Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress who was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol during
that time. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American
causes, particularly the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). In 2008, she received the NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award at the Foundation’s Anniversary
Gala. she made her first American film, John Huston’s Beat the Devil, in 1953
with Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer jones. Another notable appearance was in
the 1956 circus drama Trapeze with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. In 1959
Gina co-starred with Frank Sinatra in Never So Few.In 1961 she made one of
her most popular films, the romantic comedy Come September, with Rock Hudson, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin; for which she won a Golden Globe Henrietta Award,
World Film Favorite-Female.

Gina in Trapeze

Gina Lollobrigida in Beat the Devil

Yearbook photo

Kathy Bates is a actress and director who, after several small roles in film
and television, rose to prominence with her performance in Misery (1990),
for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden
Globe. She followed this with major roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
and Dolores Claiborne (1995), before playing a featured role as Margaret
“Molly” Brown in Titanic (1997). During this time, she began her directing
career, primarily in television.

Bates received a Tony Award nomination for her 1983 performance in the
Broadway play ‘night, Mother. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her
performance in Primary Colors (1998), along with an Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress for About Schmidt (2002). Her television work
has resulted in eight Emmy Award nominations.

Kathy Bates in Misery

Kathy as seen in Titanic

Kathy Bates in a scene from About Schmidt

Carly Elisabeth Simon is a singer-songwriter, musician, and children’s author. Her
rise to fame occurred the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since received
two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her achievements. She is the former wife of singer-songwriter, James Taylor.

Frances Louise McDormand  won the Academy Award for Best Actress in
1996 for her role as police chief Marge Gunderson in the Joel and Ethan
Coen film Fargo. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her
performance this year in Good People. McDormand was nominated for the
Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress three times for her role in 
Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and the film North
Country (2005). She has also been nominated for four Golden Globes,
three BAFTA Awards, and an Emmy Award. Frances McDormand has
been married to director Joel Coen since 1984. 

McDormand in Blood Simple (1984), the directorial debut of Joel and
Ethan Coen

Frances in Fargo

Meryl Streep has worked in theatre, television and film. She is widely regarded
as one of the most talented and respected actresses of the modern era. Streep
made her professional debut on stage in 1971’s The Playboy of Seville. Her
screen debut came in 1977 with the television movie The Deadliest Season. She
made her film debut with Julie. Successful roles soon followed such as The Deer
Hunter in 1978, which gave Meryl her first Oscar nomination and Kramer vs.Kramer
in 1979  which won her and Oscar. Streep later won an Academy Award for Best
Actress for her performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982). Meryl Streep has received
a total of 25 Golden Globe nominations, winning seven, more nominations than any
other actor in the history of the award. In 2004,she was awarded the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meryl Streep with co-star Robert DeNiro in The Deer Hunter

2009