Birth information15 April 1959, Paddington, London, England, UK BioEmma Thompson was born in London on April 15, 1959, into a family of actors - her father was Eric Thompson, who has passed away, and her mother, Phyllida Law, has co-starred with Thompson in several films (her sister, Sophie Thompson, is an actor as well). Thompson's wit was earlier cultivated by a cheerful, clever, creative family atmosphere, and she was a popular and successful student. She attended Cambridge University, studying English Literature, and was part of the university's Footlights Group, the famous group where, previously, many of the Monty Python members had first met.Thompson graduated in 1980 and embarked on her career in entertainment, beginning with stints on BBC radio and touring with comedy shows. She soon got her first major break in television, on the comedy skit program "Alfresco" (1983), writing and performing along with her fellow Footlights Group alums Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. She also worked on other TV comedy review programs in the mid-1980s, occasionally with some of her fellow Footlights alums, and often with actor Robbie Coltrane.Thompson found herself collaborating again with Fry in 1985, this time in his stage adaptation of the play "Me and My Girl" in London's West End, in which she had a leading role, playing Sally Smith. The show was a success and she received favorable reviews, and the strength of her performance led to her casting as the lead in the BBC television miniseries "Fortunes of War" (1987), in which Thompson and her co-star, Kenneth Branagh, play an English ex-patriate couple living in Eastern Europe as the Second World War erupts. Thompson won a BAFTA award for her work on the program. She married Branagh in 1989, continued to work with him professionally, and formed a production company with him. In the late 80s and early 90s, she starred in a string of well-received and successful television and film productions, most notably her lead role in the Merchant-Ivory production of Howards End (1992), which confirmed her ability to carry a movie on both sides of the Atlantic and appropriately showered her with trans-Atlantic honors - both an Oscar and a BAFTA award.Since then, Thompson has continued to move effortlessly between the art film world and mainstream Hollywood, though even her Hollywood roles tend to be in more up-market productions. She continues to work on television as well, but is generally very selective about which roles she takes. She writes for the screen as well, such as the screenplay for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995), in which she also starred as Elinor Dashwood, and the teleplay adaptation of Margaret Edson's acclaimed play Wit (2001) (TV), in which she also starred.Thompson is known for her sophisticated, skillful, though her critics say somewhat mannered, performances, and of course for her arch wit, which she is unafraid to point at herself - she is a fearless self-satirist. Thompson and Branagh divorced in 1994, and Thompson is now married to fellow actor Greg Wise, who had played Willoughby in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995). Thompson and Wise have one child, Gaia, born in 1999.

Russell Crowe, Ringo Starr and Adam Sandler are among the latest celebrities to be given stars on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce confirmed that 28 entertainers will be awarded the honour next year. The recipients were chosen from more than 200 nominations. Joining Crowe and Sandler in the film industry category are Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Mark Wahlberg, John Cusack and director James Cameron.
By Lara Martin

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I only have one more piece of coding detail left to do and the RopeofSilicon 2010 "The Contenders" section will open up and two of the titles featured in that section have just enjoyed a couple of online updates. First off we have the poster for An Education as well as a clip featuring the much talked about performance of Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a teenage girl living in Britain in the early 1960s on the cusp of the strait-laced, post-war period and the free-spirited decade to come. Along with Mulligan the film stars Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike. Based on buzz it would seem Mulligan is a definite contender for a Best Actress nomination and others whom have seen the film are applauding the work of Molina and most recently In Contention mentioned Pike's performance. One thing is for certain, it's nice to see
Brad Brevet

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Just when you thought you had seen it all with the incredible popularity of Quirk Books' reimagining of Jane Austen's classic novel into the Regency period zombie-fest Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, now comes what sounds like an even more bizarro/hilarious blend of Regency romance and ... sea monsters!!
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is the latest title from Quirk Books. Just imagine the Dashwood sisters (played in the 1995 film by Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet) and what happens when their suitors, Edward Farrars (Hugh Grant), John Willoughby (Greg Wise) and Captain Brandon (Alan Rickman), have gills/tentacles/a general sliminess. Hilarity and gruesomeness must surely ensue. Not to mention the Dashwood sisters needing to develop some serious lung capacity in order to hold their breath while possibly being courted underwater.
September 15th is the day to circle on your calendar for the book's release. You Know you
thebellefromhell

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