Actress Chiara Mastroianni

Chiara Mastroianni was the result of what happened when two of the most beautiful Europeans of all time chose to reproduce. :-D



She's the daughter of French actress Catherine Deneuve and the late Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni. An actress herself, the 36-year-old Chiara inherited her parents' talent as well as their looks. She also got some of their tenacity. Asked in 1986 if Chiara would become an actress, Mademoiselle Deneuve replied, "Not if she has to deal with me."

Right. :-D

Chiara Mastroianni has appeared in many films, including My Favorite Season and A Christmas Tale, both of which co-starred her mother.

Actress Jessica Lange

When onetime fashion model Jessica Lange debuted as an actress, it was in the 1976 remake of King Kong. Critics wrote her off as a "former and future model."

These same critics have since had to eat crow.



Jessica Lange soon established herself as one of Hollywood's most accomplished actresses. Ironically, it was another remake - the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, co-starring Jack Nicholson - that did it.

Since then, she has bowled over audiences in Frances (playing actress Frances Farmer), Sweet Dreams (as country singer Patsy Cline), Men Don't Leave, Blue Sky, and Big Fish, to name a few.

Perhaps her most memorable role, however, was in Tootsie as soap opera actress Julie Nichols, the love interest of Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing character.

She plays Jacqueline Kennedy's eccentric Aunt Edie in the HBO adaptation of the biographical documentary Grey Gardens, premiering this weekend.

Broadway actress Nadine Isenegger

Nadine Isenegger is a familiar face to regular attendees of musical revivals on Broadway.



She has appeared in productions of Pal Joey, A Chorus Line and 42nd Street.

Actress Kate Hudson

The daughter of actress Goldie Hawn and comedic musician Bill Hudson, Kate Hudson became completely famous with her portrayal of a rock and roll groupie in the 2000 film Almost Famous.



Her recent movies have indcluded Alex and Emma, The Skeleton Key, and, more recently, Bride Wars with Anne Hathaway.

Actress Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham is a familiar face to television viewers, especially those who saw "The Gilmore Girls," in which she starred as a thirtysomething mother of a teenager who dealt with class issues in her hometown.



Her movie credits include One True Thing and Sweet November, and she is currently appearing as Adelaide in a Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, her Broadway debut. She's gotten good reviews, better than the reviews for the show in some cases.

Actress Vera Farmiga

Vera Farmiga is an actress who's not a star. But then she's more of an actress than a star anyway.



The New Jersey-born and bred daughter of Ukrainian immigrants has appeared in 2005's Running Scared (not to be confused with the 1986 Billy Crystal/Gregory Hines movie of the same name) and Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie The Deaprted. She also starred in the 2008 Holocaust drama The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas, a movie whose ending - I won't spoil it - is not for the faint of heart.

Supermodel Dianne deWitt

Dianne deWitt was one of the coolest blonde models of the 1980s.


She was so cool, in fact, mannequins were sculpted in her likeness!

Originally from Texas, Ms. deWitt graduated from college as member of the female honor group Pi Beta Phi, which includes notable women such as Jennifer Garner and Faye Dunaway.

Ms. deWitt now works as an image and wardrobe consultant in Connecticut, and she also does video features - many of which are online - on beauty and gift ideas.


For the interested, her Web site is here. Check out her photo gallery! :-)

Actress Toni Collette

Australian actress Antonia "Toni" Collette has been a prominent figure in cinema and television of late.



Her best-known movie roles are as Lynn Sear in The Sixth Sense and Sheryl Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine, and she currently stars in the Showtime series United States of Tara, about a housewife with four different personalities.

MSNBC political analyst Michelle Bernard

Michelle Bernard is one of the very few conservative commentators I can bear. It makes sense that she's on MSNBC.



The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Michelle Bernard is a member of the Independent Women's Forum, and she's a regular panelist on Chris Matthews's MSNBC program. Though I don't agree with her politics, some of her more objective comments make sense.



The first picture is a TV image I snapped - a digital camera experiment I don't expect to try again. The second was a candid shot of her from the Obama inaugural, which I didn't take.

Willow Bay - Former Model, Current Journalist, Always Beautiful!

When Willow Bay first appeared in 1985, she was literally just another pretty face. She made her debut that year as the face of Estée Lauder ad campaign (from which the picture below comes), a gig that lasted only four years.



She left the modeling world for something a little more substantial - journalism. She's been a correspondent for ABC's and NBC's news divisions and for MSNBC, and hosted CNN's Moneyline. She has written for Fortune, and she currently serves as an editor for the Huffington Post.



Many would grumble that Willow Bay - whose name does sound like a resort - only got where she is because of her looks and her status as an ex-model, though I don't know how that would help her in her current job. Besides, she paid her dues as a media personality. Her first job was co-hosting a weekly insider show on the National Basketball Association with doofus erectus Ahmad Rashad.

She's married to Disney CEO Robert Iger.