johnny depp

Actor Johnny Depp was born June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky. After several small roles, Depp landed his first legitimate movie role in the film Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Afterwards, Depp started studying acting. The lessons paid off in 1987, when he landed a role on the TV show 21 Jump Street. He has since starred in and recieved award nominations for several popular films.

Early Life 

Born John Christopher Depp, Jr. in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963, to parents John and Betty Sue Depp. Johnny's father worked as a civil engineer, and his mother came from full-blooded Cherokee stock, and worked as a waitress and homemaker. The youngest of four children, Depp was withdrawn and a self-admitted oddball. "I made odd noises as a child," he later revealed in an interview. "Just did weird things, like turn off light switches twice. I think my parents thought I had Tourette's syndrome."

Johnny and his family moved frequently to accommodate his father's job, finally landing in Miramar, Florida, when Johnny was seven years old. The family lived in a motel for nearly a year, until his father found a job. Depp hated his new home and, by the age of 12 began smoking, experimenting with drugs, and engaging in self-harm due to the stress of family problems. "Puberty was very vague," he has said. "I literally locked myself in a room and played guitar."

In 1978, when Depp was 15, Johnny's parents divorced. As the youngest of four, it became Johnny's job to go to his father's office and pick up the weekly child-support money. The split caused a rift between Johnny and his father.

At 16, Depp dropped out of high school and joined the garage band, The Kids. The group became successful enough to open for the Talking Heads and the B-52s, but they barely made ends meet. Depp lived for months in a friend's '67 Chevy Impala.

Introduction To Acting 
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In 1983, at the age of 20, Johnny met and married 25-year-old makeup artist Lori Allison. That same year, the couple moved to L.A. with Depp's band in the hopes of striking it big. Still living on a shoestring budget, Depp and his band mates supported themselves by selling pens for a telemarketing firm.

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Depp started to study acting in earnest, first in classes at the Loft Studio in Los Angeles and then with a private coach. 

The lessons paid off in 1987, when he replaced actor Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular Canadian-filmed TV series 21 Jump Street. The role thrust Depp into almost immediate stardom. Johnny Depp became a teen idol overnight; a title that he greatly resented. When his contract on Jump Street expired in 1989, he leapt at the opportunity to pursue weightier roles.

Mainstream Succss

In 1990, Depp starred in the John Water  50s-kitsch musical, Cry-Baby (1990), which became a cult hit, and succeeded in changing his image. That same year, he received an opportunity to exhibit his versatility as an actor in the title role of Tim Burton's fantasy film, Edward Scissorhands. The movie not only established Depp as an A-list actor, but it also grossed more than $54 million at the box office. Following the film's success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer, consistently selecting roles that surprise critics and audiences alike.

It was during shooting for Edward Scissorhands that Depp finally met co-star Winona Ryder , whom he'd been eyeing since a brief meeting at the premier for her film Great Ball of Fire (1989). The two began dating on the set, and soon became a Hollywood power couple. Five months after their first date, Depp and Ryder became engaged. To solidify their love, Depp even had "Winona Forever" tattooed on his right arm. The couple split, however, in 1993 after Ryder's parents forbade their daughter to marry.

Outside of his personal life, Depp continued to flourish, gaining critical acclaim and increasing popularity for his work. Several of his most notable roles included his role as the social misanthrope Sam in Benny & Joon (1993), which earned him a Golden Globe nod, and Gilbert in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993), which cast him as a young man dissatisfied with the confines of his small-town life.

 Personal Life 

In August of that year, he and two business partners bought The Viper Club in L.A., which instantly became the hippest spot on the Sunset Strip. Depp began using the club as an opportunity to introduce patrons to music from his newly formed band, P, which offered popular shows at the venue. But tragedy hit the club on October 31 of that same year, when teen heartthrob and critically acclaimed actor River Pheonix suffered a drug overdose outside the club. Phoenix died later that evening.

Depp's life began losing control as the star dabbled with drugs and spiraled into a deep depression. Around this time he also started a very public, destructive relationship with the waifish supermodel Kate Moss. Depp and Moss constantly made headlines for their passionate and unpredictable behavior; in 1994, Depp famously trashed a New York hotel room after one of the couple's many fights.

Johnny Depp's wild behavior didn't seem to have an effect on his professional life. In 1994 he re-teamed with Burton in the biopic Ed Wood, about the famously awful B-movie director.

The film won Depp critical acclaim, and another Golden Globe nomination. Other notable films in the late 90s include Don Juan DeMarco (1995), in which Depp plays a character who believes he is the famous fictional character Don Juan, and Donnie Brasco (1997), which featured Depp as an undercover FBI agent seeking to infiltrate the Bonano crime family.

In 1998, Depp split from long-time girlfriend Moss,

and took the role of journalist Hunter S. Thopson's alter ego in Terry Gillian's adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. During filming, Depp cultivated a strong friendship with Thompson, which lasted until Thompson's death in 2005. Depp would later finance the writer's funeral.

Around this time, Depp also met another person who would become an important figure in his life; while filming the sci-fi drama The Ninth Gate (1999) in France, Johnny met French actress, singer and model   
Vanessa Paradis . Paradis became pregnant with the couple's first child later that year. In May of 1999, the couple welcomed daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp. Depp and Paradis had their second child, son Jack John Christopher Depp III, three years later. In 2012, stories began to circulate that Depp and Paradis had split up. Depp initially denied these rumors, but his representative confirmed the couple's break-up in June. In a statement given to Entertainment Tonight, Depp's representative said that the pair "have amicably separated" and asked that people "respect their privacy" and "the privacy of their children." Depp and Paradis had been together for nearly 14 years when they split.

Bos office Star

For Depp's next film project, he tried his hand at sci-fi horror with The Astronaut's Wife in 1999. The same year, he teamed up with Burton once again on Sleepy Hollow, starring as a prim, driven Ichabod Crane. He appeared the following year in the small but popular romantic drama Chocolat, followed by a big-budget role as real-life cocaine kingpin George Jung in Blow in 2001. Depp's next film was the terror drama From Hell in 2001 and  Robert Rodriguez 's Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2002. In April of that year, Paradis gave birth to the couple's second child, Jack.

In 2004, Depp earned an Academy Award nomination for his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the family adventure Pirates of the Caribbean. The film was a box office smash, and led to the creation of a Pirates franchise. At the end of that year, Depp also turned in a critically acclaimed performance in Finding Neverland, in which he starred as Peter Pan creator J.M Barrie. The film earned him more than 10 award nominations, including both Academy and Golden Globe nods.

In 2006, Depp returned as Captain Jack Sparrow for the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which broke a box office record in reaching the highest weekend tally ever. The third installment fared well too. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) was released on Memorial Day weekend, bringing in $138.8 million.

Saying goodbye to Captain Jack, Depp took on one of theater's most notorious characters in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, also in 2007. Directed by Tim Burton and co-starring Helena Bonham Carter, the dark and gory musical tells the tale of a barber kills some of his customers who then turned into pies made by his downstairs neighbor. 

Depp netted a Golden Globe Award for his work on the film.

In 2009, two Depp films—The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Public Enemies—premiered with mixed results. He returned to box office success with the 2010 film adaptation of the Lewis Carroll  classic, Alice in Wonderland. For the project, Depp again teamed up with Tim Burton to take on the character of the Mad Hatter. The film, 

starring Mia Wasikowska as Alice, brought in more than $116 million in its opening weekend.
Once again roving on the high seas, Depp reprised his role of Jack Sparrow in the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series in 2011. He returned to independent film that same year with The Rum Diaries, based on the book by  Humter S. Thompson.

Depp also starred in the Tim Burton comedy Dark Shadows (2012). In the film, he plays Barnabas Collins, a vampire who escapes imprisonment and returns to his family home. There Collins tries to help his descendents played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloë Grace Moretz and Jonny Lee Miller. Depp was a longtime fan of the film's source material—the late 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows—and encouraged friend Burton to bring it to the big screen.

PSY

The story of South Korean rap sensation Psy’s ascent to global stardom with his megahit “Gangnam Style” has now been immortalised in full colour and with appropriate dramatic flourishes in a comic book.

Fame:Psy, which went on sale in the US and South Korea on Wednesday, focuses mainly on what went into making “Gangnam Style”, which catapulted the sunglassed singer with the garish jackets to global fame and became YouTube’s most popular song ever with more than 1.5 billion hits. “Has he fallen from the sky? Has he risen from the earth?” the comic begins, with illustrations showing Psy – in the suits he made famous in “Gangnam Style” and striking poses from his “Horse Riding Dance” – descending from heaven and bursting through the earth. 

“It was the end of summer, 2012, when a little-known Asian rapper put his music video on YouTube. It exploded in popularity,” continues the 26-page tale, from US publisher Bluewater Productions and South Korean firm “able”.

“His stubby build and dynamic stage presence caught people’s eyes. Psy’s not your typical pop star”. 

n similarly breathless prose the comic covers the decade of Psy’s pre-Gangnam career in Korea, the origins of the video and the dance, and the fame that followed, including scenes of a delighted Psy teaching UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon his dance and performing for US President Barack Obama.

The comic, which also touches on the less happy parts of Psy’s past such as being charged with possession of marijuana in 2002, includes a guide that shows readers how to do Psy’s dance themselves. It ends with the release of Psy’s second video, “Gentleman”, last month. The video has racked up nearly 260 million YouTube hits after smashing the previous record of first-day views for songs, and hit fifth place on the Billboard Hot 100 last week. reuters . 

Odette Annable

Born Odette Juliette Yustman on 10 May, 1985, in Los Angeles, California, Odette started her career with a minor role in the movie Kindergarten Cop  as "Rosa." After graduating from Woodcrest Christian High School in Riverside, California, where she was the homecoming queen, she turned to modeling with a few roles through the years.

Kristin Bauer van Straten

Born : Kristin A. Neubauer November 26 , 1966 In Racine Wisconsin, USA.

Kristin grew up in Wisconsin playing sports, riding horses, and shooting guns. Her father was an avid horseman and gun collector and her mother a housewife involved in charities. Kristin moved to Los Angeles and began acting in 1994 after studying fine arts in St. Louis, Boston and New York. She still studies drawing and painting.

Deborah Ann Woll

Born : February 7, In Brooklyn , New York, USA .

Deborah was born in 1985, in Brooklyn, New York, from Irish and German heritage. She took acting, piano and dance classes. She went to high school in Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from the BFA program at the USC School of Theatre at the University of Southern California. Deborah started.

Rebecca Ranee Olstead

Born : Rebecca Ranee Olstead June 18, 1989 In Houston, Texas, USA
Renee has completed projects for ABC/Disney; CBS, Fox and NBC. She is a complete entertainer: acting, singing and voiceovers. Her special abilities include: vocals, violin, character voices, sign language, dancing, cartooning, chess and basketball. She loves to perform and frequently entertainers at charity events. She is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG).

Amanda Righetti

Born April 4 , 1983 In St.George Utah, USA.
 Amanda Righetti is a Utah-born, Nevada-raised actor/producer and Best Actress Award winner by the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Righetti began her career at 14, as a young model, but made waves as the trust-fund squandering, world-traveling black sheep, "Hailey Nichol", on Fox's The O.C. 

Katheryn Winnick

Born Katerena Anna Vinitska December 17 , 1977 In Toronto , Ontario , Canada .
As her impressively diverse list of credits attests, the beautiful Canadian-born Katheryn Winnick has always been drawn to the unconventional, showing range and depth with every role she plays. Winnick will next star as the fearless shield maiden, 'Lagertha', wife and warrior of a great Viking leader in the new eagerly-anticipated television series "Vikings"

Amber Heard

 Born  Amber Luara Heard  April 22, 1986 In Austin, Texas , USA.
Amber Heard will next star in Paranoia opposite Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman. The film will be released by Relativity Media on August 16th. She also will star in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills, which will be released by Open Road Films on September 13th and McG's Three Days to Kill opposite Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld, which will be released in 2014.

Summer Glau

Born Summer Lyn Glau July 24,1981 In San Antonio, Taxas , USA   .Summer is a native of San Antonio, Texas. She's been a ballerina most of her life. Her debut was in various commercials and a guest appearance on the WB's Angel . She has gone on to star on the TV series Firefly  and is now in the movie Serenity .  

Olivia Wilde

Born Olivia Jane Cockburn March 10,1984 In New York City, New York , USA .Olivia Wilde was born Olivia Jane Cockburn in New York City. She was raised in Washington, D.C. and went to school there, as well as in Andover, Massachusetts, where she graduated in 2002. Her father, Andrew Cockburn is Irish, giving her dual American and Irish nationality and facilitating her brief study at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin .

Sara Paxton

Born  April 25, 1988 In Woodland Hills ,Los Angeles California, USA .Sara Paxton was born in Woodland Hills, California. At a young age she began acting in television commercials. She was cast in her first film at the age of 8 as a child at school and at the party in Liar Liar . Her first major television series role was on the WB's   Greetings From Tucson . She filmed  Sleepover in fall 2003 .

Brendan Fraser

Born in 1968 in Indianapolis, Brendan Fraser studied acting at Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts and soon after landed leading roles in several films, including 1992’s Encino Man and 1992’s School Ties. Fraser reached star status in the lead role in 1999’s The Mummy, which was hugely popular and lead to two sequels. Always diverse, Fraser has also done children’s films as well as dramas.

Profile

Actor. Born Brendan James Fraser on December 3, 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana. One of three sons of a Canadian tourism executive, Fraser traveled with his family constantly throughout his childhood. After studying acting at Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts, he landed leading roles in several films, including 1992?s Encino Man, 1992?s School Ties and 1994?s The Scout. 

Throughout his career, Fraser has easily switched gears from such silly fare as 1997?s George of the Jungle and 2003?s Looney Tunes: Back in Action to poignant dramatic work, including 1998?s Gods and Monsters and 2002?s critically acclaimed Quiet American. Fraser?s biggest blockbuster came in the action adventure The Mummy in 1999, which was so popular that a sequel, The Mummy Returns, was released in 2001.

Fraser married actress Afton Smith in 1998; they have two sons, Griffin Arthur and Holden Fletcher. 

Rambo

John J. Rambo was born on July 6, 1947 in Bowie, Arizona to a Native American (Navajo) father (R. Rambo) and an Italian American mother (Marie Drago). Rambo graduated from Rangeford High School, and then was drafted into the United States Army at the age of 17 on June 8, 1964. He was deployed to South Vietnam in September 1966. He returned to the U.S. in 1967 and began training in the Special Forces (Green Berets) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In late 1969, Rambo was re-deployed to Vietnam. In November 1971, he was captured by North Vietnamese forces near the Chinese-Vietnamese border and held at a POW camp, where he and other American POWs were repeatedly tortured. Rambo escaped captivity in May 1972, but was then re-deployed. At some point in his military career he also apparently received training in flying helicopters.

Al Pacino

Born on April 25, 1940 in New York City, Alfredo James Pacino began studying acting at 19. He brought brooding seriousness and explosive rage to gritty roles, including that of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and an incorruptible cop in Serpico (1973).

Life

Alfredo James Pacino was born in New York City on April 25, 1940. Growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved to Greenwich Village at the age of 19 to pursue acting. There, on Bank Street, he began studying the art form at the Herbert Berghof Studio, and soon began landing parts in theatre productions, including Out There in 1963. Several years later, in 1969, Pacino performed in the Broadway play Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?—for which he received a Tony Award—as well as Me, Natalie, a coming-of-age film about a young woman living in New York City.

Acting Career

Pacino was cast as Bobby in the film The Panic in Needle Park, which was released in 1971, and met with little fame until several years later. The film noir details the lives of several heroin addicts who congregate in New York City's "Needle Park." Following this performance, Pacino significantly advanced his career in the early 1970s, when he met and began working with director Fransis Ford Coppola .     

Pacino starred as Michael in The Godfather, an American gangster film that was released in 1972. The film received wide critical acclaim, winning three Academy Awards. The performance propelled Pacino into Hollywood stardom. The following year, in 1973, he starred as the character Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi in Scarecrow, a film about the endearing partnership of an ex-con and a homeless man; and as Frank serpico in Serpico, a film about real-life New York police officer who was betrayed by his fellow officers when he uncovered illegaly activity within the department.

In 1974, Pacino reunited with Coppola for the second part of the Godfather series, the Academy Award-winning The Godfather: Part II, again playing Michael. A year later, he hit the big screen again, with Dog Day Afternoon, the story of a bank robbery that escalates into a hostage situation. Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik in the film.

In 1990, Pacino came back for the third and final Godfather series film, The Godfather, Part III. That same year, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, for his role in Dick Tracy. The '90s proved to be a strong decade for Pacino, as he worked continously on big films, including Frankie and Johnny (1991); Glengarry Glen Ross (1992); Scent of a Woman (1992); Carlito's Way (1993); Heat (1995); Donnie Brasco (1997); The Devil's Advocate (1997); and Any Given Sunday (1999).

At the turn of the century, Pacino turned 60. Despite having dozens of film appearances under his belt by that time, his career didn't slow down. In 2002, he starred as a homicide detective alongside Robin Williams  in Insomnia, a film about a young woman's mysterious murder; as well as in People I Know, in which he plays press agent Eli Wurman. 

Five years later, in 2007, he played a part in the blockbuster hit Ocean's Thirteen.

More recently, Pacino received public and critical acclaim—including an Emmy Award and Golden Globe—for his role as Dr. Jack Kevorkian , an assisted-suicide advocate, in the 2010 TV movie You Don’t Know Jack.

Prouducer and Director

Outside of acting, Pacino has received applause for his work as a director. In 1996, he directed and produced Looking for Richard, a documentary about William Shakespeare  and one of Shakespeare's known plays, Richard III. In 2000, Pacino directed and performed in the film Chinese Coffee, nearly a decade after playing a part in the original, Broadway version. More than a decade later, in 2011, he directed a film about writer Oscar Wilde, Wilde Salome. Pacino has worked solely as a producer on other films, as well.

Kristen Stewart

Actress Kristen Stewart was born on April 9, 1990, in Los Angeles, California. A talent scout discovered her while acting in a grade school Christmas play. Shortly after,

she was cast in a Disney movie and has had steady work ever since. She starred with  Jodie Foster  in 2002's Panic Room and  Dennis Quaid and  Sharon Stone in 2003's Cold Creek Manor. Her most notable role, however, has been playing Bella in The Twilight Saga films from 2008 to 2012.

Actress. Born Kristen Jaymes Stewart on April 9, 1990, in Los Angeles, California. Her father John—a stage manager, producer and director—and mother Jules—a scriptwriter—immersed their daughter in the Hollywood scene at an early age. She made her first television appearance at the age of eight after her performance in a grade school Christmas play caught the eye of a talent scout. Shortly after, she landed a bit role on the Disney Channel TV movie, The Thirteenth Year (1999).

Two years later, Stewart landed a more substantial in the independent film The Safety of Objects (2001). But the actress's big break didn't come until 2002, when she was cast as the lead in the blockbuster drama Panic Room, starring with film veterans Jodie Foster ,Forest whitaker and Jared Leto. Stewart's role as the diabetic, troubled teen caught the attention of critics, who praised her understated and solid performance. Fans also resonated with Stewart, and the film raked in a respectable $95 million at the box office.

Film Roles

Stewart next signed on to play the daughter of  Dannis Quaid and Sharon Stone in another suspense drama, Cold Creek Manor (2003). Although Stewart and her co-stars turned out solid performances in the film, the plot was lambasted by reviewers and fans and performed poorly at the box office. Stewart followed up with two more low-performing films in the next year: the light-hearted teen film, Catch That Kid (2004), and the adventure film Undertow (2004) which, despite decent reviews, went almost straight to video.

Stewart showed her versatility as a performer in the Showtime special feature, Speak (2005), about a teen who stops speaking after a sexual assault. That same year, she appeared in the sci-fi film Zathura, followed by the drama Fierce People (2006). After appearing in several more mild box-office successes, Stewart landed a the role of a teenage commune dweller in the critically acclaimed biopic Into the Wild (2007). The role brought Stewart back to the spotlight, and that same year she landed in Mary Stuart Masterson's The Cake Eaters.

twilight saga

The year 2008 was a big one for Stewart, who starred across Robert De Niro in the Hollywood satire What Just Happened? (2008), then landed the starring role across from teen heartthrob  Robert Panttison in the film version of the successful  Stephenie mayer book series, Twlight (2008). The novels, about a teen who falls in love with a charming vampire, already had a legion of fans.

Soon Stewart became the romantic icon for thousands of teens, launching her to A-List actor status. In fact, her popularity in the role overshadowed other projects in the works, including a starring part in the comedy Adventureland (2009), and her role in Welcome to the Rileys (2009), starring  James Gandolfini.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon came out in 2009,

and it proved to be an even bigger hit than the first installment. The film earned more than $290 million at box office in the United States alone, and Stewart and her co-star Stewart, however, experienced a tremendous personal backlash later that year when it was revealed that she had been involved with the Snow White and the Huntsman's married director Rupert Sands. Stewart publicly apologized to her boyfriend and Twilight co-star  Robert Pattinson about this indiscretion. found themselves with an ever growing young fan base. There was also much media speculation about an off-screen relationship between the pair. In an attempt to break out of the Bella mold, Stewart played rocker  Joan Jett in the 2010 biopic The Runaways with  Dakota Fanning .

Life After Twilight 

The same year that the Twilight series concluded, Stewart enjoyed some box office success in another famous role. She portrayed the famed fairy tale heroine in Snow White and the Huntsman with  Chris HemsWorth and  Charlize Theron. The film, which transformed the Snow White character into a warrior of sorts, proved to be one of the summer's most popular hits.

Stewart, however, experienced a tremendous personal backlash later that year when it was revealed that she had been involved with the Snow White and the Huntsman's married director Rupert Sands. Stewart publicly apologized to her boyfriend and Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson about this indiscretion.

While plans are in the works for Snow White and the Huntsman sequel, most reports indicate that a new director will be used for the project. Stewart has a challenging road ahead her as she struggles to find new roles after Twilight. Audiences embraced her as one-half of a popular fiction power couple, but it remains unclear how far she can propel herself out of Twilight's shadow.

This transitional time in her film career has not slowed interest in her personal life. She continues to be under a media microscope. Stewart's appearance at the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, for instance, became a hot topic of discussion. She limped on stage to serve as a presenter, and it was later revealed that she had cut her foot on a piece of glass. The status of her relationship with Pattinson also gets frequent coverage in the weekly tabloids.

Jet Lee

One of the world's biggest action stars, Jet Li Lian Jie was born on April 26, 1963 in the outskirts of Beijing, China in a town named Heibei. At a young age, he developed an interest in wu shu (the dominant martial art in Mainland China, favored by the government because it promotes movement rather than force) and enrolled in an academy. The school's teacher, Wu Ben, took an immediate interest to Li, seeing his natural talent. Over the years, Wu and Li would develop a father/son relationship, which was made all that much stronger since Li's own father died when he was two years old. Wu would often single out Li and give him extra tasks to do; Li at first felt bad about this, but in later years, he realized that Wu saw something in him and was only trying to bring it out. Li's skills developed quickly, and he eventually won many competitions and even performed in front of US president Richard Nixon at the White House as part of the Chinese/US cultural exchange during the 1970's.

When Li was 19, he appeared in his first film, Shaolin Temple. Li was already regarded as a national hero for his athletic accomplishments, and the film (the first modern kung-fu movie made in China) shot him to superstardom in China. Fans flocked to various temples, hoping to imitate their hero. Li -- a quiet and shy man -- felt uncomfortable with his fame. He ventured into films with the idea of bringing interest of wu shu to the populace, not to become a star. Nevertheless, he continued to appear in a series of popular Shaolin films, such as Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) and also directed a film, Born to Defence (also 1986).

Wishing to find a wider audience for his work, Li moved to America and appeared in 1989's Dragon Fight. The film failed to find an audience, but Li seemed determined to stick it out. Eventually, he hooked up with noted producer/director Tsui Hark and the two -- using some of their own money -- created The Master in 1990. This time, the film (which had a miniscule budget and looked cheap even comapred to many US B-movies) didn't even reach a distributor; it was shelved until 1992. But Tsui and Li had formed a bond and Tsui convinced Li to come with him back to Hong Kong.

It was with Tsui that Li found international stardom. 1991's Once Upon a Time in China, which had Li taking on the role of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-Hung, was a huge hit and is now regarded as one of the best martial arts movies ever. The following two sequels were also very popular, so it was quite a surprise when Li quit the series. Rumors abounded of everything from money disputes to Triad "involvement." At any rate, Li moved away from Wong Fei-Hung -- at least temporarily. After Swordsman II (1993), Li starred in another movie about a Chinese folk hero, Fong Sai Yuk (also 1993). The movie was again a huge hit, but perhaps more importantly, this was the first time he worked with Corey Yuen Kwai. Yuen would go on to work in some capacity on almost all of Li's next films, either as director or fight co-ordinator.

Li's next choice of a director to work with again puzzled many people. With Last Hero in China (1993), Li began a series of films that involved producer/director Wong Jing. Wong and Tsui Hark are quite the opposites in the HK film world; Tsui's films are known for being lavish, big-budget affairs with deep storylines, while Wong's (while equally popular with local audiences) are known for being cheap and full of sex, violence and crude humor. Many people (especially tabloid reporters) came up with many theories as to why Li worked with Wong. Some said it was due to Li's lingering resentment at Tsui; others surmised that Wong used Triad connections to "convince" Li to work with him. At any rate, Li's work during this period ranged from parody (Last Hero in China had Li once again playing Wong Fei-Hung, but for laughs, as in one scene where he dresses up in a rooster outfit) to romance (with 1994's The Bodyguard from Beijing, a HK remake of the Kevin Costner movie) to gun-fu action (such as 1995's High Risk, a movie "inspired" by Die Hard) and gained him a worldwide following of fans. 

In 1994, Li, Yuen Woo-Ping and rising director Gordon Chan worked on a remake of Bruce Lee's classic Fist of Fury. Li was a bit hesitant to work on the film. He was hounded by billings of him being the "next Bruce Lee" his whole cinematic life, and Li knew (and himself felt) that Lee was somewhat of a "cinematic God" all around the world. Li, Chan and Yuen worked closely together to create a movie that would both satisfy fans of Bruce Lee, fans of Jet Li, and also (like the original film did) bring in new fans. They decided to forgo much of the wire-fu (a style which makes people seem as if they are flying, shooting fireballs or other exaggerated movements by using hidden wires and other camera tricks) Li used in most of his recent work (a result of being injured on the set on Once Upon a Time in China) and stick with a harder, more realistic style that was closer to Bruce Lee's own work. The result was Li's biggest success in years and what many people consider to be his best movie ever, Fist of Legend.

Despite the rumors about their relationship, Li went back to working with Tsui Hark with the Tsui-produced sci-fi/action extravaganza Black Mask in 1996. In 1997, Li once again stepped into the shoes of Wong Fei-Hung in the last movie in the OUATIC series, Once Upon a Time in China and America. After filming wrapped on Hitman (1998), Li was approached by American producers for the role of a villain in the latest installment of the popular Lethal Weapon series. Li, wanting to secure a steady future for his two children, took the offer -- as long as he was able to bring Corey Yuen over to direct his fight scenes. The film (despite lukewarm reviews) was a huge hit and successfully introduced Li to America. In fact, audiences responded so well to Li that his face and name were added to the film's poster after its' opening weekend.

Like Jackie Chan before him, Li's initial US success led to a spate of re-releases of his older work. Unlike Chan, though, these films (for the most part) were released uncut, besides some title changes and re-dubbed soundtracks -- the US version of Once Upon a Time in China stands out as one of the best US video versions of a Hong Kong movie. In 2000, Li made his US starring debut with Romeo Must Die. While not a runaway success, RMD earned back three times its' budget and paved the way for future projects for Li, which may include an appearance in a sequel to The Matrix (which now seems unlikely since the producers only offered him US$3 million compared to his now-standard salary of $10 million) and a role as "Kato" in a remake of The Green Hornet. In 2001, Li struck at the US box office twice, with a film produced by La Femme Nikita director Luc Besson called Kiss of the Dragon, which premiered in the number four slot at the US box office (an impressive feat during the busy summer season) and garnered both critical and fan adulation, and The One which garnered Jet's biggest opening to date ($20 million) despite lukewarm reviews.

About Jackie

Jackie Chan was born in  Hong Kong on April 7th, 1954. His parents, Charles and Lee-lee Chan named him Chan Kong-sang which means "born in Hong Kong."

Jackie weighed a whopping 12 pounds when he was born and his mother required surgery to deliver him. Jackie's parents were so poor that they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor.  

Although Jackie's parents were poor, they were lucky enough to have good jobs at the French embassy in Hong Kong. Charles was a cook and Lee-lee was a housekeeper. Together, the Chan family lived on the Peak in Hong Kong.

When Jackie was little, his father would wake him early in the morning and together they would practice kung fu. Charles Chan believed that learning kung fu would help build Jackie's character, teaching him patience, strength, and courage.

When Jackie was 7 years old his father took a job as the head cook at the American embassy in Australia. He could not bring Jackie with him, so he enrolled him in the China Drama Academy where Jackie would live for the next 10 years of his life. 

During Jackie's time at the school, he learned martial arts, acrobatics, singing, and acting. The school was meant to prepare boys for a life in the Peking Opera. Chinese opera was very different from any other kind of opera. It included singing, tumbling, and acrobatics as well as martial arts skills and acting. Students at the school were not treated kindly at all. They were given just enough food to survive. They were beaten if they disobeyed or if they made mistakes. It was a very harsh and difficult life but Jackie had nowhere else to go, so he stayed. He hardly saw his parents at all for many years.

During his time at the China Academy, Jackie made his acting debut at age eight in the Cantonese movie "Big and Little Wong Tin Bar." He later teamed with other opera students in a performance group called "The Seven Little Fortunes." As Jackie got older he worked as a stuntman or an extra in the Hong Kong film industry.

When Jackie was 17, he graduated from the China Drama Academy. Unfortunately the Chinese opera was not very popular anymore, so Jackie and his classmates had to find other work. This was difficult because at the school they were never taught how to read or write. The only work available to them was unskilled labor or stunt work. Each year many movies were made in Hong Kong and they were always looking for young, strong stuntmen. Jackie took these jobs and soon earned a reputation for being fearless. Jackie Chan would try anything .

Over the next few years, Jackie worked as a stuntman in Hong Kong. When the Hong Kong movie industry began to fail, he was forced to go to Australia to live with his parents. He worked in a restaurant and on a construction site. It was there that he got the name "Jackie." A man named Jack who worked on the site had trouble pronouncing "Kong-sang" and started calling Jackie "little Jack." That soon became Jackie and the name stuc

Jackie was very unhappy in Australia. The construction work was difficult and boring. One day Jackie received a telegram from a man named Willie Chan. Jackie didn't know it but Willie would end up becoming his best friend and manager. Willie Chan worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and was looking for someone to star in a new movie being made by Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong producer/director. Willie had seen Jackie when Jackie was working as a stuntman and had been impressed.  

Jackie called Willie and they talked. Soon Jackie was on his way back to Hong Kong to star in "New Fist of Fury." It was 1976 and Jackie Chan was 21 years old.

Once Jackie got back to Hong Kong, Willie Chan took control over Jackie's career. To this day Jackie is quick to point out that he owes his success to Willie. 

The movies that Jackie made for Lo Wei were not very successful. The problem was that Jackie's talents were not being used properly. It was only when Jackie was able to contribute his ideas that he became a star. He brought humor to martial arts movies; his first success was "Snake in Eagle's Shadow." It was the first movie that Jackie had a part in making and it was a huge hit! This was followed by "Drunken Master" (another blockbuster) and Jackie's first ever directing job, "Fearless Hyena." All were big hits.

Eventually Jackie ended up in the United States to make the movie "The Big Brawl." It was not successful. Next came "Cannonball Run" which was successful in the US and Japan, but not in Hong Kong. Jackie was very discouraged and went back to Hong Kong to continue making the action-comedy movies he had become famous for.

In 1985, Jackie went back to the States to make "The Protector" which was also a flop. He left the US once again. It would be 10 years before he returned to make the successful "Rumble in the Bronx." After that came "Rush Hour," "Shanghai Noon," and "Rush Hour 2." Jackie Chan had achieved his dream of being a superstar in America     
      

Bruce Lee

Martial arts expert Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, California. He appeared in roughly 20 films as a child actor back in Hong King, beginning in 1946. Lee gained a measure of U.S. celebrity with his role in the television series The Green Hornet, from 1966 to 1967, then went on to star in countless films until 1973, when he died in Hong Kong at the age of 32.

Martiel Arty Master

Actor, martial arts expert. Born Lee Jun Fan, on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, California. His father, a Hong Kong opera singer, moved with his wife and three children to the United States in 1939; his fourth child, a son, was born while he was on tour in San Francisco. Lee’s mother called him “Bruce,” which means “strong one” in Gaelic. Young Bruce appeared in his first film at the age of three months, when he served as the stand-in for an American baby in Golden Gate Girl.

In 1941, the Lees moved back to Hong Kong, then occupied by the Japanese. Apparently a natural in front of the camera, Bruce Lee appeared in roughly 20 films as a child actor, beginning in 1946. He also studied dance, once winning a cha-cha competition. As a teenager, he became a member of a Hong Kong street gang, and in 1953 began studying kung-fu to sharpen his fighting skills. In 1959, after Lee got into trouble with the police for fighting, his mother sent him back to the U.S. to live with family friends outside Seattle, Washington.

Lee finished high school in Edison, Washington, and subsequently enrolled as a philosophy major at the University of Washington. He also got a job teaching the Wing Chun style of martial arts that he had learned in Hong Kong to his fellow students and others. Through his teaching, Lee met Linda Emery, whom he married in 1964. By that time, Lee had opened his own martial arts school in Seattle. He and Linda soon moved to California, where Lee opened two more schools in Los Angeles and Oakland. At his schools, Lee taught mostly a style he called Jeet Kune Do.

Action Hero

Lee gained a measure of celebrity with his role in the television series The Green Hornet, which aired from 1966 to 1967. In the show, which was based on a 1930s radio program, the small, wiry Lee displayed his acrobatic and theatrical fighting style as the Hornet’s loyal sidekick, Kato. He went on to make guest appearances in such TV shows as Ironside and Longstreet, while his most notable role came in the 1969 film Marlowe, starring  James Carner . Confronted with the dearth of meaty roles and the prevalence of stereotypes regarding actors of Asian heritage, Lee left Los Angeles for Hong Kong in 1971, with his wife and two children (Brandon, born in 1965, and Shannon, born in 1967).

Back in the city where he had grown up, Lee signed a two-film contract. Fists of Fury was released in late 1971, featuring Lee as a vengeful fighter chasing the villains who had killed his kung-fu master.

Combining his smooth Jeet Kune Do athleticism with the high-energy theatrics of his performance in The Green Hornet, Lee was the charismatic center of the film, which set new box office records in Hong Kong. Those records were broken by Lee’s next film, The Chinese Connection (1972), which, like Fists of Fury, received poor reviews from critics when they were released in the U.S.

By the end of 1972, Lee was a major movie star in Asia. He had founded his own production company, 

Concord Pictures, and had released his first directorial feature, Way of the Dragon. Though he had not yet gained stardom in America, he was poised on the brink with his second directorial feature and first major Hollywood project, Enter the Dragon.

Death And Legacy

On July 20, 1973, just one month before the premiere of Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee died in Hong Kong at the age of 32. The official cause of his sudden and utterly unexpected death was a brain edema, found in an autopsy to have been caused by a strange reaction to a prescription painkiller he was reportedly taking for a back injury. Controversy surrounded Lee’s death from the beginning, as some claimed he had been murdered. He was also widely believed to have been cursed, a conclusion driven by Lee’s obsession with his own early death. (The tragedy of the so-called curse was compounded in 1993, when  Bradom Lee was killed under similarly mysterious circumstances during the filming of The Crow. The 28-year-old actor was fatally shot with a gun that supposedly contained blanks but somehow had a live round lodged deep within its barrel.

With the posthumous release of Enter the Dragon, Lee’s status as a film icon was confirmed. The film went on to gross a total of over $200 million, and Lee’s legacy created a whole new breed of action hero—a mold filled with varying degrees of success by such actors as Chuck Norris  Jean Cluade Van Damme Steav Seagal, and Jackie Chan.

Computer Master Bill Gates

• NAME:  Bill Gates 
• OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur
• BIRTH DATE:    October 28 / 1955 { Totally Age 58 }
• EDUCATION: Lakeside School,  Harvard Collage 
• PLACE OF BIRTH: Seattle, Washington
• Full Name: William Henry Gates III
• ZODIAC SIGN:  Scorpio 
• ---------------------------------------------------------- 
• William Henry Gates III {born October 28, 1955}, is an American business magnate, philanthropist, the world’s third richest man (as of 2008), and chairman of  Microsoft , the software company he founded with    Paul Allen . During his career at  Microsoft , Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the individual shareholder with the most shares, with more than 9 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.  
• 
  Bill Gates grew up in an upper middle-class family with two sisters: Kristianne, who is older, and Libby, who is younger. Their father, William H. Gates, Sr., was a promising, if somewhat shy, law student when he met his future wife, Mary Maxwell. She was an athletic, outgoing student at the University of Washington, actively involved in student affairs and leadership. The Gates family atmosphere was warm and close, and all three children were encouraged to be competitive and strive for excellence. Bill showed early signs of competitiveness when he coordinated family athletic games at their summer house on Puget Sound. He also relished in playing board games (Risk was his favorite) and excelled in Monopoly.
• Bill had a very close relationship with his mother, Mary, who after a brief career as a teacher devoted her time to helping raise the children and working on civic affairs and with charities. She also served on several corporate boards, among them First Interstate Bank in Seattle (founded by her grandfather), the United Way, and International Business Machines (IBM). She would often take Bill along on her volunteer work in schools and community organizations.

• Bill was a voracious reader as a child, spending many hours pouring over reference books such as the encyclopedia. Around the age of 11 or 12, Bill's parents began to have concerns about his behavior. He was doing well in school, but he seemed bored and withdrawn at times. His parents worried he might become a loner. Though they were strong believers in public education, when Bill turned 13 they enrolled him in Seattle's Lakeside School, an exclusive preparatory school. He blossomed in nearly all his subjects, excelling in math and science, but also doing very well in drama and English.
•  
•  While at Lakeside School, a Seattle computer company offered to provide computer time for the students. The Mother's Club used proceeds from the school's rummage sale to purchase a teletype terminal for students to use. Bill Gates became entranced with what a computer could do and spent much of his free time working on the terminal. 
• He wrote a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC computer language that allowed users to play against the computer.
  
  It was at Lakeside School where Bill met  Paul Allen , who was two years his senior. The two became fast friends, bonding on their common enthusiasm over computers,
•  
• even though they were very different. Allen was more reserved and shy. Bill was feisty and at times combative. They both spent much of their free time together working on programs. Occasionally, they disagreed and would clash over who was right or who should run the computer lab. On one occasion, their argument escalated to the point where Allen banned Gates from the computer lab. On another occasion, Gates and Allen had their school computer privileges revoked for taking advantage of software glitches to obtain free computer time from the company that provided the computers. After their probation, they were allowed back in the computer lab when they offered to debug the program. During this time, Gates developed a payroll program for the computer company the boys hacked into, and a scheduling program for the school.
•  
•  In 1970, at the age of 15, Bill Gates went into business with his pal, Paul Allen. They developed "Traf-o-Data," a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle, and netted $20,000 for their efforts. Gates and Allen wanted to start their own company, but Gates' parents wanted him to finish school and go on to college where they hoped he would work to become a lawyer.
•  
• Bill Gates graduated from Lakeside in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the college SAT test, a feat of intellectual achievement that for several years he boasted about when introducing himself to new people.
•  
• Faster Career
• Gates enrolled at Harvard University in the fall, originally thinking of a career in law. But his freshman year saw him spend more of his time in the computer lab than in class. Gates did not really have a study regimen. Instead, he could get by on a few hours of sleep, cram for a test, and pass with a reasonable grade.
•  
• Gates remained in contact with  Paul allen  who, after attending Washington State University for two years, dropped out and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to work for Honeywell. In the summer of 1974, Gates joined Allen at Honeywell. During this time, Allen showed Gates an edition of Popular Electronics magazine featuring an article on the Altair 8800 mini-computer kit. Both boys were fascinated with the possibilities this computer could make toward personal computing. The Altair was made by a small company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Gates and Allen contacted the company proclaiming they were working on a BASIC software program that would run the Altair computer. In reality, they didn't have an Altair to work with or the code to run it. But they wanted to know if MITS was interested in someone developing such software. MITS was, and its president Ed Roberts asked the boys for a demonstration. Gates and Allen scrambled, and spent the next two months writing the software at Harvard's computer lab.  
•  
• Allen traveled to Albuquerque for a test run at MITS, never having tried it out on an Altair computer. It worked perfectly. Allen was hired at MITS and Gates soon left Harvard to work with him, much to his parents' dismay. In 1975, Gates and Allen formed a partnership they called Micro-Soft,
•  
•  a blend of "micro-computer" and "software."
•  Microsoft (Gates and Allen dropped the hyphen in less than a year) started off on shaky footing. Though their BASIC software program for the Altair computer netted the company a fee and royalties, it wasn't meeting their overhead. Microsoft's BASIC software was popular with computer hobbyists who obtained pre-market copies and were reproducing and distributing them for free. According to Gates' later account, only about 10 percent of the people using BASIC in the Altair computer had actually paid for it. At this time, much of the personal computer enthusiasts were people not in it for the money. They felt the ease of reproduction and distribution allowed them to share software with friends and fellow computer enthusiasts. Bill Gates thought differently. He saw the free distribution of software as stealing, especially when it involved software that was created to be sold.
•  
• In February of 1976, Gates wrote an open letter to computer hobbyists saying that continued distribution and use of software without paying for it would "prevent good software from being written." In essence, pirating software would discourage developers from investing time and money into creating quality software. The letter was unpopular with computer enthusiasts, but Gates stuck to his beliefs and would use the threat of innovation as a defense when faced with charges of unfair business practices.
•  
• Gates had a more acrimonious relationship with MITS president Ed Roberts, often resulting in shouting matches. The combative Gates clashed with Roberts on software development and the direction of the business. Roberts considered Gates spoiled and obnoxious. In 1977, Roberts sold MITS to another computer company, and went back to Georgia to enter medical school and become a country doctor. Gates and Allen were on their own. The pair had to sue the new owner of MITS to retain the software rights they had developed for Altair.
•  
• Microsoft wrote software in different formats for other computer companies and, at the end of 1978, Gates moved the company's operations to Bellevue Washington, just east of Seattle. Bill Gates was glad to be home again in the Pacific Northwest, and threw himself into his work. All 25 employees of the young company had broad responsibilities for all aspects of the operation, product development, business development, and marketing. With his acumen for software development and a keen business sense, Gates placed himself as the head of Microsoft, which grossed $2.5 million in 1978. Gates was only 23.
• The Opening Of  Microsoft
• Gates' acumen for not only software development but also business operations put him in the position of leading the company and working as its spokesperson. 
•  
• He personally reviewed every line of code the company shipped, often rewriting code when he saw it necessary. As the computer industry began to grow with companies like Apple, Intel, and IBM developing hardware and components, 
•  
• Bill was continuously out on the road touting the merits of Microsoft software applications. He often took his mother with him. Mary was highly respected and well connected with her membership on several corporate boards including IBM. It was through Mary that Bill Gates met the CEO of IBM.
•  
• In November 1980, IBM was looking for software that would operate their upcoming personal computer (PC) and approached Microsoft. Legend has it that at the first meeting with Bill Gates someone at IBM mistook him for an office assistant and asked him to serve coffee. Gates did look very young, but he quickly impressed IBM, convincing them that he and his company could meet their needs. The only problem was that Microsoft had not developed the basic operating system that would run IBM's new computers. Not to be stopped, Gates bought an operating system that was developed to run on computers similar to IBM's PC. He made a deal with the software's developer, making Microsoft the exclusive licensing agent and later full owner of the software but not telling them of the IBM deal. The company later sued Microsoft and Gates for withholding important information. Microsoft settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, but neither Gates nor Microsoft admitted to any wrong doing.
•  
• Gates had to adapt the newly purchased software to work for the IBM PC. He delivered it for a $50,000 fee, the same price he had paid for the software in its original form. IBM wanted to buy the source code, which would have given them the information to the operating system. Gates refused, instead proposing that IBM pay a licensing fee for copies of the software sold with their computers. Doing this allowed Microsoft to license the software they called MS-DOS to any other PC manufacturer, should other computer companies clone the IBM PC, which they soon did. Microsoft also released software called Softcard, which allowed Microsoft BASIC to operate on Apple II machines.
•  
• Gates had to adapt the newly purchased software to work for the IBM PC. He delivered it for a $50,000 fee, the same price he had paid for the software in its original form. IBM wanted to buy the source code, which would have given them the information to the operating system. Gates refused, instead proposing that IBM pay a licensing fee for copies of the software sold with their computers. Doing this allowed Microsoft to license the software they called MS-DOS to any other PC manufacturer, should other computer companies clone the IBM PC, which they soon did. Microsoft also released software called Softcard, which allowed Microsoft BASIC to operate on Apple II machines.
•  
• Between 1978 and 1981, Microsoft's growth exploded, and staff increased from 25 to 128. Revenue also shot up from $4 million to $16 million. In mid-1981 Gates and Allen incorporated Microsoft, and Gates was appointed president and chairman of the board. Allen was named executive vice-president.
•  
• By 1983, Microsoft was going global with offices in Great Britain and Japan, and with 30 percent of the world's computers running on its software. But 1983 also brought news that rocked Microsoft to its very foundation. Paul Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Though his cancer went into remission a year later with intensive treatment, Allen resigned from company that same year. Rumors abound as to why Allen left Microsoft. Some say Bill Gates pushed him out, but many say it was a life-changing experience for Allen and he saw there were other opportunities that he could invest his time in. 
• The Invention Of Microsoft Windows
• 
  
• Though their rivalry is legend, Microsoft and Apple shared many of their early innovations. In 1981 Apple invited Microsoft to help develop software for Macintosh computers. Some developers were involved in both Microsoft develeopment, 
•  
• and the development of Microsoft applications for Macintosh. The collaboration could be seen in some shared names between the Microsoft and Macintosh systems.
  It was through this knowledge sharing that Microsoft was to develop Windows. A system was that used a mouse to drive a graphic interface, displaying text and images on the screen. This differed greatly from the text and keyboard driven MS-DOS system where all text formatting showed on the screen as code and not what actually would be printed. Bill Gates quickly recognized the threat this kind of software might pose for MS-DOS and Microsoft overall. For the unsophisticated user—which was most of the buying public—the graphic imagery of the VisiCorp software would be so much easier to use. Gates announced in an advertising campaign that a new Microsoft operating system was about to be developed that would use a graphic interface. It was to be called "Windows," and would be compatible with all PC software products developed on the MS-DOS system. The announcement was a bluff, in that Microsoft had no such program under development. But as a marketing tactic it was sheer genius as nearly 30 percent of the computer market was using the MS-DOS system and would wait for Windows software rather than change to a new system. Without people willing to change formats, software developers were unwilling to write programs for the VisiCorp system and it lost momentum by early 1985.
•  
• In November 1985, Bill Gates and Microsoft launched Windows; nearly two years after his announcement. Visually the Windows system looked very similar to the Macintosh system Apple Computer Corporation had introduced nearly two years earlier. Apple had earlier given Microsoft full access to their technology while it was working on making Microsoft products compatible for Apple computers. Gates had advised Apple to license their software but they ignored the advice, being more interested in selling computers. Once again, Gates took full advantage of the situation and created a software format that was strikingly similar to the Macintosh. Apple threatened to sue and Microsoft retaliated, saying it would delay shipment of its Microsoft compatible software for Macintosh users. In the end, Microsoft prevailed in the courts because it could prove that while there were similarities in how the two software systems operated, each individual function was distinctly different.
•  
• In 1986, Bill Gates took Microsoft public with an initial public offering (IPO) of $21 per share. Gates held 45 percent of the company's 24.7 million shares and became an instant millionaire at age 31. Gates' stake at that time was $234 million of Microsoft's $520 million. Over time, the company's stock increased in value and split numerous times. 
•  
• In 1987, Bill Gates became a billionaire when the stock raised to $90.75 a share. Since then, Gates has been on the top or near the top of Forbes' 400 list of the world's wealthiest people. In 1999, with stock prices at an all time high and the stock splitting eight-fold since its IPO, Gates' wealth briefly topped $101 billion.
  Yet, Bill Gates never felt totally secure about the status of his company. Always having to look over his shoulder to see where the competition was, 
•  
• he developed a white hot drive and competitive spirit. Gates expected everyone in the company to have the same drive and dedication. One story goes that one of Gates' assistants had come to work early to find someone sleeping under a desk. She considered calling security or the police when she discovered it was Gates.
•  
• Bill Gates' intelligence allowed him to be able to see all sides of the software industry—product development and corporate strategy. When analyzing any corporate move, he would develop a profile of all the possible cases and run through them, asking questions about anything that could possibly happen. His confrontational management style became legend as he would challenge employees and their ideas to keep the creative process going. An unprepared presenter would hear, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" from Gates. But this was as much a test of the rigor of the employee as it was Gates' passion for his company. He was constantly testing the people around him to see if they were really convinced of their ideas.
•  
• Outside the company, Bill Gates was gaining a reputation as a ruthless competitor. Several tech companies led by IBM began to develop their own operating system called OS/2 to replace MS-DOS. Rather than give into the pressure, Gates pushed ahead with the Windows software, improving its operation and expanding its uses. In 1989, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Office which bundled office productivity applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel into one system that was compatible with all Microsoft products. The applications were not as easily compatible with OS/2. Microsoft's new version of Windows sold 100,000 copies in just two weeks and OS/2 soon faded away. This left Microsoft with a virtual monopoly on operating systems for PCs. Soon the Federal Trade Commission began to investigate Microsoft for unfair marketing practices.
•  
• Microsoft faced a string of Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department investigations throughout the 1990s. Some related allegations that Microsoft made unfair deals with computer manufactures who installed the Windows operating system on their computers. Other charges involved Microsoft forcing computer manufactures to sell Microsoft's Internet Explorer as a condition for selling the Windows operating system with their computers.
•  
• At one point, Microsoft faced a possible break up of its two divisions—operating systems and software development. Microsoft defended itself, harking back to Bill Gates' earlier battles with software piracy, and proclaiming that such restrictions were a threat to innovation.
• Eventually, Microsoft was able to find a settlement with the federal government to avoid a breakup. Through it all, Gates found some inventive ways to deflect the pressure with light-hearted commercials and public appearances at computer trade shows posing as Star Trek's Mr. Spock. Gates continued to run the company and weather the federal investigations through the 1990s.
•  
• Person Life
• In 1989, a 28-year-old Microsoft executive named Melinda French caught the eye of Bill Gates, then 37. The very bright and organized Melinda was a perfect match for Gates. In time, their relationship grew as they discovered an intimate and intellectual connection. On January 1, 1994, Melinda and Bill were married in Hawaii. But only a few months later heartbreak struck Bill Gates as his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died in June 1994. Gates was devastated.
• 
  
• Bill and Melinda took some time off in 1995 to travel to several countries and get a new perspective on life and the world. In 1996, their first daughter, Jennifer, was born. A year later, Gates moved his family into a 55,000 sq ft. $54 million house on the shore of Lake Washington. Though the house serves as a business center, it is said to be a very cozy home for the couple and their three children.
• 
  
• Philanthropic Efforts
• With the influence of his wife Melinda, Gates took an interest in filling his mother's role as a civic leader. He began to realize that he had an obligation to give more of his wealth to charity. Being the consummate student he was, Gates studied the philanthropic work of  Andrew Carnegie  and John D. Rockefeller, titans of the American industrial revolution. In 1994, Gates and his wife established the William H. Gates Foundation which was dedicated to supporting education, world health, and investment in low-income communities. In 2000, the couple combined several family foundations to form the Bill and  Milanda Gates Foundation. They started out by making a $28 billion contribution to set up the foundation.
• 
  
• Bill Gates stepped down from the day-to-day operations of Microsoft in 2000, turning over the job of CEO to college friend Steve Ballmer who had been with Microsoft since 1980. He positioned himself as chief software architect so he could concentrate on what was for him the more passionate side of the business. He still remains chairman of the board. Over the next few years, his involvement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation occupied much of his time and even more of his interest. In 2006, Gates announced he was transitioning himself from full-time work at Microsoft, to devote more quality time to the Foundation. His last full day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008.
• 
  
• In addition to all the accolades of being one of the most successful and richest businessmen in the history of the world, Bill Gates has also received numerous awards for philanthropic work. Time magazine named Gates one of the most influential people of the 20th century. The magazine also named Gates, his wife Melinda, and rock band U2's lead singer Bono as the 2005 Persons of the Year.
• 
  
• Gates also holds several honorary doctorates from universities throughout the world and an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II . In 2006, Gates and his wife were awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the Mexican government for their philanthropic work throughout the world in the areas of health and education.
• 
  
• Ended of Story Bill Gates 
• 
  
• My Great Hero .

Bill Gates Meet To Arfa Karim Life datails

Arfa Karim Randhawa (February 2, 1995 – January 14, 2012), born in a Jatt Randhawa family from village Chak No. 4JB Ram Dewali, Faisalabad in Pakistan. In 2004 at the age of nine years, became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) in the world, a title she kept until 2008. She was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in USA

On returning to Pakistan, Arfa had numerous interviews with television and newspapers. In August 2005, Arfa Karim received the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology, presented by the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in August 2005 by the President of Pakistan. Arfa Karim is also the recipient of the President’s Award for Pride of Performance. This is a very high level civil award granted to people who have shown excellence in their respective fields over a long period of time. Arfa is the youngest recipient of that award.

Arfa Karim has also represented Pakistan on various international forums, she was invited by the IT Professionals of Dubai for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. A dinner reception was hosted for her there, which was attended by the diagnostics of Dubai including the Ambassador of Pakistan. During that trip, Arfa was presented with various medals and awards. She also flew a plane in a flying club in Dubai at the age of 10, and received the first flight certificate.

In November 2006, Arfa Karim was invited by Microsoft to be a part of the keynote session in the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona. She was the only Pakistani among over 5000 developers in that conference.

As of 2011, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim was studying at Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A Levels. She suffered from cardiac arrest after an epileptic seizure on December 22, 2011 and was admitted to Lahore’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in critical condition.

On January 9, 2012, Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft, has made contact with Arfa’s parents, and directed his doctors to adopt “every kind of measure” for her treatment. Gates’ doctors contacted Arfa’s Pakistani doctors and received details about the illness through internet. On the other hand, relatives and family members of Arfa have lauded Bill Gates for contacting to bear her treatment expenses. They also expressed their dissatisfaction over Pakistan government attitude which despite repeated claims did not pay any head towards the issue.

On January 13, 2012, Arfa Karim started to improve and some parts of her brain showed signs of improvement. Arfa felt desperately ill the previous month and doctors say that she had suffered brain damage, leaving her in a coma at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Lahore. Her father, Amjad Karim Randhawa, said Microsoft had raised the possibility of flying Arfa to the US for care.

On January 14, 2012 16 year old Arfa Karim died at 9:50 PM (Pakistan Standard Time) at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore. Her Namaz e Janaza was offered in Cavalry Ground Lahore at 10 a.m. on January 15, 2012.

Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was born in Bhopal on April 1, 1936.

After receiving his early education in Bhopal, he left for Karachi where he obtained the Degree of Bachelor of Science in 1960 from the University of Karachi.

Subsequently he went to West Germany and studied in Berlin where he achieved high competence through attending several courses in metallurgical engineering.

He obtained the degree of Master of Science (Technology) in 1967 from Delft Technological University, Holland.

Dr. Khan received his Doctor of Engineering Degree from the University of Leuven, Belgium in 1972.

After completing his formal education Dr. Khan started his career as a Materials Expert.

He worked as an expert in several organizations in Europe, including the Uranium Enrichment Plant in Holland, which provided him state-of-the-art experience in nuclear technology.

In 1976, he joined the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) in Pakistan to set up an Uranium enrichment industrial plant.

As a tribute to his services rendered to the defense of Pakistan, the then President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, renamed the Engineering Research Laboratories, Kahuta as Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1981.

Over the years, the Laboratories became a focal point for a large number of scientists, engineers and technologists.

Dr. Khan guided them through the tasks that have led to unparalleled advances in missile and uranium enrichment technologies. This breakthrough eventually resulted in the historic explosions of six nuclear bombs on May 28 and May 30,1998 and the successful test firing of Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles namely “Ghauri”, on April 6, 1998 and on April 14, 1999, respectively.

The research areas of Dr. Khan are Metallurgy, Materials Science and Nuclear Engineering. As an active scientist and technologist, he has published 190 research papers in reputable national and international journals and two patents in the U.K. are registered in his name. Dr. A. Q. Khan has authored a large number of books on Metallurgy.

Dr. Khan has received six honorary degrees of Doctor of Science, respectively from the University of Karachi (July 25, 1993), Baqai Medical University, Karachi (December 11, 1998), Hamdard University, Karachi (March 6, 1999), Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, N.W.F.P. (April 16,1999), University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (December 9, 2000) and Sir Syed University, Karachi (March 25, 2001). For his important and eminent contributions in the field of science and technology, the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan conferred upon Dr. Khan the award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz on 14 August, 1996 and 14 August, 1998. He is also a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz. Dr. Khan is the only Pakistani to have received the highest civil award of “Nishan-i-Imtiaz” twice.

He has been awarded 63 gold medals and 3 gold crowns by various national institutions and organizations. He is a Fellow of Kazakh National Academy of Sciences, the first Asian scientist with this honour. He is also a Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences. Being a Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences, he was elected President of the Academy an impressive 3rd time in January 2001. He is also a member of a large number of national and international professional organizations, which include Pakistan Institute of Metallurgical Engineers; Pakistan Institute of Engineers; Institute of Central and West Asian Studies; the Institute of Materials, London; American Society of Metal (ASM); The Metallurgical Society of the American Institute of Metallurgical, Mining and Petroleum Engineers (TMS); Canadian Institute of Metals (CIM) and Japan Institute of Metals (JIM).

He is an ardent supporter of higher education. As the Project Director of GIK Institute of Science and Technology, he has invested his energies in developing the Institute into an exemplary high technology institution. He sits on the Boards of Governors and Syndicates of more than two dozen universities and institutes. He has contributed immensely to the establishment of educational institutes in Pakistan. These include several colleges, schools, institutions and academies. So wide are his community services that his contributions extend to the construction of mosques, tombs, dispensaries and community health centres to alleviate the plight of poor communities.

Hilal-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan on 14-8-1989 and decorated by the President of Pakistan Mr. Ghulam Ishaq Khan on 23-3-1990

Nishan-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan on 14-8-1996 and decorated by the President of Pakistan Mr. Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari on 25-3-1997

Nishan-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan on 14-8-1998 for the second time, thus making Dr. Khan the only Pakistani to have been decorated with the highest civil award twice. The Award was decorated by the President of Pakistan Mr. M. Rafiq Tarar on 23-3-1999