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Lauren Graham Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

Lauren Graham 01.jpg

Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for her acting role in Gilmore Girls.

Lauren was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. When she was five, her parents divorced. Her mother, Donna Grant, moved to London to join a rock and roll band. Lauren and her father, Lawrence, moved to the D.C. area where he became a congressional staffer and single parent. She traveled extensively with her father while growing up. He is currently a lobbyist for the chocolate and confection industry.

Lauren discovered acting while in elementary school. Graham attended Langley High School, where she took part in the Drill Team which is a mix of Dance and Cheerleading. She began acting in community theatre and any other production she could find. She graduated from Barnard College/Columbia University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Lauren then moved to Texas where she earned a Master’s Degree in Acting from Southern Methodist University in 1992.

After completing her education, Lauren returned to New York where she worked as a cocktail waitress and aspiring actress. In 1995, she moved to Hollywood. In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime time TV, she had three starring roles on failed sitcoms before landing the lead role of Lorelai Gilmore on the WB’s Gilmore Girls (2000-present), for which she is best known. In addition, she has had many roles in theatrical movies, including several NYU student films and several major studio releases. She has appeared in the movies Bad Santa, The Pacifier and Sweet November. She appeared on Third Rock from the Sun as a grad student who caught the eye of Dick (John Lithgow). In addition, she has appeared on the hit comedy Seinfeld (as one of Jerry’s dates), as well as on Newsradio and Law & Order. She would like to return to the stage and hopes she will never have to do a Porky’s movie or be asked to have plastic surgery.

She is currently set to appear in the movie Evan Almighty, playing the role of Evan’s wife.

Lauren Graham is not married and lives in West Hollywood. She dated actor Tate Donovan. As of February 2006, she is dating actor Marc Blucas.

When Graham appeared on Law & Order in 1997, actor Scott Cohen also guest starred. Three years later when Graham started Gilmore Girls, Cohen became a regular on the show as Lorelai Gilmore’s boyfriend and then fiancé, Max Medina.

She dated Robert Maschio during his senior year at Columbia University and helped persuade him to try out acting as a career.

Celebrity Biography
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Shohreh Aghdashloo Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

Shohreh Aghdashloo.jpg

Though she has been a prominent actress on both stage and screen, Shohreh Aghdashloo has remained a virtual unknown in the United States. However, after a critically acclaimed performance in the Oscar-worthy “House of Sand and Fog” (2003), Aghdashloo has positioned herself to gain the recognition she deserves—including a well-deserved Oscar nod. Aghdashloo began her career in her native Iran at age 20 and spent the last twenty-five years honing her craft. Following numerous roles on stage, Aghdashloo appeared in her first film, “Gozaresh” (“The Report”, 1977), directed by acclaimed director Abbass Kiarostami. Aghdashloo played the wife of a tax collector, who, besides being accused of taking bribes, must deal with her attempted suicide. The film went on to win the Critics Award at the Moscow Film Festival, though it was ultimately banned in her native country.

Aghdashloo went on to star in “Shatranje Bad” (loosely translated as “Chess With the Wind”, 1977). Though the film was screened at several festivals across the globe, “Shatranje Bad”, was also banned in Iran due to strict censorship laws. Undeterred, Aghdashloo broke through the barrier and established herself as one of Iran’s leading actresses with her appearance in “Sooteh-Delan” (“Broken Hearts”, 1978), directed by the late Ali Hatami. In 1978, the Islamic Revolution swept Iran and Aghdashloo was fled to England via Turkey and Venice with her first husband. Unfortunately, her husband longed for his native country and returned home, leaving Aghdashloo in London, where her interest in politics and social justice prompted her to earn a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. Her desire to act remained strong, however, as Aghdashloo continued to perform on stage.

In 1987, Aghdashloo moved to Los Angeles to further her career. She met and eventually married actor and playwright Houshang Touzie, with whom she formed a theater company that performed its plays in their native tongue of Farsi for the benefit of the Iranian community. Aghdashloo began receiving small roles on television for “Columbo” and “Matlock” (NBC, ABC, 1986-95), and did the small indie feature, “Twenty Bucks” (1993), about the trials and tribulations of a $20 bill and the people it comes into contact with. Aghdashloo also began receiving roles for terrorists, which she vehemently refused on principle. Then after watching Oprah’s Book Club, Aghdashloo read “House of Sand and Fog” and fell in love with Nadi, the wife of a retired Iranian general who tries to build a new life in the United States. Aghdashloo felt so strongly about Nadi that she thought it unfair if she didn’t get the part if the book were made into a movie. Luckily, Aghdashloo nailed the audition once the adaptation became reality—in fact, director Vadim Perelman said he would put the audition on the DVD as an added feature because it was so powerful. At 51, Aghdashloo finally arrived, but she did so on her own term and through the perseverance of her convictions—and the actress was rewarded with an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress.

Her captivating performance in “House of Sand and Fog” led to a wider array of projects on screens both big and small. She landed a recurring role on the hit Fox series, “24” (2001- ), playing the murderous matriarch of a Muslim family-cum-terrorist cell. Though normally reluctant to play terrorists, Aghdashloo was attracted to the complexity of the character, which was exemplified by the contradiction between being a ruthless killer and a loving mother. Though her playing a terrorist did attract criticism, particularly from the Muslim community, Aghdashloo steadfastly defended the role, even though she feared becoming the most hated woman in America—something that thankfully did not come to pass. Meanwhile, Aghdashloo appeared in “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), playing an anthropologist who studies demonic possession called upon to testify in the trial of a priest (Tom Wilkinson) charged negligent homicide after a failed attempt to exorcise demons from a 19 year-old college student (Jennifer Carpenter).

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Celebrity Biography