SHOW BUSINESS - ACTRESSES - 1970s-1980s & 1990s

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS BLITHE COMMUNICATOR:
Storyline: The socially-aware soubrette deals with images and issues in her ongoing struggles to define herself as a highly intelligent, highly competent entertainer, while trying not to internalize her difficulties around maintaining her integrity in an obtuse world.
Claire Danes (1979) - American actress. Outer: Mother was a textile designer and painter, father was a computer consultant and photographer, duo met at the Rhode Island School of Design. One older brother. Grew up in a cultural Bohemian household in the SoHo section of Manhattan, while constantly looking for acceptance. Her mother ran a toddler school out of their home, and she began seeing scary, demonic creatures. At 6, she started treatment with a child therapist, and also took dance lessons, continuing on for a decade, while also studying at the Lee Strassburg Inst. at 9. Made her TV debut at 11 as a molested child in “Dreams of Love,” and then after auditioning, waited 2 years to star in the well-received, but ill-fated TV show, “My So-Called Life,” for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Used her own sense of teen alienation and anger to limn the character, while garnering her first kiss on screen, before ever implanting one in real life. On the strength of her performance, she made her motion picture debut, playing the part of Beth in Little Women in 1995. 5’5 1/2”. Continued as a popular ingenue, before interrupting her career to attend Yale Univ., after getting her early education from a stream of tutors on film sets. Created an international incident by criticizing the Philippines in an interview after working there, and won the wrath of its president, a former actor, in return, as an unconscious reflection of her earlier political troubles. Made the tabloids with her romance with actor Billy Crudup, who broke up with the pregnant Mary-Louise Parker to be with her. The duo starred in Stage Beauty, in yet another of her luminous performances, although they subsequently moved on to other partners. Returned to dance in 2004, which resulted in a solo public performance, “Christina Olson: American Model,” choreographed by her teacher and based on Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World,” a landscaped portrait of an invalided young woman. At the same time, she finally found a screen role, in Steve Martin’s Shopgirl, to match her earlier promise. Later, played Eliza Doolittle in G. B. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” on Broadway to mixed reviews. Wed actor Hugh Dancy in France in 2009, and the following year won an Emmy for playing Temple Grandin, an autistic expert in animal behavior. Inner: Honest, candid, articulate, and extremely self-aware. Bright, luminescent talent, filled with self-doubts, and much self-reflection. Initially equated fame with love, and desperately sought it. Clarifying lifetime of building on previous experience, allowing her to enter the arena of show business at a young age, from a more stable and conventional background in order to transcend the frustrations of her previous go-round in this series. Judy Holliday (Judy Tuvim) (1922-1965) - American actress. Outer: Of Russian-Jewish descent. Mother was a piano teacher, father was a professional fund raiser for socialist and Jewish organizations. Only child, parents separated when she was 6, which embittered her. Lived with her mother and grandmother, and was a voracious reader, while also evincing great interest in the stage. 5’7”, 130 lbs, 172 I.Q. After being rejected by Yale, she became a backstage switchboard operator for Orson Welles’s Mercury Theater, and made her own stage debut at 17 with a topical cabaret group, the Revuers, that she had formed with the playwrighting team of Adolph Comden and Betty Green. Took on the name Holliday as an English translation of her Hebraic name. When the group disbanded for separate careers, she made her stage debut in 1945 in “Kiss Them For Me,” winning awards for her performance. Made her Hollywood debut in her early 20s with a bit part in Greenwich Village, then after 2 more films the same year, returned to Broadway. Had 72 hours to learn the part that would make her famous, after the star, Jean Arthur, became ill. Played the classic smart/dumb blonde Billie Dawn in “Born Yesterday,” a role she would repeat 1600 times over the next 4 years, before reprising it to great success on film, winning an Academy Reward for Best Actress in 1950, although not without having to prove herself beforehand in order to win the part for filmic permanence. Married Dave Oppenheim, a clarinetist, 2 years before, one son from the union, which ended in divorce nearly a decade later. A highly intelligent comedienne with a unique voice inflection and sense of characterization, she was equally effective on both stage and screen as well as TV, where she performed in variety shows. Suffered a partial blacklisting after appearing before a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1952, where she was accused of being friendly towards communist-front causes. Played ‘Billie Dawn’ to the committee, to her own career detriment, although never named names. The last part of her life was spent looking for roles that didn’t play off her typecast public image, and she wound up with a throat affliction that curtailed her even more. Involved with jazzman Gerry Mulligan, and penned the lyrics to his theme song for A Thousand Clowns. In 1960, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and 5 years later succumbed to throat cancer. Inner: Blithe spirit, smart, sensitive, politically liberal and creative. Felt pigeonholed as a dumbo bimbo, when she was anything but. Idolized actress Laurette Taylor (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Not born yesterday lifetime of dealing with communications, and ultimately self-destructing around the delimitations that her times and place put on them.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER TO THE MANOR BORN:
Storyline: The confident comedienne is allowed to develop first as a person, rather than as a performer, so as to get her values and priorities right, after earlier spinning herself out in pursuit of addictions to fame, fun and men, as well as alcohol, without putting her true heart into any of them.
Kate Hudson (1979) - American actress. Outer: Mother was actress Goldie Hawn. Father was comedian and musician Bill Hudson. Her parents divorced before she was 2, and her relationship with her father has always been strained. Views actor Kurt Russell, her mother’s subsequent longtime companion, as her real sire. One of 4 siblings, older brother, Oliver, also became an actor. Grew up on film sets while shuttling between her famous mother and stepfather’s coastal homes, and credits her own grounded sense of self with the solid family life that the duo were able to create, despite their busy careers, and the importance they placed on homelife, in contrast to the egocentric nature of the business they were in. Announced at the age of 11 that she wished to be an actress, although her mother felt she should wait, as did Russell, a former child-star himself. Both parents were afraid of early success for her, and the distortions which come with it. At 16, she made her debut in a TV drama, “Party of Five,” and then had a recurring role on “EZ Streets,” just before it got cancelled. Deferred going to college, despite being accepted at NYU, and made her film debut in Ricochet River in 1998, which was so bad, her whole family laughed at it when they viewed it together. 5’6”. Came to prominence as a groupie in Almost Famous in 2000, and has been a light romantic star ever since. The same year, she married Chris Robinson, lead singer of the Black Crowes, whose grungy image countered her wholesomeness, son from union, although they separated in 2006, after she became involved with actor Owen Wilson, from whom she also eventually split, before officially divorcing the following year. Later took up with Wilson’s friend bicycylist Lance Armstrong, in what would prove to be a brief romance, before careening to baseball’s Alex Rodriquez in her ongoing all-star lineup of high profile lovers, only to be ditched by him as well. Had a son with British musician Matthew Bellamy, in a hoped-for long-lasting union. Inner: Extremely confident, bright, sunny and well-grounded. Hollywood royalty lifetime of being given a solid grounding in her personal life, before embarking on what looks to be a long successful career, with her struggles coming on the domestic, rather than the professional front. Kay Francis (Katherine Edwina Gibbs) (1903-1968) - American actress. Outer: Of Irish descent. Canadian-born mother was an actress and singer, and may also have been a part time prostitute, while her 6’4” father abandoned the family when she was 4, leaving her nothing, but his genetic height. Spent her childhood alternately out on the road with her mother and attending Catholic schools. 5’9”, with a relatively dark complexion and deep voice. At 17 she enrolled at the (no relation) Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in NYC, while embarking on a lifelong affair with alcohol. In 1922, she married the first of her five husbands, James Dwight Francis, a well-to-do businessman. Divorced in 1925, she decided to pursue a stage career in NYC, making her debut in a modern-dress version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Joined a touring troupe which played the midwest, assaying a host of supporting roles, while marrying, and then divorcing lawyer Bill Gaston. Wed writer-director John Meehan afterwards. A final Broadway role in 1928 led to a Hollywood contract with Paramount Pictures the following year, and she made her screen debut in Gentleman of the Press. Suffered from a slight speech impediment, which had wagging studio tongues calling her the “wavishing Kay Fwancis.” Moved to Los Angeles, and immediately embarked on a prolific film career, becoming one of the top stars of the first half of the 30s, projecting an extremely glamorous image, while often appearing opposite William Powell, who was the cinematic apotheosis of sophistication of the time. The two switched to Warner Brothers in 1932, enticed by better and more sympathetic roles, as well as a higher salary. For the next four years, she reigned there, with an impressive income that put her on the list of America’s highest paid women, as she continually opted for quantity over quality in her choice of roles. In the interim, she ended her third union, and wed actor/producer Kenneth MacKenna in 1931, after taking up with him during her previous marriage, only to divorce three years later. May have made a suicide attempt at that time, as well. Her films, while popular, were overly sentimental with scripts taking second billing to her lavish wardrobes, a reflection of her own strong sense of the material. Filled her time with affairs, including several with women, while pursuing a private life that was often chaotic in its pursuit of pleasure. Her dissatisfaction with the vehicles given her led to her demotion, so that by the last half of the 1930s, her run as a top star was over. Her final marriage in 1938 and divorce in 1946 was to Baron Erik Barnekow. Had no children from any of her unions. Dismissed from Warner Brothers, she failed to secure another contract, and began playing character and supporting parts. An active volunteer during WW II, she put her considerable energy into USO tours throughout Europe and North Africa, although by conflict’s end her career in Hollywood was largely over, after she co-produced and starred in a trio of forgettable films. Returned to the NY stage, as well as touring in a variety of plays. Burned her legs badly on a radiator in 1948, making standing quite difficult. Although she continued working for a while, since her name always meant big box office, she finally retired in 1955. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1966, and undergoing a mastectomy, she completely gave in to her self-medicating addiction to alcohol. Died from cancer, and was cremated, with her ashes scattered. Left a goodly part of her $1 million estate to Seeing Eye, Inc., which trained seeing eye dogs, a strong interest of hers in her later years. Inner: Sharp-witted with a compassionate and fun-loving nature. Stylish, chic and addiction-prone. Saw acting more as a job than a calling, with its huge material rewards, which led to a seesaw career that petered out because of an indiscriminate pursuit of her surface objectives. Full throttle lifetime of chasing after fame, fun and fortune, only to ultimately see that her priorities would need rearranging in her next go-round, if ever she wished longtime satisfaction in the illusionary milieu of mass entertainment.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS WIDE-EYED WISEGAL:
Storyline: The insouciant innocent embeds herself in show business from infancy on, to try to see her way ever more clearly in the mesmerizing glow of lifelong footlights.
Zooey Deschanel (1980) - American actress. Outer: Mother Mary Jo Deschanel was an actress, father Caleb was a cinematographer and director, older sister Emily also became an actress. Named for the J.D. Salinger character, Zooey Glass. Spent her childhood on location and followed it by a troubled teen stretch of acting out, before focusing her creative energy on just pure acting, for which she got a lot of family support. Made her TV debut in 1998 on “Veronica’s Closet,” and her first film was a bit role in Mumford, while she was at Northwestern, from which she promptly dropped out. 5’6”. Enjoyed a busy career immediately afterwards, appearing in several high profile films. As a throwback to earlier Hollywood ingenues, she has garnered attention for her subsequent large-eyed portrayals of innocents in worlds they never made, as she expands on her earlier hidden career, through a repeat performance of springing from a show business milieu to a unique filmic persona, to see if she can integrate it with a more satisfactory private life. Slated to appear in a Janis Joplin (Pink) biopic, which failed to materialize, she, nevertheless, has added singing and recording to her repertoire. As such, she is part of the indie pop duo She & Him, along with M.Ward, which has both toured and released several albums, in between her film and TV work. Has appeared with her sister Emily on her TV series, “Bones,” although has never been competitive with her. Married musician Benjamin Gibbard in 2009. In 2011, along with two partners, she launched Hello Giggles, an internet comedy site dedicated to good grrl humor, meant to complement her own pixyish sensibilities, and desire to uplift the world, one giggle at a time. Shortly afterwards, she starred in her first sitcom, “New Girl,” playing to her strengths as an innocent learning about life and love. Despite the show’s success, it signaled the end of her marriage and she filed for divorce in late 2011. Inner: Boisterous, highly energetic and attention-demanding, although somewhat more mellow as she has aged. Has a fondness for cultural artifacts from the past, including vintage movies and music. Take two lifetime of immersing herself in the show business milieu from infancy onward to see how much further this repeat performance of her own scripted story will take her. Joan Blondell (Rose Joan Blondell) (1909-1979) - American actress. Outer: Father was comedian Eddie Blondell, who played one of the Katzenjammer Kids, while her mother was also in vaudeville. One of 3 children, sister Gloria also followed a show business route. Spent her childhood on the road with her parents, touring the world, and performing with them, beginning her career as an infant, so that show business was her ongoing reality throughout her life. Won the title of Miss Dallas, after faking a southern accent and posing as a Texan to enter, and then was a runner-up in the 1926 Miss America pageant. Made her Broadway debut the following year in “The Trial of Mary Dugan.” 5’3”. Sexually assaulted as a young woman. After appearing with the then unknown James Cagney in a Broadway hit called “Penny Arcade,” the two reprised their roles in the renamed Sinner’s Holiday in 1930, which launched her Hollywood career. Appeared in everything she could, sometimes doing 10 films a year, as she launched a near 50 year career, of over a hundred films, largely playing wisegals with sharp mouths and soft hearts. Far more interested in her private life than her professional one, seeing acting largely as work. In 1932, she married cinema-photographer George Barnes, who was pathologically possessive her, didn’t believe in birth control and didn’t want children. After suffering through seven abortions with him, they divorced in 1936 One son from the union, Norman Powell, who became a producer, director and TV executive. The same year, she married actor Dick Powell (Justin Timberlake), with whom she often worked, and he adopted her son, while they had a daughter together, Ellen, who became a studio hair stylist. Divorced him in 1944, after finding him stable, albeit unexciting. In 1947, she married high-powered producer Mike Todd, who was far more intoxicating, but he often beat her, and once held her out a hotel room window by the ankles. His extravagance bankrupted him, and he also went through her savings, before she divorced him in 1950. Had difficulties with her children, and, continued to do some stagework, then returned to the screen in character roles, and also did TV. Although up for all the premiere media awards, she never won one, despite being respected for her abilities. Wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, “Center Door Fancy,” in 1972. Suffered from arthritis, anemia, and had a stroke, before dying of leukemia. Inner: Driven, great need to continually work, probably had difficulties when not performing, so that all her showbiz marriages ultimately failed. Great sense of resiliency, and ability to rebound, along with a strong spiritual sensibility. Used to use an egg-timer to allow herself 20 minutes of wallowing in self-pity, before reverting to her upbeat self. Stagetrunk lifetime of being surrounded by show business from her first breath, making private life, away from the spotlight, a difficult performance that was just beyond her reach.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS POWERMONGER TURNED PLAYER:
Storyline: The catty-tongued communicator returns in far more provocative and exotic fashion to see if she can exert equal influence over a far more complex Tinsel Town from inside, rather than outside its illusory gates, as she did before.
Olivia Munn (Lisa Olivia Munn) (1980) - American writer, actress, model and comedian. Outer: Of Eurasian descent. Mother was Chinese, although she grew up in Vietnam. Father was of German and Irish descent. Her parents divorced while she was still a toddler, and her mother remarried a member of the US Air Force. Grew up on a variety of air force bases, with the Shinjuku district of Tokyo as her mainstay. One of five children. Appeared in local theater and was also a teenage model in the Japanese fashion industry. 5’4”, slim and curvy. After her parents divorced, she finished high school in Oklahoma, then went on to the Univ. of Oklahoma where she majored in journalism and minored in Japanese and theater arts. Moved to Los Angeles afterwards with the thought of becoming an actress. In 2004, she landed an internship at Fox Sports Net, where she was a sideline reporter for college football and women’s basketball, although felt uncomfortable being something she wasn’t, a sports enthusiast. Made her film debut in a bit part in Scarecrow Gone Wild at the same time, then landed her first recurring TV role on “Beyond the Break” playing a surfer, a sport she continues to pursue. In 2006, she began co-hosting “Attack of the Show,” on G-4, a cable network devoted to video games, and male fantasies, and proved to be quite popular with her quick wit and excellent timing, coupled with her eye candy esthetics. Helped raise the network’s profile considerably, while also appearing in a number of ad campaigns for major American products, in addition to a host of magazine covers, including “Playboy,” for whom she did an uncomfortable, albeit non-nude spread. Continued her co-hosting on podcasts, while getting roles in more mainstream films during the latter part of the decade. In 2010, she became a correspondent for “The Daily Show,” eliciting much criticism around her selection, which was presumed to be for her looks rather than her sly sense of humor. Starred in a network romantic situation comedy, “Perfect Couples,” in 2011, although it was canceled before completing its first season. Has one book to her credit, “Suck It, Wonder Woman, The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek,” a series of essays on a variety of Tinsel Town subjects. Also has plans to launch her own magazine, “Hey, Olivia,” as a means of maintaining a high print profile, per her path to power in her previous go-round in this series. lnner: Sardonic, self-deprecating, earthy and candid. Reconstituted lifetime of deliberately dipping directly into the world she had previous chronicled from a journalistic distance in order to see if she can attain a similar position of power from inside the celebrity cage, rather than as a manipulative mouth living outside of it and commenting on its vulnerable denizens as a means of elevating herself above them. Louella Parsons (Louella Rose Oettinger) (1881-1972) - American gossip columnist. Outer: Of German-Jewish descent on her paternal side, and Irish on her maternal. Oldest of four siblings, with two brothers and a sister. Lost her father early on, and her mother remarried in 1890. Began writing at an early age, and, after enrolling in a nearby business college, became drama editor of her local newspaper, pulling in $5 a week while dishing on the Dixon scene. At 17, she married John Parsons, a real estate agent, and the couple moved to Iowa. One daughter from the unhappy union, Harriet, who became a film producer. Divorced her husband for his inconstancy, while claiming he died on a transport ship, during WW I. Also tried to knock 12 years off her age, once she became famous. Moved to Chicago and began working as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune in 1910. Also wrote for Essanay Studios at the very dawn of the motion picture industry, with her first one reeler, Chains, produced in 1912. Penned a manual on screenwriting, and also proposed a movie column to the Chicago Record-Herald, which was accepted, allowing her to become filmdom’s first gossip columnist in 1914. Married John McCaffrey the following year, only to divorce him as well, after becoming involved with Peter Brady, a married labor leader, who she would claim was the one true love of her life. Moved to NYC after William Randolph Hearst (Mark Zuckerberg) bought her paper and saw no use in what she was doing. However, after penning a similar column for a New York daily, Hearst realized she did, indeed, attract readers, and signed her to a contract with the New York American in 1923. Two years later, she contracted TB, which she was told would prove fatal. Converted to Catholicism at this juncture in preparation to meet her maker, and moved to southern California, before going into remission. Switched to Hearst’’s Los Angeles Examiner, at his behest, and became an influential doyenne of the movie industry, with a huge worldwide readership of her daily syndicated column, which could aid careers immeasurably, as well as derail those whom she despised, usually for sexual excesses. Always defended Hearst against his critics, and became involved in many of his causes, as a fellow right-wing Republican. In 1928, she began a weekly radio show with film star interviews, although it failed, as did a followup, because of the inarticularity of her guests. In 1930, she wed Dr. Harry Martin, a urologist and drunk, whom she helped make chief medical officer at 20th Century Fox. Four years later she began hosting “Hollywood Hotel,” which proved indispensable for studio publicity. Hollywood Hotel would also become a film itself towards decade’s end replete with the classic “Hooray for Hollywood,” number in it, as well as a role for her, in which she stiffly played herself. Enjoyed both the ear of the nation, and the whispered mouth of Hollywood, so that she was able to scoop the real skinny on what was happening in Tinsel Town before anyone else could, thanks to a cadre of assistants and informants. Published her memoirs, “The Gay Illiterate” in 1943, taking care to excise anything unseemly from her life. Not above making things up, she developed a fierce rivalry with Hedda Hopper (Chelsea Handler), whom she had earlier championed, and the two would compete for the last quarter century of her career for primacy in the Hollywood gossip pantheon. Lost much of her power in the 1950s as the teen idols of the period proved well out of her reach. Published a second memoir in 1961, “Tell it to Louella,” recapping earlier stories from her bygone heyday. Wrote her final column in 1964 and retired, with her husband dying at the same time. Wound up in a nursing home, where she lived to great age, and at the end, was often heard talking to the stars in reruns on the small screen, asking them for exclusives and chiding them for not giving any to her, as if she were still with them. Suffered a stroke, and died of heart failure, with only a handful of celebrities attending her funeral. Inner: A pioneer of sorts, founding the Hollywood Women’s Press Club, while lording it over Lotus Land, until times passed her by. Largely a folksy writer, with little sense of stylistics. Obsessed with exclusives, manipulating people to get them, seeing her power in keeping her readership abreast of all the reportable doings in her domain. Wagging tongue lifetime of realizing enormous power through a gift for gossip, before finding times pass her by, so as to make her refashion her return along far more flexible lines in order to expand her communicatory skills, and insure another long run as a prime resident of Hollywood Hotel.
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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS GOOD-NATURED DITZ:
Storyline: The bimbo bombshell parlays a bodacious body with a blonde winsomeness into a dual comedienne and chanteuse career, after earlier having played it strictly for laughs, as a musical mainstay and wide-eyed wiseacre.
Jessica Simpson (1980) - American singer, actress and entrepreneur. Outer: Father was a psychologist, as well as a youth minister in his local Baptist Church. Older sister of singer Ashlee Simpson. Began singing in her church choir. In 1992, she failed to make the cut for the Mickey Mouse Club, after freezing at her final audition, although she launched her show business career two years later as a singer with a Christian album, after being discovered by the head of a small Christian record label. The album, however, was never released, because the company folded. A cheerleader and active in theater arts, she dropped out of high school her senior year, although later got her GED, in order to promote a demo album, while also touring on the Christian Youth Conference circuit, with her father managing her incipient career. 5’3”, and voluptuous. Signed with Columbia Records and in 1999, she gained her first taste of pop success with a successful single and a double platinum album, “Sweet Kisses.” Met future husband singer Nick Lachey while touring, while announcing she was a virgin and would remain so until she and he were officially wed. The pair had a hit duet single, in 2001, and she both lost weight and gained an even larger following with a second hit album. The following year, she married Lachy, while proudly clinging to her virginity until their wedding night. In 2003, the duo starred in a TV reality show, “Newlyweds,” in which she played a total ditz, despite claims of a high I.Q. The show, on MTV, was a huge hit, and she suddenly found herself in the pop stratosphere as a public personality, and archetypal blonde bimbo, parlaying her pronounced stupidity into 4 successful seasons, while continuing to churn out hit albums. Made her film debut in 2005 in The Dukes of Hazzard, after resculpting her body to eye-popping proportions in a pair of cut-off shorts. Proved herself an adept screen comedienne, with the potential for an equally successful big screen career. The pressures of being a public couple, however, took their toll, and she and Lachey had a highly publicized divorce in 2006, after splitting up the previous year, although she admitted to jealousy when he successfully rebounded and she did not. Continues with her active and highly popular recording career, as well as being a public character in keeping with her projected bimbo-hood. Flubbed the words to a tribute she was singing to Dolly Parton at the Kennedy Center Awards in 2006, thanks to feeling flustered and nervous, in her only public misstep. Like her fellow teen favorites, she has launched her own line of beauty products, and is also a presence in commercials for various projects, as an emblem of her times, as well as a throwback to the 1950s, and America’s fascination with curvy blondes with little between their ears. Bounced back in the spotlight in 2007 with a high profile romance with Dallas Cowboy QB Tony Romo, although her presence at games would prove a distraction. Criticized in 2009 for a weight gain, despite reclaiming her naturally Junoesque figure, with no loss to her overall esthetic. Later dumped by Romo the night before her 29th birthday party, much to her consternation. The subject of lubricious blabber by former intimate John Mayer, which left her steaming, she launched “The Price of Beauty,” afterwards, a reality TV show in which she travels the world with a pair of companions in search of different cultures’ esthetic ideals and the extremes they sometimes go to in order to achieve them. Launched the Jessica Simpson Collection in 2007 and within a little over three years it hit the $1 billion sales mark with her various products, allowing her entrepreneurial skills to far outweigh her singing and film career, thanks to an easy identification she projects of wholesome simplicity. Had a baby girl in 2012 with her fiancee, former footballer Eric Johnson, after posing nude on the cover of Elle in anticipation of her coming. Inner: Genuinely funny, extremely ambitious, fairly straight-laced and far brighter than the dimbulb she enjoys projecting. Redesigned lifetime of amping up her physicality to match her cheerful disposition in order to fashion a far more expanded career out of her various talents, while trying to keep her perspective in the realm of highly elevated public popularity. Helen Broderick (1891-1959) - American actress. Outer: Both her parents, William Broderick and Emma Kraus, were opera singers. Began her career as a chorus dancer in vaudeville, despite parental objections, before graduating to the Broadway stage in 1907 with the Ziegfeld Follies. Built her reputation as a wisecracking mainstay of musicals afterwards, before switching her metier to the silver screen after 1930. Married actor Lester Crawford, son from union, Broderick Crawford, became a well-known actor, as well. Did one silent film in 1924, High Speed, but did not really enter films until after the advent of sound, where she maintained her wry persona through a steady output all through the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s, after which, she retired from the screen. Also wrote two silent movies in the 1920s, her debut film and The Mystery Club. Appeared with Fred Astaire in both film and on stage, and reprised several of her Broadway roles in celluloid. Never a big star, but always a delightful large-eyed screen presence. Retired after her mid-50s, and died of natural causes. Inner: Had a similar rambunctious persona to the one she portrayed on stage and screen. Born to entertain lifetime of totally immersing herself in a showbiz milieu, from her private to her public life, and enjoying such a good long run at what she did best, that she decided to try it from an even more integrated perspective as a stratospheric performance artist ditz to see where it would take her.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER WHO IS FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS:
Storyline: The entrepreneurial showgirl exploits a maximum talent for publicity into the stratosphere of celebrity, turning herself into a formidable economic entity through the sheer dint of her continually being on display.
Paris Hilton (1981) - American entrepreneur, socialite and actress. Outer: Mother was Kathy Richards, a former actress. 6 younger brothers and a sister. Father was the grandson of the founder of the Hilton Hotel chain. 5’8”, slender. Had a privileged upbringing, attended private schools, although dropped out and eventually got a GED. Became part of the international party circuit, and a public persona, thanks to her name and her photogenic scrubbed blonde looks. Achieved mischievous icon status when a sex-tape between her and her ex-boyfriend surfaced in 2003, and she quickly parlayed it into a popular reality TV series, “The Simple Life,” which ran for 5 seasons. A mainstay of tabloids and tabloid TV ever since, she lent her name to a variety of commercial enterprises, including a perfume, clothing line, and club, as well as a record label, Heiress Records,while recording her own singing. Periodically makes the celebrity news with minor incidents, via a well-tuned instinct for publicity. Linked with a variety of actors, as well as engaged to several sons of the rich, while continuing to party on, in a life deliberately meant to be publicly consumed, including an incipient singing career, launched in 2006 with the eponymous ‘Paris.’ Failed to pay a storage fee, and wound up having her possessions auctioned off, as well as much of her life serve as further fodder for the internet, in her ongoing desire to stretch her fifteen minutes out as long as she possibly can, by whatever means possible. Eventually received a short jail sentence for her disregard for motor vehicle laws, which was halved for projected good behavior, her first public manifestation of the latter state. Received preferential treatment and was released to home confinement after only 3 days, only to be remanded back to the jail’s medical wing after a tear-stained hearing, to serve out the rest of her brief incarceration, amidst sobbing protests. Later claimed to have found God and was a new person because of her ordeal, which turned out to be 23 days of confinement all told. As proof of her new social seriousness, she launched a new clothing-line soon afterwards. A further foray into filmdom with Hotties and Notties showed that people were not willing to pay for what they could see far too often for free. Subsequently exploited a John McCain campaign ad knocking the celebrityhood of Barack Obama by linking him to her by issuing an insulting response, replete with her very own energy policy. Later launched her second venture into reality TV on MTV with a competition geared towards supplying her with courtiers for her sef-proclaimed social queen beeship called “Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.” Popped for drugs several times in 2010, including a cocaine bust in Las Vegas for which she got a year of probation through a plea deal, to make her tabloid fodder once again, after a relatively quiescent period of losing the short attention span of the nation-at-large. Launched yet another reality series, afterwards, “The World According to Paris,” to less than interested viewership, while compounding her dwindling appeal with a disastrous interview challenging her frivolous public persona. Saw her final series canceled soon after, probably ending her reality TV run, after a ten year career personifying the emptiness of celebrity. Inner: Highly social celebutante, with a creative knack for making hedonism highly profitable. I Am A Camera’s Focus lifetime of taking her slender gifts and magnifying them a millionfold to create a unique and highly exploitable public persona, fashioned around the endless pursuit of pleasure. Peggy Hopkins Joyce (Margaret Peggy Upton) (1893-1957) - American showgirl. Outer: From extremely modest circumstances in rural Virginia. Father was a village barber, and her parents divorced when she was young. 5’3 1/2”, slim and blonde. Escaped her adolescence by marrying Everett Archibald, a wealthy man she had met at a resort in 1910. The marriage, however, was annulled 6 months later under the proviso she was too young, and her parents sent her to private school. Ran away from it, and married Sherburne Hopkins, a wealthy NYC attorney, in 1913, with the ambition of conquering the city from the stage. Divorced 2 years later, with another huge settlement, and the following year she made her film debut in The Turmoil, churning out a half dozen silents. In 1917, she reached her show business zenith as a Ziegfeld Girl. Also worked in Earl Carroll’s “Vanities,” as well as vaudeville, and became famous for being famous, while also collecting more men, jewelry and accoutrements than any other gold digger of her times. In 1920 she married and later divorced J. Stanley Joyce, a multimillionaire lumberman, from whom she took her final marquee name. Had homes around the world, as well as a penchant for headlines, including the suicide death of a South American embassy figure in Paris over love for her. Her fourth union to Gustave Morner, was from 1924 to 1928. That same year, she acquired the Portuguese Diamond, but was ultimately forced to sell it in 1951, when the latter part of her life, did not keep up the same momentum with the former part. Her fifth union was in 1945 Anthony Easton, and last was to Andrew Meyer, in 1953. Inner: Gold/digging lifetime of making the most from what she had been given, in her ongoing inventive mode of self-creation, and self-exploitation no matter the circumstances of her beginnings.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS PESSIMIST TURNED REALIST:
Storyline: The dark angel deals with her health problems at life’s beginning to avoid being overwhelmed with them at its end as she had in her previous go-round, while learning to enjoy life far more by looking at things through half-full rather than half-empty glasses.
Jessica Alba (1981) - American actress. Outer: Mother was of Danish and French Canadian descent, while father was Mexican-American and an Air Force careerist, after being on the pro tennis tour, before eventually becoming a real estate estate. Also part indigenous, while her parents are complete opposites in skin tones, with one fair and the other dark. One younger brother, Joshua, also became an actor. Grew up in a conservative Catholic milieu, including her grandparents home, where even a batthingsuit was verboten, although she has always maintained a liberal view of life. Suffered from collapsed lungs as a child, and was prey to pneumonia, contracting it several times a year. Spent much time in hospitals, leading to an isolated childhood, which was also complicated by asthma. Because of her father’s career, the family moved often, before winding up back in California when she was 9, leading to an obsessive-compulsion disorder, although it didn’t dissuade her from a lifelong desire to be an actress. Often had to do without because of the family’s limited economic circumstances, coupled with the fact both parents were only 20 when they married. Also felt alienated as a race apart, finding difficulty in being accepted for she was. Won an acting competition in Beverly Hills when she was 12, where she received free acting classes while led her to be signed by an agent. Following high school, she attended the Atlantic Theater Company. 5’6”, and stunningly voluptuous. Made her film debut in 1993 in Camp Nowhere, after the principle dropped out, and her hair matched the latter’s color. Did commercial work afterwards and then independent films, before getting a recurring role in 1994 on “The Secret World of Alex Mack,” which led to “Flipper,” the following year, allowing her to exercise her swimming and scuba-diving skills, while also natate with dolphins over the next two seasons. More TV shows would follow, including what would become a signature role in "Dark Angel" in 2000, a James Cameron fantasy-fest of genetic alteration where she won out over 1200 other candidates, and which would mark her as an action-adventure heroine and raise her profile considerably. Obsessive about training to keep herself in trim, which led at one point to anorexia and a bout with eating disorders, in her ongoing lessons in learning to accept not only who she is, but what she looks like. Continued to appear in drama and action fare during the decade, including Sin City and the Fantastic Four series, while also using her striking beauty as the face of L’Oreal and Revlon. In 2008 she married producer Cash Warren, two daughters from the union. Inner: Athletic and extremely modest, refusing to appear nude or topless in print or on film, to the point of filing suit against “Playboy” for putting her on its cover. Sports a trio of tattoos, including a ladybug on a daisy on the back of her neck, a bow on her lower back and the Sanskrit symbol for lotus flower on her wrist. Despite her heritage, barely understands Spanish. Very health conscious and still prone to debilities because of her childhood. Not particularly interested in celebrity or fame, and strongly anti-authoritarian. Re-look in the mirror lifetime of dealing with self-healing at the beginning in order to learn to accept herself more, while evincing the same sense of disconnect as motivation to recreate herself in more fulfilling fashion than her previous unhappy go-round in this series. Susan Hayward (Edythe Marrenner) (1917-1975) - American actress. Outer: Of Irish and Scandinavian extract, with both her maternal grandparents from Sweden. Born the same day as singer Lena Horne. Father was a transportation worker. The youngest of two girls and a boy, who begrudged her mother’s favoritism towards her older sister. Raised Catholic, she used movies as an escape from an unhappy childhood, while dreaming of making money to compensate for her poverty. Went to a commercial high school to become a secretary, before doing modeling work with photographers. Following her father’s death, she came to Hollywood in the hope of landing a role in Gone With The Wind, hoping to convert her red-haired beauty and curvaceous 5’3” figure into a film career. Made her debut in a bit part in 1937 in Hollywood Hotel, and continued doing bits while undergoing several years of voice and acting lessons and being redubbed Susan Hayward. Had her first noticeable role in 1939 in Beau Geste, which proved to be a hit, and her career was officially launched as a dramatic actress of more than passing note. Hampered by a cold and aloof off-screen personality, bred by an innate distrust of everyone, her taste in men led to the dominating ubermasculine type, while she harbored an extreme distaste for effeminate homphiles. Always extremely professional and well-prepared on set, although once the cameras were off, she would disappear completely into herself. A heavy smoker with a similar affinity for drink, she was always outdoorsy, and an active sport fisherwoman. Married actor Jess Barker in 1944. Twin sons from the tumultuous union that ended a decade later in divorce and a bitter custody battle that led to a suicide attempt on her part. Played the part of an alcoholic in three films, including her best-remembered role, I’ll Cry Tomorrow, the 1955 story of singer Lillian Roth (Lily Allen), and garnered three Best Actress nominations for those efforts. Hit her stride in the 1950s, and in 1958 finally won a Best Actress Oscar for I Want to Live, the story of a real life death row inmate convicted of murder. The year before, she wed rancher Eaton Chalkely, who died suddenly nine years later of hepatitis. Deeply mourned him and left Hollywood for five years, before returning in 1971. The following year she began a three year struggle with brain cancer after contracting it following exposure to radioactive toxins while making The Conqueror in Utah in 1956, along with fellow costars John Wayne and Agnes Moorhead and director Dick Powell (Justin Timberlake). Died at her Hollywood home. Inner: Pessimistic, and grimly determined. Never able to relax around her stardom and always saw her existence as a struggle. I’m not sure I Want to Live lifetime of struggling to accept success and recognition because of a profound negativity at the core of her being, before literally eating herself alive.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS PIN-UP ATHLETE:
Storyline: The foxy jock parlays a stunning figure and modest athleticism to forge an extremely eye-catching public persona for herself, although her championship abilities remain secondary to her ability to capitalize on her physicality.
Anna Kournikova (1981) - Russian/American tennis star. Outer: Father was a Greco-Roman wrestling champ turned physical culture professor, mother was a 400 meter runner. Only child. Began at 5 in a weekly sports program, where she learned to play tennis, receiving lots of family support for her athletic endeavors. Entered her first tourney at 7, and from then on ate and slept tennis. Discovered at 10, she came to Bradenton, Florida in 1992, where she enrolled in a tennis academy, with the goal of turning professional, which she did at age 14. 5’8”, 112 lbs. Her career, however, proved uneven. Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and attended a Russian physical culture university. Won her only 2 grand slam titles in doubles at the 1999 and 2002 Australia Open, and never won a tournament on the pro circuit. Susceptible to leg injuries, she received far more attention for her looks than her game, and she became a marketing phenomenon, with her own line of goods, a multi-hit website, and talk of a movie career. In 2001, a Kournikova Virus was unleashed on the computer world, exploiting her name being fed into search engines. Married and divorced hockey player Sergei Federov, although the union was not acknowledged until it was over. Later hooked up with singer Enrique Iglesias, and despite rumors of marriage, expressed contentment with the unofficial status of their union into the next decade. In 2003, she retired because of back and foot injuries, and joined the World Team Tennis tour, eventually becoming a fixture for the Sacramento Capitals. Sued by her parents in 2004 for their part in a house they shared in Florida. In addition to launching a sports clothing line, she also gives tennis clinics at Boys & Girls Clubs. Inner: Open, focused and confident. Foot fault lifetime of switching to tennis to exploit her exhibitionism, while struggling to integrate her game with her exploitative savvy. Annette Kellerman (1886-1975) - Australian swimmer and movie performer. Outer: Father was a violinist, mother was a French concert pianist and music teacher. Born with weak and bowed legs, she began to swim as a child to strengthen them, while wearing painful steel braces. Her natural athletic abilities came to the fore, and she was successfully competing against Australia’s top swimmers of her age group by the time she was 10. By 1905, she held a number of world’s records, and her family moved to England. Her father, a business failure up to that time, decided to exploit her skills and turned her into a long distance swimming phenomenon as a young teenager. Failed thrice, however, to swim the English channel. Entered vaudeville, which brought her to America in 1907, where she did high-diving and water ballet in Chicago to enthusiastic crowds. Her greatest claim to fame, however, was appearing in a one-piece bathing-suit in Boston the summer of that year, and she was subsequently arrested for indecent exposure. Although she added stockings and sleeves to her outfit, it remained formfitting and she became an inadvertent pioneer in women being allowed to express themselves through exhibitionism in public. Although not particularly striking, she had an amazon body, which she uninhibitedly exposed, and was known as ‘the perfect woman,’ at least ‘from the neck down,’ as she stated. Married James Sullivan in 1912 and her husband became her manager, no children from the union. Starred in several silent movies as a swimmer, beginning in 1914, and also continued as a vaudeville performer, pulling in some $5000 a week in the 1920s, with her world tours. Produced ‘Swim-o-logues,’ in which she touted physical fitness, and also did charity benefits during WW I and II, as well as ran a health food store, while penning two books on physical beauty and how to swim. Played by Esther Williams in the 1952 biopic, Million Dollar Mermaid. After her husband’s death in 1953, she returned to Australia. Full of vibrant energy, she could still do high kicks into old age. Inner: Vegetarian and health and diet enthusiast, as well as proto-feminist in her promotion of female athleticism and physicality. Million Dollar Mermaid lifetime of exploiting her looks and athleticism to become a pioneer of sorts in women’s fitness.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS BLAZING BEAUTY:
Storyline: The striking siren repeatedly gets pigeonholed because of her unusually magnetic physical esthetic, despite a strong effort on her part to expand her craft as well as her own sense of self in order to add depth to both.
Jessica Biel (1982) - American model, singer and actress. Outer: Of mixed German, French, English and Choctaw descent. Mother was a homemaker and spiritual healer, father worked for GE, then became a business consultant and ran an Outward Bound school. One younger brother. Because of her progenitor’s various business pursuits, the family moved often during her childhood, before finally winding up in Boulder, Colorado, where she grew up. Initially wanted to be a singer, and, after training, appeared locally in several musicals as a child. An active snowboarder and gymnast, she became a model in her early teens, doing both TV commercial work and appearing in print ads. Made her small screen debut as part of the cast of the long-running “7th Heaven.” After four seasons she felt straitjacketed by the goody two-shoes of her character, and posed in the seminude to get out of her contract in order to land more meaty roles, only to be rebuffed for appearing in the buff, and held to the show for another two seasons, despite the outrage expressed by some of its viewers over her exhibitionistic apostasy. In 1997, she made her large screen debut in Ulee’s Gold. The following year, she had her first lead in I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Went to Tufts Univ. for three semesters before dropping out to pursue acting full-time. 5’8” and eye-catchingly comely. Had mixed successes over the next half decade, with a plaint towards the end of it that she was just too beautiful, which limited the roles offered to her, denying her the chance to play romantic comedies or anything outside visual confection in actioners. Scored a breakthrough in The Illusionist, winning several minor awards for the period piece, although then continued in mixed success films, while also producing and starring in a short, Hole in the Paper Sky. Her later work in the decade would include turns as a high profile award presenter, as well as an extremely well-received performance in Easy Virtue, a filmic adaptation of a Noel Coward play. Has also sang for her supper on various occasions, and is the cofounder, along with her father, of the Make a Difference Network, which connects non-profits with donors. Linked with several actors, although seemingly more into career than domesticity during her 20s. Inner: Athletic, socially aware, and good-humored. Act two lifetime of expanding herself on all levels, so as to make both her public and private more in tune with her own goals and deepening desire to have a far more memorable screen career than her previous go-round in this series, as well as a far more satisfying domestic life. Martha Vickers (Martha MacVicar) - American model and actress. Outer: Her family moved often, before finally settling in California. Became a photographer’s model, which led to a starlet contract, and then a studio switch. 5’3”, and a striking beauty. Began her film career playing bit parts in B fare such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, while also serving as a popular WW II pinup as a cover girl for “Yank” magazine. Began getting bigger roles afterwards, while changing her professional name to Martha Vickers. In 1946, she scored her most memorable turn as a thumb-sucking teenage nymphet in The Big Sleep. Continued as film noir eye candy and tabloid fodder, including a romance with actor Jimmy Stewart, before marrying publicist A.C. Lyles in 1948, a union that was over almost as soon as it began because of his hyperjealousy, to the point of his not allowing her friends in their home. Her second marriage, the following year, was to actor Mickey Rooney, which lasted until 1951, and also took her away from the silver screen. One son from the union, which was marred by her husband’s alcoholism and abuse, although he repeatedly wanted to remarry her afterwards. In 1954, she had her third union to Manuel Rojas, a wealthy Chilean polo player who became an actor, then a steel importer. Two daughters from the union, which was marked by her husband’s frequent absences and ended in divorce in 1965. Resumed her career the following year, although by then she seemed to have played out fan interest in her large screen presence. Turned to TV and did several dramas, before appearing for the last time on the silver screen in a Western. Retired after performing on a few episodes of TV’s “The Rebel,” and then drifted into obscurity. Died of cancer of the esophagus. Inner: Athletic and highly social. Surface skimming lifetime of difficulties with mates more attracted to her as a trophy than a woman, before doing a relatively early fade with a corrosion of her intake system, perhaps signifying an inability to take in and learn from her experiences, necessitating a resurrection with similar dynamics in place to try it all over again from a slightly different and more expanded perspective.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS LARGE-EYED CLASSY LASS:
Storyline: The ingenuous ingenue enjoys living well as ongoing Hollywood royalty, whether born to the cinematic purple, or elevating herself via sheer talent, as unconscious emblem of her regal sense of self.
Anne Hathaway (1982) - American actress. Outer: Of Irish and French ancestry, with a touch of German and indigenous American thrown in. Mother, Kate McCauley, was a singer/actress, who imbued her daughter with the desire to follow in her stage-lit footsteps, naming her after William Shakespeare’s (William Butler Yeats) wife, Anne Hathaway (Anne Rice). Father was a lawyer. The middle of three with an older and younger brother. Raised Roman Catholic, and at one point toyed with becoming a nun, although the Church’s condemnation of same-sex attractions, turned her off organized religion, since her older brother fell into that category. Grew up in New Jersey, and participated in drama in high school, winning a New Jersey Rising Star Award nomination for one of her performances. 5’8”, and slim. Also performed at the local Papermill Playhouse. Sang with the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus as a soprano, and immediately afterwards, made her acting debut on TV in 1999, at the age of 16, in the series “Get Real.” Despite an upbeat personality, did battle with depression during her teen years, although was able to deal with it without antidepressants. Went to Vassar College, before transferring to NYU and being accepted at the Barrow Group Theater Co., the first teenager to gain that honor. Made her feature film debut in The Other Side of Heaven, in 2001, and came to public notice the same year with The Princess Diaries. Parlayed her large-eyed innocence into a series of family-friendly films over the next several years, including some singing roles, as a well as a Diaries sequel, while also doing audio books and appearing on stage, which would be her primary performing love. In 2004, she hooked up with Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri, participating in his eponymous foundation as both a donor and a member of its board of directors. Active in a variety of other charities, as well. Began doing more mature fare at the midpoint of the decade, going from G to R in Havoc, which featured nudity and sexuality, then followed it with Brokeback Mountain, a controversial cowboy-on-cowboy tale of love and lust. Continued garnering good reviews, while becoming the face of Lancôme’s fragrance Magnifique in 2008, before showing her darker side the same year in Rachel Getting Married, which earned her her first Academy Reward nomination. Follieri was arrested on fraud charges the same year, and accused of scamming investors out of millions. The embarrassing revelation didn’t include her, although it shocked her deeply, since she had benefited from his luxuriant lifestyle. Remains an icon of her generation, for her varied talents, with lessons presumably learned around her choices in partners, although she remains an eternal optimist in ultimately finding a perfect mate. Chosen, along with James Franco, to host the 2011 Oscars, in order to garner a younger audience, which allowed her to become the youngest host ever of that yearly affair, without noticeably affecting its fading youthful demographic. Inner: Outspoken and honest with an infectious personality, and the ability to play both light and dark on and off screen. Stylish lifetime of carrying a legendary name from Shakespearean times, and proving herself worthy of it, while searching for both challenge and perfection in her public and private lives. Constance Bennett (1904-1965) - American actress and producer. Outer: Mother was Broadway actress and literary agent Adrienne Morrison, the daughter of actor Lewis Morrison. Father was actor Richard Bennett (Richard Dreyfuss). The oldest of three sisters, including Barbara (Emily Blunt) and Joan (Elle Fanning), who also became well-known actresses. 5’4”, blonde and honey-voiced. Began her career in silent films, making her debut in 1916 in The Valley of Decision, and was still in front of the cameras nearly 50 years later, with Madame X. In 1921, she married Chester Hirst Moorhead, a surgeon’s son. Divorced 2 years later, and soon became a Hollywood performer, taking advantage of her father’s connection with producer Samuel Goldwyn. In 1925, she wed a millionaire, Philip Morgan Plant. Later adopted a European-born son, and gave him her ex-husband’s name, although in a subsequent court battle over a large trust fund, she claimed the child was conceived after their divorce, and she had fabricated the story in order to deny her ex-husband custody of him. Divorced in 1929, and made the easy transition to talking films, quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars at the beginning of the Depression, as a sultry blonde. Her third marriage in 1931 would be to Henri le Bailly, the Marquis de la Falaise, a French film director and a former husband of actress Gloria Swanson. The headline grabbing union would last the decade, before the two were divorced in 1940. Two daughters from the union. Did both drama and madcap comedy throughout the 1930s, showing a great versatility. When her career slowed somewhat at decade’s end, she turned to the theater and radio to satisfy her performing need. Invested well to become quite wealthy, while her innate independence led her to become her own producer in the 1940s, as well as to found her own clothing and cosmetics company, playing off her reputation as an icon of style. Inherited her father’s contentiousness with the press, while her independence eventually curtailed her career. A gambler as well, she was a welcome member of the high stakes poker games peopled by Hollywood’s biggest name producers. Married a fourth time to actor Gilbert Roland in 1941. One daughter from the union, which ended in 1946. Her fifth and final marriage was later that year to U.S. Air Force Col. John Theron Coulter. Entertained troops still stationed in Europe after WW II, and saw her husband ultimately become a brigadier general. Still working at life’s end, when she returned to Hollywood after a decade and a half absence, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in recognition of her service to her country. Inner: Outspoken, sophisticated, generous and highly independent. Glamourpuss lifetime of assuming her place as show business royalty, through an absolute surety of her own worth on all levels.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS BURNOUT RE-ENFLAMED:
Storyline: The breakout former Bennett transcends a blunted and unhappy first act to come out blazing in her sequel life, and becomes a much noticed player in her own right, as aggressive antidote to the depressive, alcohol-fueled failure of her initial thespian go-round.
Emily Blunt (1983) - English actress. Outer: Mother was a teacher, father was a barrister. Second of four children, and niece of Crispin Blunt, a Conservative MP. Had a stammer as a child, although it was cured at 12 when a clever teacher asked her to play a role using a different accent from her own. Attended a coed boarding school afterwards, Hurtwood House, which had an excellent performing arts program, while showing herself to be both athletic and musically inclined, as a cello player and singer. In 2000, she performed at the Edinburgh Festival, which led to an agent and stagework, as well as the BBC, where she played in several period pieces to excellent effect. 5’7”. Continued doing well-acclaimed stagework in England, and in 2004, became an international success with My Summer of Love, the story of a same-sex, class-conflicted teenage affair riddled with deception. Appeared with her crypto-sister Anne Hathaway in 2006 in The Devil Wears Prada, which would cement a strong friendship between the two, through their mutual struggles with weight loss for their roles. It would also prove to be her breakout performance, winning her plaudits from no less than its star, Meryl Streep, as the best young actress she has ever worked with. Won a support actress Golden Globe the following year for an earlier appearance in a BBC TV drama, “Gideon’s Daughter.” Her ability to infuse her young characters with nuanced dimension would gain her considerable attention and the requisite work to strut her thespian stuff. Well-awarded and noticed for her efforts, she has quickly built a reputation as an exemplary actress of her generation. Splits her time between London and Vancouver, Canada, where she initially lived with Canadian jazz singer and actor Michael Bublé, before breaking up. In 2010, she wed actor John Krasinski. Inner: Natural actress, despite having little formal training. Act Two lifetime of bringing an incipient talent to full maturity by overcoming the earlier limitations imposed on her of being a secondary figure in a primary acting family, while using her earlier failure as a spur to swiftly develop herself into a first-rate talent. Barbara Bennett (Barbara Jane Bennett) (1906-1958) - American actress. Outer: Father was well-known actor Richard Bennett (Richard Dreyfuss), mother was Broadway actress and literary critic, Adrienne Morrison. Middle of three sisters, with the other two enjoying notable screen careers, including Constance (Anne Hathaway) and Joan (Elle Fanning). Began her own attempt at stardom as a dancer, first on tour, before appearing in a few Broadway musicals. Her filmwork was limited to the silent era, beginning as a child in 1916 with The Valley of Decision, and ending in 1930, when she focused on marriage and motherhood rather than an active stage and screen life. In 1929, she met tenor and composer Morton Downey while making Syncopation, and married him three weeks later, settling on a 49-acre farm in Connecticut. Five children from the union, including an adopted oldest son, and Morton Downey, Jr. who would go on to notoriety as a talk show host long after his mother’s death. Because her husband put career over family, she began drinking, and then was devastated by their divorce in 1941, when he was awarded custody of the children. Rebounded by marrying singing cowboy star and handsome romantic lead Addison Randall several weeks later, who died of a heart attack in 1945 on a movie set. Descended ever further into alcoholism and depression afterwards. The latter part of her working life saw her looking for movie properties for her younger sister Joan and the latter’s husband, director Walter Wanger. Her final union, which she admitted was effected out of sheer loneliness, was to Canadian writer Laurent Suprenant in 1954. Drank herself to death and died of a heart attack. Inner: Quiet and unassuming, with far less ambition than her siblings. Downward spiral lifetime of coming into a family of stars in order to get a taste of show business life, before slipping into an unhappy sense of abandonment, bred by continued ill luck in the romance department, making her far more career and craft-oriented in her subsequent go-round in this series.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ONGOING SISTER ACT:
Storyline: The sororial sibling follows her older kin into show business, showing a natural talent for both the stage and screen, while also evincing sufficient drama in her own private life to undermine her considerable thesping skills.
Elle Fanning (Mary Elle Fanning) (1998) - American actress. Outer: Of German and Irish descent. From a family of athletes connected to the sports world, and raised a Southern Baptist. Mother was a former pro tennis player, while father played in the St. Louis Cardinal minor league chain before becoming an electronic salesman. Younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning. Played a younger version of her sibling in the TV series “Taken” and the film I am Sam, while still 2, before making her independent debut at 4 in Daddy Day Care. Immediately showed a versatility and skill well beyond her age so that she would be constantly in demand throughout her single digit years and into her teens. Home-schooled by her grandmother for her first decade, then enrolled in a private academy to get a better sense of her non-acting peers. By the time she was 8, she was playing leads and title roles, with a well-received sheen to all her performances, despite never having taken an acting lesson. Has tried to maintain a relatively normal childhood, while also being very much into career, like her sister. Inner: Extremely disciplined, loves acting and make-believe, with an intuitive gift for her craft. Athletic and musical. Act two lifetime of once again following a successful sibling into show business, while showing an innate feel for her craft, to see if she can create a far cleaner public career for herself, without the distraction of private scandal. Joan Bennett (1910-1990) - American actress. Outer: From an old theatrical family on her maternal side, dating back several centuries. Father was actor Richard Bennett (Richard Dreyfuss). Mother was actress and later literary agent Adrienne Morrison. Youngest of three sisters, all of whom headed for the footlights, including Constance Bennett (Anne Hathaway) and Barbara Bennett (Emily Blunt). Made her stage debut in 1915 and her film bow the following year in The Valley of Decision, which proved to be a family affair. Because her parents were continually touring, she attended several boarding schools, before completing her education at a French finishing school in Versailles. 5’4”. In 1926, she married John Fox, one daughter from the union, which ended in divorce two years later, because of his heavy drinking. Although she had earlier forsworn off acting, she had no choice being a single mother, and made her stage debut in 1928, along with her father in “Jamegan.” By the next year, she was playing leads in film opposite top male stars, as a favorite of both audiences and critics alike. In 1932, she wed screenwriter and producer Gene Markey. One daughter from the union which ended in divorce in 1937. During this time she came under the tutelage of producer Walter Wanger, who went on to manage her career, and then become her third husband in 1940. Two daughters from the union, which ended in divorce in 1965. For the first part of her career, she always felt like the pigtailed little sister of big star Constance, because of all the ingenue roles she played. After Wanger persuading her to dye her hair brunette from its natural blonde, she became a far more smoldering presence on the screen, and her roles reflected it. Almost won the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, then went on to a series of playing husky-voiced femme fatales in the 1940s, including five films under noted transplanted German director Fritz Lang during the first half of the decade, with The Woman in the Window, considered a classic film noir. Also performed on the radio for the first 20 years of her career, before making the switch to TV in 1951, with guest appearances. The same year her husband shot and wounded her agent of a dozen years, Jennings Lang, in a jealous pique over a suspected affair, which she adamantly denied despite its being well-known in Hollywood circles. Their marriage had been in decline for several years, thanks to her husband’s constant non-connubializing and financial difficulties. Wanger wound up serving four months after a temporary insanity plea, before returning to successfully resume his career. Jennings quickly recovered, despite being shot in the groin, while the duo kept their sham marriage going for the sake of their daughters. Portrayed in the press as the unfaithful wife who drove her husband to desperation, she made only a handful of films during the next decade, while also appearing on stage in the national production of “Bell, Book and Candle.” Despite her complete innocence in the shooting, it virtually ended her screen presence, and she turned to TV for the latter part of her career, doing prestigious playhouse shows, while also returning to Broadway in 1958, in a failed comedy, although continued working on stage. Enjoyed a final hurrah in the vampire soap, “Dark Shadows,” as mistress of a haunted mansion during its five year run from 1966 to 1971. Co-penned her autobiography, “The Bennett Playbill,” in 1971. Did more made-for TV movies and made her final screen bow in 1977. The following year she married for a fifth and final time to retired movie critic David Wilde. Died of a heart attack at home, and wound up buried in the same plot as her parents. Made 72 films all told, with 65 coming before the shooting incident, and only 7 afterwards. Inner: Never cared for most of her films, but thoroughly enjoyed being a cinema star. Sang in her own films and was never dubbed. Dark shadows lifetime of allowing a domineering and jealous mate to totally upend a successful career before determinedly resurrecting herself on both the small screen and stage to similar excellent effect.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS AMERICA’S SECONDARY SWEETHEART:
Storyline: The erstwhile ingenue builds on her earlier success as a silent screen star, while trying to extend her run into a full-bodied career, where her talents are better matched to her material, and she is more entwined with her times.
Kirsten Dunst (1982) - American actress. Outer: Of Swedish/German descent. Mother was an artist who owned an art gallery, while her German-born father was a medical services executive. Younger brother. Her parents separated, then divorced when she was 13. Close to her mother, who dragged her to auditions and shielded her from rejections, while instilling within her a strong competitive drive to succeed. Began her career at 3 as a model, and diligently pursed both modeling and commercial work, appearing in some 70 commercials, while playing small roles in features, beginning with Bonfire of the Vanities in 1990. 5’7”. Got her initial break as a young vampire in Interview with the Vampire at the age of 13, and parlayed her celebrity into steady work in a wide variety of films, including the 2002 hit, Spiderman, and its sequels, which made her a box office commodity. Began a production company with her mother, Wooden Spoon Productions, as she contemplates a long and successful career in which she will be allowed to expand upon her earlier go-round in this series. Frequent TV guest and songwriter. Involved with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, amidst much media speculation about the stops and starts of their ongoing relationship. Tried to cap her early career in 2006 with Marie Antoinette, in making her accessible to 21st century sensibilities, although was stung by the criticism the movie received, and retreated to her Hollywood Hills mansion to become a recluse of sorts, battling insecurities and depression. The latter proved so debilitating she had to go to rehab for it. Moved to NY afterwards, before finally re-eemerging in lower profile indies, and tentatively returning to LA part time to resume her life of old. Inner: Wholesome, innocent and extremely candid, but filled with insecurities, as well, thanks to a sensitiviity to criticism, after earlier winning blanket kudos for her efforts. Springboard lifetime of trying to remold herself with the times and extend her desire for a long fulfilling career, after a strong start, instead of her earlier floundering, following an equally impressive debut with the initial masters of the silver screen. Mae Marsh (Mary Marsh) (1895-1968) - American actress. Outer: Grandfather was the inventor of barbed wire. Father was a railroad auditor, who died when she was 4. Of 5 siblings, 3 became actresses, one an editor and a brother who was a cinematographer. Moved around a lot, and her family wound up in San Francisco, where her stepfather was killed in the 1906 earthquake. A great aunt, who had been an actress, took her to Los Angeles, where she was educated in a Hollywood convent. Discovered by D.W. Griffith when she played hooky to see her sister, Marguerite, work, and was working herself in films by 1911. 5’3”, plain and mousy, but had the ability to come alive in front of the camera, projecting inner strength through a frail physique. Had her first lead as a pre-herstoric girl in 1912 in Man’s Genesis, and enjoyed great success afterwards, working with many of the top directors of the time, including Griffith, with star turns in Birth of A Nation and Intolerance, two of the seminal films of the early silent era. Groomed as a second America’s Sweetheart, as her salary went from $35 a week to $2500. Dubbed the “whim girl,” by Samuel Goldwyn, but rarely found subsequent vehicles to match her talents, after leaving Griffith. In 1918, she married Louis Arms, a Goldwyn publicity agent, 2 daughters and a son from the union. Made a few films in England during the 1920s, and had one more success with The White Rose in 1923, before being wiped out in 1929. Her fortunes improved and she worked sporadically afterwards, although she filed for bankruptcy in 1939. Continued playing character roles over the next several decades, and retired in her early 60s because of heart troubles. Died of a heart attack. Inner: Electra lifetime of losing father figures and then regaining them through talented directors, only to ultimately become victim of changing fortunes, and an inability for the film industry to utilize her unique talents properly.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS YOUNG OLD PRO:
Storyline: The genuine ingenue exhibits a preternatural maturity after earlier finding that the times had passed her by, when she launched her career from a similar youthful age.
Scarlett Johannson (1984) - American actress. Outer: Of Polish and Danish descent. Mother was a movie-mad Jewish Bronxite, father was a Danish-born architect. Her parents divorced when she was 13 and she was raised in Manhattan, in a tight-moneyed household where she was performing from earliest childhood. Has an older brother and sister, as well as a twin brother. Although unsuitable for commercials, she made her off-Broadway debut in “Sophistry” at the age of 8 with Ethan Hawke, and 2 years later, she fashioned her film debut in North. Garnered her first starring role in the low-budget Manny and Lo at 12, and has worked steadily ever since, showing herself to be a remarkably intuitive actress in all the roles she assays. After a noticeable turn in The Horse Whisperer, when she was 13, her mother became her manager. Despite her busy schedule, she graduated high school on the honor roll, and has tried to lead a normal life. 5’4”, full-lipped and curvy. Her career took off in 2003 with Lost in Translation, in which she played a young married woman adrift in Tokyo. While still a teenager, she was able to play older women with aplomb, thanks to an ageless sense about her blonde-haired beauty, which gives promise to a long and probably quite remarkable film career. Continued to parlay herself into a more and more ubiquitous film presence, while winning Harvard’s Hasty Pudding award as Woman of the Year in 2007. The following annum she married Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, only to split from him two years later. Also added singing to her c.v., releasing several albums, and showing herself to be a work-in-progress in that realm as well. Won rave reviews in 2010 for her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge.” The following year she had her smartphone hacked, which resulted in self-shot nude pictures of her online, much to her consternation. Inner: Grounded, stylish, with a strong sense of self, and a great love of craft. Strong desire to be a director. Prefers doing more with less, using gestures and reactions rather than dialogue. Try it again lifetime of being thrust stage front and center at an early age and taking full advantage of the opportunity, in order to try to forge a highly satisfactory life for herself on all levels, after earlier flaming out from similarly promising beginnings. Elsie Janis (Elsie Jane Bierbower) (1889-1959) - American actress and writer. Outer: Her mother encouraged her to be an entertainer from an early age, and was an archetypal stage mom afterwards, continually pushing her and shepherding her. Began at the age of 4 with family and friends and made her professional debut as a child playing Cain in a regional theater production of “The Charity Ball.” Appeared with a local stock company afterwards and was educated privately by her mother, who devoted her life to furthering her daughter’s career. Felt the latter was the best companion she could ever have, and gave no thought to marriage until her passing several decades hence. Made her NYC debut in 1900, then toured in vaudeville, with impersonations for 3 years. Changed her name to a variation on her middle name, then hooked up with a road company, before returning to NY in 1905 with her first real success, “When We Were Forty-One.” Worked as a mimic, singer and dancer, doing mostly musicals. Dark-haired, with a flashing smile. In 1914, she was a hit in London with “The Passing Show of 1914,” then did several undistinguished films during the mid-decade, although her talents were clearly far better showcased on the stage in front of live audiences. Passionately patriotic, she did over 600 shows on the Western Front during WWI. Starred in “Elsie Janis and Her Gang,” right after the war, based on her war experiences. Excelled at doing impressions of celebrities performing unlikely numbers, such as Sarah Bernhardt (Laurie Anderson) singing “Swanee.” After the 1920s, her career faded, as her form of entertainment became passe. Worked in Beverly Hills as a writer on 3 early talkies. When her beloved mother died in 1930, she married Gilbert Wilson, a would-be actor the following year who was some 16 years her junior. Announced at the time, she thought she’d combine a husband and a child in one via the marriage. Lost most of her money in a Beverly Hills bank failure. In 1935, she was involved in a serious auto accident, and was forced to auction off her Tarrytown estate. Failed in a comeback attempt in 1939, and separated from her husband, although never officially divorced him. Her last film was in 1940, “Women in War,” and she went into retirement and obscurity afterwards. Spent her last 20 years in the Beverly Hills home she had shared with her mother, while visiting the local veteran’s hospital almost daily. Active in the Episcopal church, she wrote magazine articles during this period and also composed songs. Penned her autobiography, “So Far, So Good.” Inner: Witty perfectionist and tireless worker. Mother-driven lifetime of acting out the good daughter for her, and then watching her life spiral downward after the demise of the former, giving her the motivation to re-create herself on her own in the next life in this series, so as to have more control of her destiny, and allow her more growth as a talented artist and a person.

*

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS DOWN-TO EARTH FILM GODDESS:
Storyline: The candid enchantress knows her way around the A-list, through both her abilities, good-natured charm and instinct around picking proper vehicles for herself, after earlier abandoning her career at its height, to pursue an equal love of domesticity and close family life.
Amanda Seyfried (1985) - American actress, singer and songwriter. Outer: Of German descent. Mother was an occupational therapist, father was a pharmacist. Younger of two siblings, with an older sister, Jennifer, who became a punk rocker, in a loving, highly supportive household. Took ballet, as well as art lessons, then became quite obsessed with singing, per her older sister’s fascination with music, before seeing her true talents lay in her potential thesping abilities. Despite an innate shyness, she started acting at the age of 9, finding strength in audience approval, and in 1996, she began serving a six year stretch as a model in print ads for various clothing companies, despite initially feeling her looks were far less than spectacular. 5’3”, blonde and slender with large blue eyes. Took voice lessons, including classical opera, and also had a Broadway voice coach to further enhance her singing. Appeared as an extra on the daytime soap "Guiding Light" in 2000, which got her a repeat role on the long-running, "As the World Turns," which, in turn, brought her to "All My Children," which completed her soap opera trifecta. Made her big screen debut in 2003 as an airhead in Mean Girls, the year she graduated high school, then her nighttime TV debut the following annum as a repeat character in "Veronica Mars," a murder victim shown in flashback, who had her appearances increased by impressing the show’s creator. Decided to forgo her further education in lieu of her career, and continued her filmwork, earning accolades, while making guest appearances on a variety of TV shows, in both dramas and comedies. Raised her profile in 2006, with the cable series, “Big Love,” playing a daughter in a polygamous household who questions their extended family’s unconventional practices, and stayed with the show until 2010, before opting out to pursue her big screen career. Had her first lead in Mama Mia! in 2008, recording five songs for the musical, and also releasing a musical video from it. Did a nude sex scene with actress Julianne Moore in Chloe, a limited release erotic thriller, and remains a young Hollywood favorite, poised for a memorable filmic go-round, with choice roles now within her easy reach. Has been involved with several actors, although her focus remains on her burgeoning career. Inner: Despite her successes, suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, thanks to be being quite fearful as a child. Loves acting, as well as knitting, and though initially imbued with guilt about sex through her small-town upbringing, able to explore her sexuality on screen with little inhibition about showing her body. Wide-eyed lifetime of enjoying a steady rise in a tinseled town she knows well from her previous go-round, while dealing with both fears and cheers, as a vulnerable emblem of both talent and self-expression. Leila Hyams (1905-1977) - American actress. Outer: Both parents, John Hyams and Leila McIntyre, were a vaudeville team that had a bickering act. Went on stage with them as a child, and then became a model as a teenager, appearing in magazine and newspaper ads, which brought her notice, as well as to Hollywood. 5’5”, blonde and green-eyed. Made her screen debut in 1924, and served as eye candy in support roles at the outset of her career in silents. By the time sound came along, she had risen to star status, with MGM’s first talkie, Alias Jimmy Valentine, which led to better roles to allow her to show off her acting chops, in a variety of crime dramas. Able to project a heartfelt sincerity in all she undertook, as well as a natural warmth, that made her emotionally identifiable to her audiences, despite her classic beauty. Her best known roles would be in two horror movies from the early 1930s, Tod Browning's cult classic Freaks and Island of Lost Souls, and the 1935 comedy, Ruggles of Red Gap. Although she was initially tapped to play Jane in the Tarzan series, the role went to Maureen O’Sullivan. Able to work in all genres from musicals to comedies to straight drama, she ultimately appeared in fifty films over a ten year period, before deciding to retire in her early 30s. Married pioneering talent agent Phil Berg in 1927, who created the concept of package deals for his clients, two children from the union. Stayed socially active in the Hollywood community, while showing absolutely no inclination to resume her career. Died soon after her golden anniversary with her husband, who outlived her by six years, while also marrying again. Inner: Charming, likable, unaffected and domestic at heart. Born in a stage trunk lifetime of following family show business tradition, before opting for domesticity and child-rearing, in lieu of thesping, while maintaining her longtime Hollywood links socially instead of professionally.

*

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS SCI-FI SIREN:
Storyline: The fulsome fox parlays an exotic beauty with futuristic fare to serially launch her career two times over, while harboring secret fears about self-destructing through self-loathing, through an upbringing which highlighted her vulnerabilities rather than her strengths.
Megan Fox (1986) - American actress. Outer: Of Irish, French, and Indigene ancestry. Lookalike to her mother, while her father was a parole officer. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she and her older sister were raised by her mother and much older stepfather, a strict Pentecostal. Took ballet lessons early, and showed good athletic skills, while wanting to be an actress from early childhood on. At 10, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Raised in very confining circumstances, against which she actively rebelled, and was out on her own as soon as she could support herself. 5’4”, slim, with blue catlike eyes, and a sultry, exotic look. At 13, she began modeling, winning several awards, while attending a private Christian school, where she was bullied and picked on for her innate attractiveness to the opposite gender. High school proved equally off-putting, with jealousy a continuous theme, coupled with her own innate aggressiveness and competitive nature. Her first effort was a straight-to-DVD film, in 2001, Holiday in the Sun, an Olson twins film. At 17, she moved to LA and launched her career with brief appearances on the small screen before landing a recurring role on “Hope and Faith” between 2004 and 2006. Made her film debut the same year with Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Came to mass attention in 2007 in Transformers, once again using a sci-fi vehicle to catapult herself to cinematic prominence, through her striking physical presence. Did the sequel and in the process, became a laddie favorite for her sultry looks, landing her on numerous magazine covers. Had her first lead in Jennifer’s Body, a 2009 release centering around demonic possession and cannibalism that failed to find an audience. Her excellent instincts for publicity, however, promises her a highly noticeable career built on portraying strong and assertive women if she doesn’t fall victim to herself, and continues to grow as an actress. Sports 8 tattoos, including one of actress Marilyn Monroe’s face and another on her neck with the Chinese word for strength. After a longtime relationship with actor Brian Austin Green, a dozen years her senior, they were wed in 2010. A homebody at heart, despite her deliberately provocative image. Contrary to the latter, claimed she has only had two lovers in her life, and finds sex without love repulsive. Became both the face and body for Emporio Armani, in their worldwide ads in 2010. After comparing director Michael Bay to Hitler, she was fired from Transformers 3, the franchise that catapulted her to stardom. Afterwards, she had her Marilyn tattoo removed from her right forearm, feeling its was reflective of her own struggles with exploitation and mental disorder. Inner: Wary, self-contained, outspoken and opinionated, despite insecurities surrounding her growing up, and a total lack of support for who she was. Suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. Partially filled with self-loathing, because of it, as well as highly calculating. Has an excellent innate skill for publicity via provocative commentary and earthy quotes, insuring public interest in her. Harbors a strong empathy with Marilyn Monroe, who appeared on TV moments after she was born, although has long held the internal fear she would end up like her. TV addict, particularly reality-based shows, with a great fear of flying, along with a strong sense of vulnerability, having been burned numerous times by associates. Attracted to both sexes, and yet distrustful of each. Transforming lifetime of having her sense of self bruited about when she was younger, in order for her to learn self-love in a highly magnetic form and a highly insecure professional environment geared towards the opposite. Priscilla Lawson (Priscilla Shortridge) (1914-1958) - American actress. Outer: From a prominent Indianapolis family. Voluptuous and dark-haired with an exotic sloe-eyed beauty. Began her career as a professional model, and while vacationing in Florida, won a Miss Miami Beach title in 1935, which got her a contract with Universal Studios. Her best-known role, immediately afterwards, would be as the daughter of Ming the Merciless, Princess Aura, in the 1936 Flash Gordon serial, which turned her into a cult figure. The rest of her career would largely be an afterthought, thanks to Universal subsequently being bought and sold. Signed with MGM in 1937 and married actor Alan Curtis as the first of his three wives. Did bits and uncredited parts, as her career petered out by 1942, after having done some 27 films. In WW II, she served with the Women’s Army Corps, and reputedly lost a leg in a jeep accident. Divorced Curtis afterwards and anonymously ran a small stationary shop in Los Angeles. Died of a bleeding ulcer in a Veteran’s Administration hospital, just as Flash Gordon was being resurrected on TV. Inner: Cult figure lifetime of having her larger ambitions curtailed by circumstances, before literally leaving herself without a leg to stand on and doing an early fade through strong interior conflict centered around her loss of power in the world.

*

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS QUEEN OF THE SCREAMERS:
Storyline: The melodramatic monster maven shows herself to be quite down-to-Earth, despite doing double career duty playing women in distressful relationships with otherworldly creatures, while reserving her arch conflicts for the silver screen, rather than private life.
Kristen Stewart (1990) - American actress. Outer: Mother was an Australian script supervisor. Father was a stage manager and TV producer for the Fox network. One older brother, as well as two adopted brothers. Spent part of her childhood in Colorado, and the rest in Los Angeles. After completing the 7th grade, she continued her education through correspondence school, while focusing on her career, following her discovery by an agent who saw her in a school play. Made her speaking screen debut in The Safety of Objects, but did not come to public attention, until the age of 12 in The Panic Room, as she played off her previous life woman-in-distress specialty, while still a child. 5’5” and green-eyed. Continued doing thrillers, with a TV film, “Speak” in 2004, where she played a rape victim, the highlight of her early teen career. Did a mixture of films afterwards, before scoring huge as Bella Swan, the female lead in 2008 in Twilight, an extremely popular vampire saga in best-selling book form before being translated to the silver screen. Became involved with its costar, Robert Pattinson, to add to the romantic cachet of the film and its sequel, New Moon, the following year. Her early success would lead to magazine covers, much fan adulation and interest and the intimation of a strong career even before she got out of her teens. Set to star in her mother, Jules-Mann Stewart’s, directorial debut, K-11. Created a stir by comparing the pursuit of paparazzi as being raped by them, although quickly apologized and backtracked afterwards. Inner: Strongly interested in self-expression, with a desire to write to complement her musical abilities as both singer and guitarist. Well-lit lifetime of expanding upon her earlier career in monster melodramas to give nuance and depth to her characterizations, in a go-round dedicated to playing with her gifts for self-expression in a far more sophisticated manner. Evelyn Ankers (1918-1985) - British actress. Outer: Parents were British citizens, living in Chile. Spent her first decade in South America, with English largely a second language. After her parents returned to England, she studied dance and theater at the English Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. While still in school, she began appearing in English films. 5’8” and voluptuous. Made her screen debut in 1936 in Rembrandt, and went on to do some 50 films over the next fourteen years, almost all of them geared towards frightening the pants off their audience. Starred in a couple of low-budget thrillers by the time she was 20, and when WW II began to threaten Europe, she briefly returned to South America, where she had an eponymous radio program, in which she sang. Emigrated to the U.S. afterwards, and made her Broadway debut in a gothic thriller, “Ladies in Retirement,” a role that required her to scream on stage, while led to a contract with Universal Pictures in 1940. Quickly established herself as the “queen of the screamers” through her combination of beauty and vulnerability in horror films during the 1940s, beginning with an Abbot & Costello haunted house comedy, Hold That Ghost, and then the 1941 horror classic, The Wolf Man. Subsequently paired several times with Lon Chaney, Jr. (Kellan Lutz), although the duo did not get along because of his alcoholism, while he found her too heavy to hoist, despite his large size. In 1942, she married fellow B-movie actor Richard Denning, with whom she would do her last film, No Other Love in 1960. One daughter from the union. Following WW II, her specialized genre, horror films, went out of fashion, and her career subsequently faltered. Quit Universal in 1945, and did dramas and mysteries for the next five years, before retiring from films in 1950, at the age of 32, although she made several TV appearances afterwards. Moved to Hawai’i in 1968, when her husband got a recurring role in “Hawaii Five-O” and died there of ovarian cancer shortly after her 67th birthday. Although she would play in a host of genres, it would be the screaming that would define her larger career, but not her life, which was fulfilling and decidedly nonthreatening. Inner: Despite good theatrical abilities rarely asked to assay anything more than a woman in distress. Probably frustrated professionally, but compensated for it by a fulfilling sense of domesticity. Ankle-deep lifetime of pure melodrama on the silver screen in an otherwise relatively conflict-free existence where her real life and reel life were deliberately quite the opposite of one another.

*

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS REFORMER LOOKING FOR SELF-RECLAMATION:
Storyline: The untamed wild woman returns in a highly restricted environment, in order to free her from her past where she put her passions so far out on the line, that nothing short of a lobotomy could stop her from acting out her outrageous sense of fear and loathing.
Leighton Meester (1986) - American actress, singer and songwriter. Outer: Of Dutch descent, with her last name meaning ‘Master.’ Mother was in prison serving on a federal charge for being part of a drug ring that smuggled marijuana from Jamaica into the U.S. when she was born. Spent her first three months in a halfway house, before being cared for by her grandmother. On the latter’s release, the family was reunited, and she had a normal upbringing, along with an older and younger brother. Able to be nonjudgmental and open-minded because of the unusual nature of her entry into the world. Grew up in Florida, where she was on stage at a local playhouse, before she and her mother moved to NYC. Attended the Professional Children’s School, and also worked as a model for the Wilhelmina agency. Made her TV debut in 1999 on “Law & Order,” then moved to Los Angeles at 14 to pursue acting, and ultimately wound up at a small private school, graduating a year early, while feeling herself to be a dork. 5’5”, and naturally blonde. Made her film debut in Hangman’s Curse, and then did appearances on a series of TV series before landing a regular role on “Surface,” while continuing with her film work. Had her first lead in the horror film, Drive-Thru, and then got a high-profile repeat role on “Gossip Girl,” joining several other young reincarnated actresses who made headlines in the 1930s and 1940s for their outré behavior. Continued both TV and film fare, alternating between comedy and drama, while also pursuing a music career, releasing her first two singles in 2009, while also using the internet to build up her fan base, like others of her generation. Did both covers and appeared on other people’s tracks and albums. Added commercials to her c.v., including Herbal Essence hair products, and has been a spokesperson for Safe Horizon, an organization combating domestic violence. Wound up being sued by and countersuing her mother over allegations she had reneged on paying her $10,000 monthly, following a knock-down drag-out fight between the two, over her mother’s misuse of the money. Inner: Fluent in French, and purposeful undramatic in her day-to-day life, in a subconscious need to stay cool, calm and collected, after her previous go-round of being quite the opposite. Healing lifetime of reclaiming herself through a deliberately unconventional beginning to make her far more open-minded about the world around her, thanks to supportive parents and a desire to use her gifts to uplift rather than undermine as in her previous life in this series. Frances Farmer (Frances Anderson) (1914-1970) - American actress. Outer: Mother was a highly manipulative hawk-like woman who loved to champion lost causes and did nothing in moderation. Father was an amiable attorney. Youngest of 3. Neither parent was capable of giving their children emotional support. Parents separated when she was 4, and she continually moved in California afterwards, before returning to Seattle at 12. Good athlete and excellent student in high school, with left-wing sympathies, although felt herself a freak, despite being a striking blonde-haired beauty. Wrote an essay called “God Died,” for Scholastic magazine, and was denounced from the pulpit and press for it. Went to the Univ. of Washington and won a trip to Moscow as a prize for an essay she penned for a radical magazine, ‘The Voice of Action.’ On her way back from Russia, she met a producer who introduced her to Paramount executives for a screen test. 5’6”. Made her screen debut in her early 20s in Too Many Parents, but didn’t care for Hollywood at all, finding it far too stifling and superficial. Also had a rich, contralto singing voice. Became involved in the Group Theater, in NYC, as well as with its leading playwright, Clifford Odets, who was married at the time. Felt this period was the high point of her life, despite being ultimately disappointed in Odets, who went back to his wife. Sensed she had been used by him and began drinking. Reluctantly returned to Hollywood and continued her film career in uninspiring vehicles, while marrying actor Leif Erickson in 1936, whom she did not love, divorced 6 years later. Unkempt and unHollywood in her private life, while difficult on the set. Despite her outer beauty and talent, her inner unhappiness dominated her emotional life, and she became addicted to alcohol and amphetamines in order to control her depression. Became pregnant, and was forced to have an abortion, which made having children impossible. Returned to Broadway, failed in 2 plays and was fined for withdrawing from a third, ending her Great White Way career. Conformed on her return to Hollywood, but was only given supporting roles. Her subsequent unpredictable behavior, as well as continual run-ins with the law, made her unemployable by her late 30s. Jailed briefly several times for drunk driving, parole violation and vagrancy. At one point she was carried out of a hotel by police, wrapped only in a shower curtain. Institutionalized from 1944 to 1949, at her mother’s behest, where she was diagnosed as schizophrenic, suffered rape, electro-shock treatment, a lobotomy and submersion in cold water. She was finally released, and certified as fully recovered in 1951. n 1954, she married and divorced Alfred Lobley, a Seattle engineer in order to take care of her parents, although had little connection with him, and left him to work in a photo shop. Worked under an assumed name at a hotel, where she was rediscovered. Made a degrading appearance on TV’s “This is Your Life,” which many of her former friends refused to participate in, appeared as a singer on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and then became a hostess of a local Indianapolis show, while acting in one more film. Also became actress-in-residence at the Univ. Theater at Purdue, although was unable to control her alcoholism. Her last marriage, from 1958-1963, was to Leland Mikesell, an Indiana radio sales consultant, which also ended in divorce. Died of cancer of the esophagus in a charity ward. Her autobiography, “Will There Really Be a Morning?” was published posthumously and a biopic of her life, Frances, starring lookalike Jessica Lange, appeared a little over a decade after her death. Inner: Impassioned, highly political, with a need to feel both powerful and powerless, and an inability to find loving support from any of her intimates. Phoenix lifetime of continuing her struggle between creation and destruction, ultimately rising out of her own ashes, to give a lobotomized nod to the former. Samantha Smith (1972-1985) - American schoolgirl. Outer: Father taught literature and writing at the Univ. of Maine, mother was a social worker. Wrote to Russian premier Yuri Andropov at the age of 10 about her fears surrounding nuclear war, and was invited to the Soviet Union at his behest as a publicity ploy. Given a sanitized tour, although never met Andropov. Appeared on several TV talk shows afterwards, but after the spotlight faded, she found she wanted to remain a public someone. Her sire became her manager, and she hosted a talk show on the Disney channel, and was in the process of filming Lime Street, when she died in a plane crash, along with her father. Inner: Great desire for fame and fortune. Brief lifetime of trying to take her ongoing struggle between creation and destruction to another plane, before returning back in time to live out a full and crazed life woven from similar elements. Olive Logan (1839-1909) - American actress, author and lecturer. Outer: Father was actor, manager and dramatist Cornelius Ambrosius Logan (Clifford Odets). Both parents were of Irish descent. 8 children, 3 daughters became actresses, 2 sons became actors, and a 3rd son became a prominent physician. Carried on stage as an infant by Edwin Booth (Montgomery Clift) and Edwin Forrest (Marlon Brando). Spent much of her childhood in Cincinnati. Made her formal stage debut at 15, and 3 years later, she went to Europe to continue her education. At 19, she married Henry De Lille, a French chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and a man of letters, which introduced her to intellectual circles, divorced 8 years later. Returned to the U.S. in her mid-20s, and resumed her career, mostly touring, before retiring in her late 20s, after admitting she never had any use for the craft. Began giving lectures over the next dozen years, becoming involved in the political current of the time, particularly the women’s rights movement, through writing, activism and speaking. Also translated plays from the French for Broadway productions. At 31, she married William Wirt Sikes, a newspaperman who had been her business manager. Wrote several novels and 3 collections of personal commentary. Her husband died in her mid-40s. Nearly a decade later, she married her secretary, James O’Neill, who was 20 years her junior, and took her last name as his own. He was an unsupportive drunk, and the duo separated as she grew prematurely old and deaf. American expatriate mischiefmaker, Tennessee Claflin (Jill Johnston), took pity on her and brought her to London. At the end of her life, her mind failed and she died in an asylum. Buried in a pauper’s grave. Inner: Homely, but clever speaker, able to move her audiences. Political and polemical with a strong urge towards third raillery as an ultimate means of self-expression. Mixed bag lifetime of struggling with self-creation and self-destruction, a continuous unresolved and maddening theme of hers. Elizabeth Arnold Poe (1787?-1811) - English/American actress. Outer: Both parents were actors with the Covent Garden theater. Her father died when she was 3, and her mother kept working on the English stage for another 5 years, before sailing for America in 1791 with daughter in tow, and another actor, whom she married. Both parents succumbed to yellow fever, and she was taken by friends to Philadelphia, where she joined a theatrical company. Made her debut at 9 in “The Mysteries of the Old Castle,” and from the age of 13, sang, danced and acted along the Eastern seaboard, to steady applause. Married actor Charles Hopkins in 1802, and he, too, died 3 years later. Married actor Charles Hopkins in 1802, and he, too, died 3 years later. Six months afterwards, she wed actor David Poe, Jr. (Matthew Broderick), who had abandoned the law for a stage career some 3 years prior to their union, although was far the inferior to her on the stage. Two sons and a daughter from the marriage, including poets Henry Poe (Mickey Avalon) and Edgar Allan Poe (Patti Smith). The daughter, Rosalie, was born after the couple split up, leading to questions about her legitimacy, while harboring an intelligence that was well below average, leading to a completely disconnected life from her siblings, while far outliving them. The duo acted together in the northeast, culminating with a 3 year stint in Boston, which would be the happiest stretch of her brief, tragic life. Brought to NYC in 1809, she was abandoned by her husband, who disappeared, after having been the victim of the vituperation of select critics. Left destitute, she finally gained employ with a Virginia theatrical company, but died shortly afterwards of pneumonia, leaving her children to be raised by three different families, as her husband followed her to grave three days later. Inner: Audience-pleaser and versatile player, sometimes doing 3 roles an evening. Brief one-act lifetime of suffering deaths and desertion, before succumbing herself to the plague of tragedies which beset her, but not before bringing forth literary genius, as testament to her own budding abilities, which were still a-building at this juncture. Geertje Dircx (c1612-c1656) - Dutch servant and muse. Outer: From an extremely modest background, which afforded her little education and even less opportunity to elevate herself. As a teenager, she worked in an inn, before meeting artist Rembrandt van Rijn (Alfonso Cuaron), through her brother, who was a ship’s carpenter. Married quite young, although widowed afterwards, with no children from the union. Following the death of Saskia van Rijn (Lillian Gish) in 1642, she was hired as a wet nurse for Rembrandt’s only surviving child, Titus (Robert Zemeckis), and in the process became the famed artist’s paramour, as well as serving as model for some of his paintings. In appreciation of her service to him on a number of levels, he bequeathed several rings to her that had belonged to his deceased wife, much to the displeasure of the latter’s family. By 1649, she had been replaced in the artist’s affections by his housekeeper, Hendrickje Stoffels (Cameron Diaz), and the two had a falling-out. After Rembrandt promised he would support her to tune of 60 guilders a year, she moved out, and took a room nearby above a sailor’s inn. When her former lover/employer failed to keep his part of the bargain, she pawned one of the rings given her and brought him before the Commissioners of Marital Affairs. After several back-and-forths, she got 200 guilders, while Rembrandt was so caught up in their drama, that he had a completely fallow year creatively around it. Subsequently caused quite a stir at the signing of the agreement, when she refused to affix her signature to it. Continued her vendetta against him by testifying to his inconstancy, and in return he had her committed to a madhouse, for fear of any further hurt she could do his reputation. Given a twelve year sentence by the unsympathetic authorities, she served five years, before ill health earned her an early release. Died the following year, a victim of her powerlessness against entrenched social interests, and long-held prejudicial views against uppity women. Inner: Highly emotional and vindictive, albeit from a standpoint of having no personal power other than the voluptuous intensity of her emotions. Victimized lifetime of serving her ongoing personal apprenticeship to rotating genius, as well as being forced to deal with her projected off-balanced interior, through her unwillingness to allow anyone to overpower her, no matter the consequences.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS BRAINY YOUNG BRUJA:
Storyline: The richly-rewarded cinematic witch repeats her connection to the same archetype-creating author, along with the same confreres, giving her an early impetus to pursue any pathway she chooses, thanks to the magic of the vehicles she so ably graces.
Emma Watson (1990) - English actress. Outer: Had a 16th century ancestor who was convicted of witchcraft, although escaped execution. Both her parents were lawyers, and gave her a secure, well-networked and well-supported background to pursue any pathway she wished. Although they eventually divorced, neither had any interest in show business. Spent her first five years in Paris. The oldest of seven siblings that resulted from the blended families of her progenitors. Showed an early interest in drama, and began appearing in school plays, while placing first at the age of 7 in a poetry competition. Resisted looking geeky early in her career, then came to see it as a plus. Auditioned for the very first time at the age of 10 for the first Harry Potter film, and got the pivotal female lead of Hermoine Granger, the bossy accomplice to the wizard-in-training, making her a star at the tender age of 11, in her very first film. Came to really like the part because it offered a clever role model for teenagers, and she also identified with the confident and bookish character, although she initially resented being more an icon for brains than beauty. 5’5”, athletic, and naturally a blonde, despite her darker-haired character. Close with her two costars, little realizing their crypto-connection in the WW II Sherlock Holmes films, from earlier lives in this series. Held out after the first four in the series for more money, in what was thought to be an overt power display, and then settled in the $4 million range, a reasonable sum, since the quartet grossed an impressive $3.5 billion. Her actual motivation was whether she wished to commit several more years to completing the series, or move off into another realm entirely. Maintains school as her number one priority, despite a desire to try other forms of character portrayal, such as a period drama or a musical. Although shielded by the Potter moviemakers from growing up too fast, she was named the new face of Chanel in 2007, while signing up with a top modeling agency. Opted to continue her education at Brown Univ., in the U.S., while remaining ambivalent about her future movie career, revealing later she spent her early professional life largely in a bubble, and has since expanded her interests to fashion in design, appearing in ad campaigns for Burberry, and as the face for a Lancôme fragrance. Has also designed organic clothing collections for People Tree, while amassing a personal fortune of £24 million. After putting her higher education on hold for work concerns, she transferred to Oxford Univ., although plans to complete her degree at Brown. Inner: Sensible, down-to-Earth, and quite mature, with a surety around what she wants. Competitive, intelligent and highly verbal, with an ongoing ambivalence about her acting career. Paid-in-advance lifetime of reaping more than enough financial rewards in the beginning to pursue any pathway she subsequently chooses, as a reward of sorts for her efforts in her previous go-round in this series. Mary Gordon (Mary Gilmour) (1882-1963) - Scottish/American actress. Outer: Father was a wire weaver. Intially worked as a dressmaker. Short, plump, and large-eyed with a kindly face. Married, although her husband died in 1917. One daughter from the union. Began her career on the British stage, then, after coming to America with a touring theater company, as well as her mother, in the mid-1920s, she decided to stay. Appeared in over 200 Hollywood films, from the silent era onwards, as a character actress, between 1925, with Tessie and 1950, with West of Wyoming, at which point she retired. Stood out via her lilting Scots accent, her top-knotted silver hair, and her dangling earrings, while often assaying older females with tough exteriors, that held an obvious heart of gold underneath. Played in a number of classic films, and was equally adept at comedy as she was at drama. One of the original members of the Hollywood Canteen, which entertained troops during WW II. Her most noted role would be as Mrs. Hudson, housekeeper for Sherlock Holmes in the 1939-1946 series of films of that inestimable creation of A. Conan Doyal (J.K. Rowling), which also enlisted the talents of Basil Rathbone (Daniel Radcliffe) and Nigel Bruce (Rupert Grint). Like the others, she would return in Rowling’s filmic adaption of the Harry Potter series. Also appeared in the radio version of the series, as well as in the Bowery Boys films, and some of the Laurel & Hardy canon. Active in the Daughters of Scotia auxilliary of the Order of Scottish Clans for the latter part of her life. Died after a long illness. Inner: Transatlantic lifetime of taking full advantage of her charming burr and her matronly presence, to fashion a long and successful career for herself in a notoriously insecure medium, before returning to try it from the perspective of complete financial security right from the beginning.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS REPEAT HEADLINE-GRABBING HOMICIDE:
Storyline: The virginal victim is continually sacrificed on the altar of prurient public interest, achieving an immortality of sorts through her sordid endings, rather than the contents of her foreshortened lives for whatever retributional reasons her soul demands of her.
JonBenet Ramsey (1990-1996) - American murder victim. Outer: Mother Patsy Ramsey was a former beauty queen and the second wife of John Ramsey, a wealthy computer services executive. The latter lost a daughter from his first marriage in a car accident in 1992. The Ramseys were married in 1980, and had a son who was three years older than his sister. The year after her birth, the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. Preternaturally pretty and highly photogenic, with blonde-hair and green eyes, she became a star on the child beauty pageant circuit, flouncing around in a variety of costumes, while heavily made-up and coifed. Won several titles as part of a social phenomenon much criticized for its sexualizing of young children. On the day following Christmas of her sixth year, she was discovered missing from her bed, after a ransom note was found saying she had been kidnapped by foreign elements. Her father subsequently discovered her body in a basement room and carried her upstairs, disturbing whatever evidence may have been found around her. Both her parents, as well as her brother, would subsequently be suspects in a largely botched investigation that would take years to unravel, with the direct family finally cleared a dozen years later following DNA evidence extracted from her underwear. Her mother and father, however, were forced to undergo defaming accusations galore, by a highly prejudiced public eager to convict them as much for their wealth and privilege, as for the misinformation released around the case. Died from strangulation and a skull fracture, following a garroting and blunt trauma, with asphyxiation the official cause of death. The case would remain in the news for years, with no resolution, despite new investigations, both public and private, bringing out more evidence, a host of lawsuits and a spurious confession by a publicity hound wanted on child pornography charges. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006, and John Ramsey briefly dated Beth Holloway, the mother of missing teen, Natalee Holloway, before ultimately remarrying a fashion designer in 2011, while the case was reopened yet again the previous annum. Inner: Repeat lifetime of falling prey to the fates for whatever crypto/needs she has to act out the misfortunes of fame as magnetic prey to the murderous urges of others. Janice Wylie (1942-1963) - American murder victim. Outer: Father was writer Max Wylie, the brother of well-known novelist Philip Wylie. Had one older sister. Grew up in a comfortable middle-class environment, and had dreams of becoming an actress. 5’6”, blonde and slim. After finishing high school, she appeared in several off-Broadway productions, preferring dancing roles, since she felt it was her strong suit. In order to support herself, she worked as a research assistant for “Newsweek” magazine. Shared an apartment with two other young women, having just moved into it weeks before her tragic end, in her first foray away from home. On the same day that Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream,” speech in Washington, D.C., she, along with one of her roommates, Emily Hoffert (Natalee Holloway), was brutally raped, bound and slain with a knife, with the two suffering 63 wounds in what would be dubbed, “The Career Girl Murders.” A black teenager, George Whitmore, Jr., was subsequently browbeaten into confessing, to begin his own long odyssey in prison over much of the next decade, despite having had nothing to do with the brutal crime. The true killer, a twenty-two year old drug addict and burglar, Ricky Robles, was eventually convicted of the killing, which occurred after Hoffert threatened to identify him, following a simple break-in. Whitmore, however, languished in jail under several other false accusations, as a victim of a corrupt criminal justice system, far more interested in wrapping up its cases then finding out who was actually guilty and innocent. Her father committed suicide twelve years after her death, after losing both his older daughter to pneumonia and his wife to cancer. Declaring himself exhausted with life, he typed out a suicide note in a motel room, and a put a pistol to his head, as the last surviving member of his unfortunate family. The entire drama would be an indictment of the violence and racism lying at the heart of 1960s urban U.S. society. Inner: Victim lifetime of serving as an unconscious catalyst for the dark side of the American dream, in an ‘I have a nightmare’ scenario of rage, prejudice and innocence forever violated.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES:
Storyline: The ingenuous ingenue returns with hidden heavy baggage that she internalizes, as she continues to deal with issues around self-love and self-hate, in a great need to stay strong and redeem herself in her own eyes.
Demi Lovato (Demetria Devonne Lovato) (1992) - American singer, songwriter and actress. Outer: Of Mexican, Irish and Italian descent. Mother Dianna Hart was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader for a season before becoming a country recording artist. Older sister Dallas became an actress, as did her younger half-sister Madison De La Garza. Her parents split up when she was 2, and her mother later remarried. Interested in a music career from the age of 5, ultimately taking up the piano and guitar, before appearing two years later on the TV series, “Barney and Friends,” for a pair of seasons, while forming a close friendship with Selena Gomez. Home schooled, after feeling bullied in the seventh grade. The bullying literally fed into an unhealthy relationship with food, which led to eating disorders and cutting her wrists. Later had hand tattoos with “Stay” on the left and “Strong” on the right to stop her from self-mutilating. Also sports a tattoo which says “Make Me Beautiful.” Continued appearing on TV, with the Disney series “Sonny with a Chance” and the TV film “Camp Rock,” playing the lead, which garnered her a recording contract. 5’4”, brown-haired with brown eyes. Served as a support act for the Jonas Brothers in 2008, and also released her first pop-rock album, “Don’t Forget” the same year, reaching number two on Billboard, with three hit singles. Continued as a chart-buster with her second album, while also making more Disney Channel TV movies. Co-wrote a number of songs with Joe Jonas, before becoming involved with him, only to later breakup. Able to headline tours afterwards, although personal problems put a brief half to her career, when she suffered a nervous breakdown. After some acting out, including punching a back-up dancer, she checked herself into a medical center for anorexia and bulimia in 2010, and later announced she has a bipolar disorder. Not quite healed of her inner turmoil, but more than willing to discuss her problems publicly, while dealing with self-love and expunging the darkness within her. Inner: Fun-loving and friendly with a desire to be a role model for young women battling similar issues. Act two lifetime of once again achieving very early success, only to be forced to deal with a self-defeating carry-over from her previous go-round, in order to bring her stage-center talents to full maturity. Mary Miles Minter (Juliet Reilly) (1902-1984) - American actress. Outer: Younger of two daughters, with her sister, Margaret also having a film career, before dying prematurely at 39 of chronic alcoholism. Her parents separated when she was 5, and she was dominated by her mother, who changed the family name to Shelby, when her ex-husband refused to allow them to use his name on stage. Moved to NY where her mother appeared in supporting roles on Broadway, before her daughter was discovered at an audition, and she made her own debut at 5. Her stage peak came with “The Littlest Rebel,” and at the same time, she made her film debut in 1912 in The Nurse, taking on the name of Mary Miles Minter, a deceased cousin four years her senior, so as not to run afoul of child labor laws. Afterwards, her mother dedicated herself to her daughter’s career, which flourished in the early days of silents, when America wanted little child-women as their heroines. 5’2”, 112 lbs, blonde, with blue eyes and delicate features. By the early 1920s, she was making $2250 a week, after appearing in some 50 films. Her favorite director was William Desmond Taylor (George Hamilton), who directed her in one of her biggest hits, Anne of Green Gables, and despite the quarter century difference in their ages, she became secretly involved with him, much to her mother’s horror. In 1922, Taylor was found shot to death in his Hollywood home, and though she was never considered a suspect, the scandal ended her career, coming as it did on the heels of several other tinseltown misbegotten tragedies. Made her last film, Drums of Fate in 1923, and was forced into retirement, with only a handful of her movies surviving. Along with her sister, she later sued her mother for mismanaging her money, winning a substantial settlement, although the three eventually reconciled. Invested in Los Angeles real estate, so that she was able to live comfortably afterwards. In 1957, she married real estate investor and developer Brandon Hildebrandt, who died eight years later. Became a recluse afterward, with a huge weight gain, while suffering from diabetes. In 1981, she was beaten and robbed in her home by a former servant, after earlier being robbed several times before. Recovered, only to die of a stroke three years later. Her will would subsequently be contested, when a neighbor took advantage of her weakened state, so that controversy would follow her, even after her death. Much speculation would persist in the unsolved murder, with her mother ultimately looming as the probable killer, because of her fears around losing control of her daughter, and the devastating effect the relationship would have on her career. Inner: Kind and generous, but a magnet for ill luck, despite her innocent facade, indicating an interior quite at odds with herself. Had a strong fascination with numerology and astrology, ultimately changing her married name to conform to it. Victim lifetime of allowing an ineluctable draw towards self-destruction overshadow her various gifts, while doing battle with an extremely controlling mother to try to regain possession of herself.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN:
Storyline: The adolescent icon goes full blast in her pursuit of fame’n’fortune, while trying to stay grounded in a flashbulb-popping universe that has a bad habit of eating its young alive, and never really allowing them to grow up.
Lindsay Lohan (1986) - American actress. Outer: Mother, Dina, was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette, who became a producer. Her unpredictable and violent father was a drug addict, who would often go off on binges, while racking up jail time for assault, criminal contempt and DUI. Oldest of 4, all of whom worked as Ford models. Her brother Michael is also an actor. Her parents split up when she was 3, but her mother kept taking her father back, allowing him to maintain a perpetual state of disharmony in their household. Began her own stint as a Ford model, at the age of 5, appearing in numerous TV commercials, before becoming a regular at the age of 10 on the soap opera, “Another World.” Made her film debut in 1998 in a remake of The Parent Trap, in which she played the dual role of separated-at-birth twins. Afterwards, her mother brought her back down to earth for the next three years, in a deliberate career lull to try to instill within her a sense of the ordinary. Her parents split up yet again, with both sets living with their own parents, while her father was not allowed near the children, although he did everything to destabilize her career. Without taking an acting lesson, she parlayed her earlier success into a series of ingenue teen roles, which ultimately put her in the million dollar a picture bracket, well before she was 20. Garnered criticism from several of costars for unpreparedness, although prefers working out everything in front of the cameras, rather than rehearsing, or even reading her lines the night before. 5’5”. Also launched a singing career in 2004, while serving as a very public model for her generation’s view of iconic teenagedom, replete with excess paparazzi attention. Lost a lot of weight in the process, as indication that the bright airy lights of the twin ‘f’s, are still struggling mightily against her need to be a both-feet on the ground person in the very real world, rather than the reel one. Admitted to both bulimia and light drug experimentation during this period, and later suffered a kidney ailment as well as her first filmic failure with Herbie Full Loaded. Her mother finally and officially divorced her father in 2005, and she was able to work out some of her feelings about him via a video and song the following year. Publicly rebuked for excessive partying and missing work on Georgia Rule shortly afterwards, in her ongoing battles with authority, as part of the girls gone wild trio of herself, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Ultimately wound up in AA, before going into rehab, just before her father was released from two years in prison following a fiery car crash, and before resuming his own reality TV show, in their ongoing familial circus. Continued to periodically grab headlines, with more alcohol and cocaine fueled incidents, and returns to rehab, as well as a one day stint in jail, in a woozy attempt to straighten out her young life. In 2008, she did a nude pin-up paean to Marilyn Monroe, with whom she feels a strong affinity, in a repeat of the doomed star's last photo shoot, while blaming her previous troubles on work stress and her ongoing difficult relationship with her father. Discovered she had a half-sister she didn’t know about, while trying to gain some emotional stability through a same-sex relationship with Samantha Ronson, despite its inherent volatility. Totally bereft when the relationship finally ended in 2009, as her fall from grace featured a straight-to-cable effort, and then accusations that she stole the formula for her spray-on tan line. Has reserved most of her dramatics for offscreen, including rolling up over a half-million in debts, via a lifestyle that doesn’t recognize she is no longer a commodity for anything other than tabloid tsk-tsk commentary. Finally got sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating probation in two DUI cases in 2010, as her young life has steadily descended into a straight-to-video soap opera. Released early, then got another reprieve from follow-up rehab with strict monitoring around her behavior, only to be rearrested for testing positive for cocaine again and sent back to rehab. Caught shoplifting a $2500 necklace, and rejected a plea deal afterwards, ultimately garnering a 120 day sentence of house arrest and nearly 500 hours of community service for parole violation. At the same time, she dropped her last name, to become a mononymic, Lindsay, as a means of further distancing herself from her equally tabloid-prone father. In a further statement of purpose, she added a ribcage tattoo to her body armor, “Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife, I feel like I’m in the prime of my life,” two lines from Billy Joel’s “I Go to Extremes.” Nevertheless, she was sent back to jail for a month for violating probation, only to be released several hours later, after working in a community morgue as part of her community service, and as unsubtle reminder of where she could very well wind up, with her propensity for non-stop self-destructive behavior. Posed nude for “Playboy” magazine at year’s end, although it did not elicit much interest, occasioning very flat sales for the issue. Managed to make it through her terms of probation, with an eagerness to start her career cleanly and anew in 2012. Inner: Earnest, assertive and energetic, as well as charming with a good comic sense about herself, as her parents finally and officially divorced. Also egregiously excessive in her desire to integrate herself. Claims Machiavelli’s "The Prince" gave her guiding principles for her life. Another world lifetime of trying to see if she will be allowed to publicly grow, or if she will have to retreat from the limelight in order to do so privately. Anissa Jones (Mary Anissa Jones) (1958-1976) - American actress. Outer: Of Lebanese extract on her mother’s side, with her unusual name meaning ‘little friend’ in Arabic. Both parents were students at Purdue univ. when they married. Older of two children, with a younger brother. Her ambitious mother felt she was such a beautiful baby that a show business career was in the offing for her, and the family moved to Southern California to pursue it, enrolling her in dancing classes when she was 4. Two years later, she landed her first commercial for a breakfast cereal, then at 8, was cast as Buffy in TV’s “Family Affair,” shortly after her parents bitterly divorced. The show proved to be a hit, and she became an adorable adjunct to America’s fantasy life during its five year run. Had a host of products marketed in her name including lunch boxes, coloring books and her talking doll “Mrs. Beasley,” and spent a good deal of time promoting them, when not involved on the set, which proved a grueling year-round task. Well-liked by everyone, while also breaking her leg at 11, an old show business good luck cliché, which was immediately written into the series. Her mother completely controlled her life, keeping her in pigtails and baby-doll dresses into her early teens, since it helped market her clothing line. Had a couple of small film roles, although lost out on larger parts, which would have allowed her to make the transition to the big screen, which she desperately wanted. Instead, she felt she had been typecast, with no real future in show business. Lost her father to heart disease in 1973, shortly after he had won custody of her and her brother, which helped her make a rupture from her dominating mother, who forced her into a juvenile detention center, after she began skipping classes. After living in state custody, she was returned to the latter’s care, but continued rebelling against her by shoplifting and taking drugs, before completely dropping out of high school and working at a donut shop. At 18, she gained control of her moneys earned, a six figure sum, and got an apartment with her brother. Less than six months later, she was found dead in the bedroom of a 14 year old friend’s house, in what was considered an accidental death. Died of a combination of cocaine, angel dust, Quaaludes and Seconal in what the coroner said was one of the severest cases of drug overdose he had ever seen. Had no funeral or public remembrance, in what was probably an unconscious suicide. Eight years later, her brother followed her out, the same way. Inner: Rebellious and self-destructive, albeit with a strong desire for fame and attention. Never allowed herself to grow up, in a larger typecasting of her own making. Unbuffered lifetime of falling victim to a mother’s overweening ambitions and never truly claiming her life, before reentering under similar circumstances with even more over-the-edge parents and an equally pungent penchant for self-obliteration. Caryll Ann Ekelund (1935-1939) - American actress. Outer: Of Scandinavian descent. Younger sister of actress Jana Lund, and youngest of seven siblings. Her singular claim to fame was an uncredited role in a Shirley Temple film, The Blue Bird, in which she played an angel. Shortly afterwards, her dress caught fire from a lighted birthday candle at home on Halloween night, and she died from the burns three days later in a hospital. Her five brothers subsequently served as her pallbearers, while her favorite song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” was sung by a quartet at her funeral. Buried in the unborn child toga she wore in the film. Inner: Baby’s breath lifetime of the briefest of walk-ons, in her own continued flirtations with early death, as a means of getting her to realize the value of life.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS TWEEN IDOL LOOKING FOR LONGEVITY:
Storyline: The serial skyrocket knows how to start out like a house afire, but not how to extend herself into full maturity, so she tries it again from a much more grounded base, in order to see if she finally can make the full-grown decisions in order to do so.
Miley Cyrus (Destiny Hope Cyrus) (1992) - American singer, songwriter and actress. Outer: Father was country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, whose biggest hit, “Achy Breaky Heart,” came out the year she was born out of wedlock, although her parents married within a month of her natal debut. Her father nicknamed her Smiley at birth, which became Miley, after first giving her a dual name that reflected his feelings of great things for her. Grew up on her parents’ farm, with her assorted half-siblings, and her younger brother and sister. Learned to sing, riding on her father’s tour bus. 5’6”. First appeared on her sire’s TV show “Doc” at the age of 9, in a recurring role, then made her film debut in 2003 in Big Fish. Hit the big time at 12, when she was chosen by Disney Productions as the lead in their hit cable TV show, “Hannah Montana,” and she quickly became a tween fixture on the tube, as meek Miley Stewart and her eponymous high voltage singing superstar alter ego. Maintains the Hannah Montana persona for her concerts and tours, and has become the hottest ticket on the tween and early teen circuit, thanks to a bouncy and highly energetic stage presence. A songwriter herself, she has contributed numerous songs to the show, while also proving a lucrative marketing phenomenon for Disney, in their synergistic exploitation of her talent, through Disney-owned film, records, and both cable and network TV. Fell victim to a pregnancy hoax in 2007, as well ticket scalpers, soaking her desperate fans for her immediate sell out shows for outrageous resales. A concert film of the tour would subsequently prove another bonanza as well. Remains levelheaded, however, throughout her early stab at superstardom, thanks to a good foundation of church’n’family, and a loving home environment. Nevertheless, she began giving display of the rebel beneath it all, with an innocently risqué display of herself, that may harbor future tugs twixt the good girl-bad grrl duality that exists just below her surface. In that regard, she flashed her back in a “Vanity Fair,” photoshoot, much to the outrage of some of the parents of her fans, who are uncomfortable with the fact that young girls actually having physical bodies. Despite her tender age, she penned her autobiography, “Miles to Go,” in 2009, giving her fans further material for identification via her tales of being picfked on before fame found her. 2010 would see a deliberate separation from early innocence with provocative photo-shoots and unDisneyfied behavior geared towards showing the world she was now out of her adolescent chrysalis and a full-fledged tabloid butterfly. At the same time, her parents announced their 17 year marriage was over, although her father later rescinded it, while blaming Hollywood for his daughter’s fall from grace. Inner: Rebellious, and her own young woman. Strong sense of religiosity, with a grounded sense of normalcy, despite her extremely high profile early life. Act Two lifetime of launching herself at a very young age, from a far more structured base, giving her a better chance at dealing with her future problems when the first flush of fame finally wears off, and she has to deal with changing tastes. Mae Murray (Marie Adrienne Koenig) (1885-1965) - American dancer and actress. Outer: Of Austrian and Belgian descent. A child of immigrant parents, she began dancing when she was very young. 5’2”. Discovered by Irving Berlin hoofing it in vaudeville. Stood in for dancer Vernon Castle’s (Gower Champion) partner in 1906, and immediately became fodder for deep pocketed stage door johnny fantasies, as her performing star steadily rose over the next decade, thanks to her beauty and stage presence. Appeared in several editions of “The Ziegfeld Follies,” and also acted in melodramas, creating a character for herself as a beautiful blonde seductress. Married William Schwenker in 1908 and divorced a year later. Became a headliner in 1915, and went on to perform in both the U.S. and Europe, with future silent screen icons Rudolph Valentino (John Travolta), and John Gilbert (Tom Selleck) as two of her partners. Married Jay O’Brien, a stockbroker and Olympic bobsled champion, in 1916, and divorced him the following year. Made her film debut in 1916 in To Have and To Hold, and despite her limited abilities, she was able to parlay her striking looks with a successful silent career, culminating with forming her own production company. Hooked up with director Robert Z. Leonard, whom she married in 1918. As one of Hollywood’s highest paid performers, she lived lavishly and excessively, spending millions to maintain her status as cinematic royalty, and was demanding and high-handed, while evincing a histrionic style that was anything but subtle. Reached her peak with The Merry Widow in 1925. Known as “the girl with the bee stung lips.” Divorced in 1925 she married a faux prince, David Mdivani, the following year, who totally mishandled her career, convincing her to leave MGM, after which, she had difficulty in finding work. Son from union. After 2 failures in the sound era, she was forced to retire. Her fourth and last marriage foundered when she lost her money, and she was divorced in 1933, losing custody of her son in the process, whose name was changed by the woman raising him. Faded into sad obscurity afterwards, and lived most of her later life in poverty. On viewing the character of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, several decade later, she said “None of us floozies was that nuts.” Co-wrote her auto-biography, “The Self-Enchanted” in 1952, although it elicited little interest. Wound up in a retirement community of Hollywood professionals. Died of heart failure and left only a trunk with clothing and keepsakes. Inner: Regal, egocentric and demanding, without the ability to recognize her vulnerability as a star of limited scope. Bee stung lifetime of exploiting her physicality for as far as it would take her, before getting lost in her emotionality, and fading as quickly as she had risen.

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