paul Verhoeven™s sci-fi action thriller TOTAL RECALL (1990). However, the movie that forever changed Sharon Stone™s Hollywood status was the incomparable BASIC INSTINCT (1992), in which she portrayed a bisexual author/sexual adventurer. BASIC INSTINCT was the top-grossing film of 1992 and put Sharon on everyone™s radar. She succeeded in crafting an attention-grabbing persona: confident and glamorous in an Old Hollywood sort of way, and above all she was smart. Sharon commandeered the brush when it came to painting her own image and has become one of Hollywood™s most sought-after leading ladies.
Her tenacity started to pay off when she won a starring role opposite Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese™s 1995 film CASINO; she applied herself assiduously to perfecting her honest portrayal of Ginger and earned a long sought-after academy award nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. The Universal release, set in the world of Las Vegas casinos in the 1970s, depicted a story of greed, betrayal and a power struggle that transformed the legendary gaming capital.
Soon after, she starred opposite writer/director Albert Brooks in USA Films™ THE MUSE (1999), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. The wry comedy poked fun at Hollywood and co-starred Andy MacDowell and Jeff Bridges. Stone also co-starred in SIMPATICO (1999), based on Sam Shepard™s play of the same name, with Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges, for Fine Line Films. Before SIMPATICO, she starred in SPHERE (1998), with Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L Jackson, directed by Barry Levinson, based on the novel by Michael Crichton.
Additionally, Sharon starred and executive produced the critically acclaimed THE MIGHTY (1998) for Miramax Films. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of a mother of a disabled child, played by Kieran Culkin. Harry Dean Stanton and Gena Rowlands co-starred in this film. She also starred in the remake of John Cassavettes™ GLORIA (1999) directed by Sidney Lumet for Columbia TriStar. Stone also starred in HBO™s critically acclaimed If These Walls Could Talk series directed by Anne Heche. She starred opposite Ellen DeGeneres, receiving a humanitarian award that same year for her role in the lesbian film.
Sharon Stone was the villain in the action adventure CATWOMAN (2004), starring opposite Halle Berry. Just prior, she dominated the screen in the Disney thriller, COLD CREEK MANOR (2003), opposite Dennis Quaid. In 2005, she was seen in Jim Jarmusch™s BROKEN FLOWERS, with Bill Murray. And a recent career highlight, receiving her first Emmy Award for Best Outstanding Guest Actress In a Drama Series, for her critically acclaimed three-episode role on The Practice.
In March of 2006, Sharon reprised her role as Catherine Tramell in Michael Caton-Jones™ BASIC INSTINCT 2: RISK ADDICTION. Also in 2006, Sharon starred as part of an ensemble cast in BOBBY. Directed by Emilio Estevez, BOBBY is the story of the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 6th, 1968, centered around 22 people who were at the Ambassador Hotel the day he was killed. In addition, she starred in ALPHA DOG (2006), along side Bruce Willis and Justin Timberlake. ALPHA DOG is a drama based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list. In spring of 2007 she will appear in IF I HAD KNOWN I WAS A GENIUS, directed by Dominique Wirtschafter, and in 2008 she will star in DIRTY TRICKS with Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep, directed by Ryan Murphy.
Off screen Sharon™s charitable foundations have given life and hope to people around the world. A devoted humanitarian Sharon has long been active in her support and involvement with many international organizations.
Sharon will continue to excel in her efforts to use her celebrity status as a productive tool to make charitable contributions to various humanitarian causes around the world. Her ceaseless energy for all of these causes and many others inspire Sharon to continually drive herself to achieve her ultimate goals: find an end to HIV/AIDS, relieve hunger and homelessness, and find peaceful solutions in a very troubled world.