Madonna Louise Ciccone is the full name of the pop queen


When Madonna made her London West End premiere in Up for Grabs on May 23, 2002, the critics were not kind, but this superstar is critic-proof. Her nine-week run was sold out by the time the play opened. She has been defined by her versatility and her willingness to test her limits by taking chances.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Madonna has broken records after emerging as a megastar performer and recording artist in the early 1980s. In 1984, her "Like a Virgin" single soared to the top of the pop charts. Of the 11 albums she recorded before performing Evita on film in 1995, all of them placed in the Top 15, and all but one placed in the Top 10; seven achieved Top 5 placement. Madonna's international album sales have been estimated at more than 100 million. Always a flamboyant trendsetter, this "Material Girl" also tested the limits of music videos.

Her first feature film appearance was a cult success - the role of Susan in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), which brought her to the attention of WARREN BEATTY (in Dick Tracy in 1990) and WOODY ALLEN (in Shadows and Fog in 1992).

The exhibitionist documentary Truth or Dare, about her 1990 world tour, took her to the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Madonna was next cast in the title role of ALAN PARKER's film adaptation of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita (1996), with ANTONIO BANDERAS (as Ché, the rebel narrator) and Jonathan Pryce as Juan Perón, president of Argentina.

Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers praised her singing and dancing but had one important reservation: "What Madonna does not do, what [director Alan] Parker does not trust her to do, is act." Comparing her to Courtney Love in The People vs. Larry Flynt, Travers wrote: "Love plays for real; Madonna plays for effect. It's the difference between acting and showing off." It seems ironic that Rice and Webber wrote a new song for her for the film entitled "You Must Love Me."

Unfortunately, some resisted, though the song won the Best Song Oscar. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and Golden Globes for Best Actress and Best Picture in the Musical/Comedy category. Even so, the film grossed a relatively modest $23 million. As Peter Travers wrote in 1997, "Evita attempts to revive two things long thought dead: Madonna's acting career and the movie musical."

Surely, no one doubts her talent, but she has been slow to learn that she cannot do all things equally well. After marrying British director Guy Ritchie, Madonna tried acting again in her husband's ill-advised remake of Lina Wertmüller's Swept Away (2002), which was not only a bomb but an embarrassment.

Legal Disclaimer

Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Webworldarticles.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.


This article was sent to us by: Lauren Greys at 09192010

Related Articles

1. Antiheroes and antiwar Hollywood film productions and their stars
Antiheroes Characters who in the process of fighting the bad guys are less than fully noble themselves, antiheroes share many of the characteristics of villai...

2. The work of Alan Arking in the show business world
Alan Arkin was born in 1934. Essentially a CHARACTER ACTOR who is cast in lead roles, Alan Arkin generally gets the type of thankless parts that an average star would s...

3. Mary Astor is best known for her role in The Maltese Falcon
Mary Astor was born in 1906 and died in 1988. Though best known as the conniving killer in The Maltese Falcon (1941), the actress had a long and tempestuous career that...

4. Warren Beatty is the half brother of actress Shirley MacLaine
Warren Beatty Warren Beatty is principally an actor but also an increasingly sophisticated and successful writer, producer, and director. Virile to a fault, W...

5. How to define and understand black comedy
Black comedy A provocative form of film humor dealing with subject matter that society generally finds troubling or distasteful. It’s no wonder, therefo...

6. Celebrity kids brat packs and their Hollywood hobbies
Brat pack A loose grouping of young, mostly teenage, actors who rose to fame together in a series of youth-oriented films during the early to mid-1980s. The n...

7. Walter Brennan was one of the best Hollywood character actors
Walter Brennan One of the most memorable of Hollywood’s CHARACTER ACTORS, he usually played old codgers, even as a relatively young man. Appearing in ...

8. Matthew Broderick is a serious actor on movie sets
Matthew Broderick A charming and engaging thespian who has proven to be both a popular performer as well as a serious actor. More boyish than handsome, Matt...

9. America made Charles Bronson a star after his first youth
Charles Bronson He became a star unexpectedly after his 50th birthday and is proof that the American public chooses its movie heroes for reasons other than ...

10. Sir Michael Caine made a great number of movies including bad ones
He is a prolific, if nondiscriminating, Cockney actor who has appeared in an inordinate number of bad movies but who has been in many more better ones. His versatilit...