Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an internationally
recognized Emmy-winning American actress, with an extensive portfolio
of both television and movie work. She may be best known for her role
as Carrie Bradshaw on the television series Sex and the City.
Parker was born in Nelsonville, Ohio to Stephen Parker, a Jewish
American businessman, and Barbara. Her parents divorced early on in
Parker's life and her mother remarried Paul Forste, a truck driver.
Parker grew up with her mother, step-father and seven siblings
(although she only has one full sibling, a sister). As a young girl,
she trained in singing and ballet, soon being cast in the Broadway
production of The Innocents. Her family moved to New Jersey at this
time to better support her dreams of becoming an actress. After a run
of promising performances in several films and television shows, she
met actor Robert Downey Jr., with whom she lived for seven years
(between 1984 and 1991
Parker got her first big break as an actress in 1982, when she was
cast in the CBS sitcom Square Pegs. The show lasted only one season
before being cancelled by the network, but Parker's performance was
critically well received. In the two years that followed, she was cast
in four films - the most significant of those being Footloose in 1984.
In the remainder of the 1980s, Parker had steady work, appearing in TV
Specials and mostly unsuccessful films. She also appeared several
times on "Shalom Sesame", the Israeli version of Sesame Street.
By the early 1990s, her career was gaining momentum. In 1991, Parker
appeared in a supporting role in the romantic comedy, L.A. Story; both
the movie and her performance garnered some positive reviews. The
following year she landed an important starring role in the
well-received film, Honeymoon in Vegas, co-starring Nicholas Cage. Her
1993 starring role in the film Hocus Pocus was a higher grosser at the
box office but received negative reviews. She next appeared opposite
Johnny Depp in the critically acclaimed movie Ed Wood. The film Miami
Rhapsody, in 1995, saw her back on familiar territory with more
Romantic Comedy material and a leading role. She appeared in another
Tim Burton-directed movie, Mars Attacks!, which was one of her five
film roles in 1996.
After a quiet 1997, the script for an HBO Drama/Comedy series titled
Sex and the City had been sent to Parker and the show's creator Darren
Star was determined that she be cast in his project; Parker adored the
script, despite some early doubts about being cast in a long-term
television series, and agreed to star.
The first season of the show proved to be an almost instant success,
elevating Parker to a higher status, possibly because of the writing's
refreshingly honest approach to sex, although Parker had a strict No
Nudity clause in her contract.
Parker has become very influential in the world of fashion; she is
considered one of the more stylish celebrities and has been recognized
as "Best Dressed" in certain magazines. In addition to work in movie
and television, she is also a very highly respected Stage actor,
having appeared in well-reviewed lead roles in the off-Broadway play
Sylvia, alongside husband Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying and the Tony Award-nominated Once Upon
a Mattress as Princess Winifred the Woebegone. She hosted the MTV
Movie Awards in 2000, and changed into 15 different costumes
throughout the show. In August of 2003, Parker re-negotiated her
contract with Nutrisse Hair Products to appear in Print and Television
advertisements, for a rumoured seven-figure sum.
After the Sex and the City's six-season run ended in 2004, Parker won
an Emmy award for her lead role (after five consecutive losses). Many
gambling and betting establishments stopped taking bets on her Emmy
victory, because it was so widely predicted that she would win. In the
Spring of 2005, the American fashion giant GAP dropped her from their
advertising campaign. A friend of Parker commented to the press that
"Sarah's spring campaign for Gap has only just started and she feels
the announcement of her replacement in the same week that the new ads
are appearing is a bit of a snub".
In December of 2005, Parker appeared in her first theatrical film in
several years, The Family Stone, for which she received a Golden Globe
nomination as Best Actress - Comedy. Her next film, Failure to Launch,
is a romantic comedy slated for release in March of 2006, and co-stars
Matthew McConaughey.
Private life
As her career continued to blossom into the 1990s, she met
laywer/journalist John Kennedy Jr. and dated him for several months.
In May 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick (to whom she was
introduced by her brother), just as she was becoming a bigger star due
to the success of Sex and the City. The couple were married in a civil
ceremony in a historic synagogue that is no longer used as a house of
worship; both Parker and Broderick consider themselves "culturally
Broderick, was born five years later on October 28th, 2002. Parker is
a prominent member of the Hollywood's Women's Political Committee and
is Unicef's Representative for the Performing Arts.
Currently, she lives in New York City with her husband and son.
Awards
* 1999: Golden Globe - Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series -
Sex and the City
* 2000: Golden Globe - Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series -
Sex and the City
* 2005: Emmy - Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Sex and the City
Filmography
2005 The Family Stone Meredith Morton
2001 Life Without Dick Colleen Gibson direct-to-video
2000 State and Main Claire Wellesley
1999 Dudley Do-Right Nell Fenwick
1996 Mars Attacks! Nathalie Lake
1996 If Lucy Fell Lucy Ackerman
1995 Miami Rhapsody Gwyn Marcus
1994 Ed Wood Dolores Fuller
1993 Striking Distance Jo Christman/Det. Emily Harper
1993 Hocus Pocus Sarah Sanderson
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas Betsy/Donna
1991 L.A. Story SanDeE
1985 Girls Just Want to Have Fun Janey Glenn