FILE-SHOWBIZ YEAR ENDER 2014 PT 2 Clooney, Brangelina and Kimye marriages top list of celebrity milestones in 2014

Record ID: 393284

  • Title: FILE-SHOWBIZ YEAR ENDER 2014 PT 2 Clooney, Brangelina and Kimye marriages top list of celebrity milestones in 2014
  • Date: 19th December 2014
  • Summary: VENICE, ITALY (FILE - SEPTEMBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF GEORGE CLOONEY ARRIVING WITH OTHER GUESTS BY WATER TAXI AT THE HOTEL AMAN AHEAD OF HIS WEDDING TO AMAL ALAMUDDIN VENICE, ITALY (FILE - SEPTEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GEORGE CLOONEY AND AMAL CLOONEY FOLLOWING THEIR WEDDING UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE) (REUTERS)
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2015 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2EOU5PHLIMKUSB1E60DM97MW9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
    Big-name celebrity weddings of Brad and Angelina, Kim and Kanye, and George and Amal topped the list of entertainment-related milestones in 2014.
    Brad Pitt, 51, and Angelina Jolie, 39, were wed on August 23 in a small chapel at Chateau Miraval, the couple's estate in southeastern France, in a civil ceremony. The couple - whose long-rumored nuptials had been celebrity magazine and tabloid fodder and had sent reporters and photographers as far as India and Africa in search of possible "secret" ceremonies - wed much like they live: quietly and far removed from Hollywood's spotlight. The power couple's six children, all under the age of 14 at the time, took part in the small, intimate ceremony. On the day the news of their nuptials broke (August 28), Pitt appeared at a media event wearing a gold band on his left hand ring-finger.
    Two-time Oscar winner George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin married during a multi-day extravaganza in Venice, Italy in late September. Alamuddin and Clooney started dating in October 2013 and their engagement was confirmed when her legal chambers issued a statement in April to congratulate the couple. Alamuddin, and the Kentucky-born Clooney, who shot to stardom in the television series "ER", were the toasts of Venice's canals and palaces in September, when they arrived for four days of festivities. The couple, along with stars such as actors Matt Damon and Bill Murray, singer Bono, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and model Cindy Crawford, were shuttled between luxury hotels, turning Venice into a Hollywood on the Adriatic. Alamuddin, now Amal Clooney, has represented Ukrainian former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at the European Court of Human Rights, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in extradition proceedings. Her family left Lebanon during the 1975-1990 civil war to settle in Britain, and she has also advised former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the conflict in Syria, an issue about which George Clooney has spoken publicly.
    Television personality Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West celebrate their wedding on May 24 in a 16th century castle overlooking the historic city of Florence, Italy. West proposed Kardashian in an empty baseball stadium with a specially hired orchestra. The event was shown during an episode of the TV show "Keeping up with the Kardashians."
    Jessica Simpson married former NFL player Eric Johnson in southern California on July 5th. The couple dated for four years and they have two children together.
    Miami Heat player Dwayne Wade married actress Gabrielle Union in a star-studded affair in Miami in late August. The couple have been together since 2009 and Wade proposed to Union in December 2013.
    Several high-profile gay and lesbian celebrities also got married this year, as same-sex marriage continues to gain acceptance in the United States.
    Neil Patrick Harris, who won a Tony Award for his Broadway role in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," and David Burtka, his partner of ten years, got married in early September in a private ceremony in Italy. The couple have two children together.
    Singer Melissa Etheridge married Linda Wallem on Saturday May 31 in southern California. The couple first began dating in 2010 and got engaged in 2013 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
    Actress Jodie Foster married partner Alexandra Hedison in April. The pair started dating in October 2013. The two-time Oscar winner has two children from her previous relationship with Cydney Bernard.
    Actress and comedian Lily Tomlin married her partner of 42 years, Jane Wagner, on New Year's Eve, 2013.
    Designer Tom Ford announced his marriage to Richard Buckley, his partner of 27 years, in early April. The couple met in the 80's and have a young son together.
    It was also a big year for actress Ellen Page, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Juno," as she came out as a lesbian on February 14 at a Las Vegas conference for gay teens. Page said in her coming out speech that she suffered for years because she was scared to be public about her sexuality.
    Big-name divorces also made waves this year.
    Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her rock star husband Chris Martin split after ten years of marriage. The couple published a joint statement on Paltrow's lifestyle website, Goop.com, on Tuesday March 25 under the title "Conscious Uncoupling". The US Actress, who won an Academy Award for "Shakespeare in Love," and Coldplay frontman Martin married in December 2003. They have two children, Apple and Moses. Recently, there has been talk of a reconciliation.
    Actress Paula Patton filed for divorce from singer Robin Thicke on October 3rd after separating in February. She asked for joint custody of the couple's four-year-old son. "Blurred Lines" singer Thicke, 37, who caused a sensation with a raunchy MTV Video Music Awards performance last year with Miley Cyrus, met Patton when they were teenagers and the pair have been married since 2005. Patton was the inspiration behind much of Thicke's music and appeared in some of his videos. The crooner's latest album, "Paula," a critical and commercial failure, was released in July and dedicated to Patton.
    Melanie Griffith filed for divorce from Antonio Banderas in early June after 18 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. The acting duo married in 1996 and have a 17-year-old daughter together. Griffith requested physical custody of their child, who turned 18 in September, but joint legal custody. Griffith also requested spousal support from Banderas. This was the fourth marriage for Griffith and the second for Banderas.
    Pegi Young, wife of Neil Young, filed for divorce in July after 36 years of marriage. The couple has two children together and have frequently collaborated musically. Some of Young's greatest hits such as "Once An Angel" and "Such A Woman'' were inspired by Pegi - and she also appeared on stage with him, providing backing vocals.
    Model Amber Rose filed for divorce from rapper Wiz Khalifa on September 22nd after just over a year of marriage. The pair married on July 8, 2013, and have a one-year-old son.
    Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian reality television family, filed for divorce from her husband Bruce Jenner, the gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete, on September 22nd, almost a year after they announced their separation. Kris Jenner, 58, cited irreconcilable differences in the divorce petition. The couple married in 1991 and they have two teenage daughters, Kendall and Kylie, who appear on the Kardashian reality TV programs.
    Jennifer Lopez and her boyfriend Casper Smart split in early June. The duo met while Smart was a dancer for Lopez. They began dating two and half years ago, shortly after the singer's divorce from Marc Anthony.
    A number of A-listers gave birth or announced pregnancies in 2014.
    Britain's Prince William announced in early September that he and wife Kate are expecting their second child. The new baby is due in April. The couple's first child, Prince George, was born last July, sparking a frenzy of excitement around the world. The couple made their first visit to New York City in early December. They attended a professional basketball game in Brooklyn, paid a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, among other activities and attended the 600th Anniversary dinner for the University of St. Andrews at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    Actress Scarlett Johansson secretly married French journalist Romain Dauriac on October 1st. The pair started dating in 2012 and became engaged in 2013. The couple welcome baby daughter, Rose, in early September.
    Ashton Kutcher, the star of the hit television show "Two and a Half Men" and his partner, actress Mila Kunis, welcome a baby girl on September 30th in Los Angeles. The couple named their baby daughter Wyatt Isabelle. Kunis, 31, and Kutcher, 36, co-starred on "That '70s Show."
    Eva Mendes, 40, and Ryan Gosling, 33 welcomed their first child - a baby girl - on September 12. The couple, who are famously private about their personal lives, did not announce the child's birth or name, but tabloid website TMZ.com reportedly obtained the child's birth certificate, which revealed her name to be Esmeralda Amada Gosling.
    British TV and music mogul Simon Cowell, who had long said fatherhood was not in his plans, welcomed a son on Friday, February 14. The former "American Idol" judge's girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, gave birth to the 6 pound, 7 ounce (2.9 kilograms) boy in New York. It is her second child and Cowell's first.
    Blake Lively announced that she and her actor husband Ryan Reynolds are expecting their first child. Lively posted a picture of her baby bump on her lifestyle website, Preserve, in early October. Lively, 27, and "Van Wilder" actor Reynolds, 38, worked together on the set of 2011's "Green Lantern" movie. They were married in September 2012. This is the first child for both.
    Christina Aguilera gave birth to a baby girl on August 16. The singer announced the news on her Twitter feed - and revealed the baby's name: Summer Rain Rutler. It's the second child for Aguilera, who has a 6-year old son from her previous marriage.
    Rocker Gwen Stefani and husband Gavin Rossdale welcomed another baby boy on February 28. Rossdale tweeted the baby's name, Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale, the day after he was born. This is the third son for the Stefani and Rossdale, who married in 2002.
    In addition to the deaths of Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joan Rivers, L'Wren Scott, and Casey Kasem, Hollywood said goodbye to a number of legends this year.
    Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America's spirits as a bright-eyed, dimpled child movie star during the Great Depression and forged a second career as a U.S. diplomat, died of natural causes late on February 10 at the age of 85. Black, born on April 23, 1928, started her entertainment career in the early 1930s and was famous by age 6. She made some 40 feature films, including "The Little Colonel," "The Little Princess," "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Heidi" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," in 10 years, starring with big-name actors like Randolph Scott, Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Durante. In her later life, she worked as a diplomat for the United States, serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.
    Lauren Bacall, the sultry actress with the heavy-lidded eyes and husky voice who captured Humphrey Bogart's heart both on and off the movie screen, died on August 12 at the age of 89. She appeared in more than 30 other movies, including "Young Man With a Horn" (1950), "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974). In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her an honorary Oscar "in recognition of her central place in the Golden Age of motion pictures." One of her most memorable film moments was in the 1944 film "To Have and Have Not," in which she told Humphrey Bogart's character. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow."
    Actor Mickey Rooney, who became the United States' biggest movie star while a brash teenager in the 1930s and later a versatile character actor in a career that spanned 10 decades, died of natural causes on April 6th at age 93. He had won a "juvenile" Academy Award (since discontinued) as well as an Honorary Oscar, and his most popular films included "National Velvet," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Black Stallion," "Boys Town," and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." He frequently co-starred with actress Judy Garland, and also had an illustrious personal life, with nine marriages including one to Ava Gardner.
    Oscar de la Renta, one of the most sought-after fashion designers of the last half century, dressing American first ladies and Hollywood stars in his classic silhouettes, died after a long battle with cancer on October 20 at the age of 82. The Dominican-born designer's gowns were known for their detail, fabrics and embroideries. His classic creations ranged from fitted suits to pastel and floral print dresses to elaborate, flowing ball gowns that were favorites on both red carpets and at the White House, as he was a favorite among first ladies like Nancy Davis, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush. Most recently, de la Renta created the lace, off-the-shoulder wedding gown worn by London-based human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin for her September wedding to actor George Clooney in Venice, Italy.
    American author and poet Maya Angelou, whose groundbreaking memoir "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" earned her international acclaim with its unflinching account of rape and racism in the segregated South, died on May 28 at age 86. Angelou, who was also a civil rights activist, playwright, actress, singer, dancer and professor during her varied career, penned more than 30 books and won numerous awards, including the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Barack Obama in 2011.
    U.S. soul singer and songwriter Bobby Womack died on June 27 at age 70. Womack, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, started performing gospel music with his brothers in the 1950s. He became a major figure in the rhythm and blues genre in a career that lasted seven decades. Before his death Womack had struggled with health issues including diabetes, prostate cancer, heart trouble, colon cancer and pneumonia. in 2013, he said he was beginning to show early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
    Mike Nichols, a nine-time Tony Award winner on Broadway and the Oscar-winning director of films such as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," "The Graduate" and "Carnal Knowledge," died on Wednesday November 19 at age 83. No director ever moved between Broadway and Hollywood as easily as Nichols and he was one of the few people to win Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards. The German-born director had four wives, including ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer, whom he had been married to for 25 years at the time of his death.
    Comic actress Ann B. Davis, who played the devoted housekeeper Alice on the television sitcom "The Brady Bunch" and won two Emmy awards as the forever-single secretary Schultzy on "The Bob Cummings Show," died on June 1st at age 88. Davis suffered a subdural hematoma after falling and hitting her head and never regained consciousness.
    Beloved Mexican actor and screenwriter Roberto Gomez Bolanos, known as "Chespirito" ("Little Shakespeare") died at his home in Cancun on November 28. Bolanos, whose shows are still aired regularly although he stopped recording material in the 1980s, was known for comic characters such as "El Chapulin Colorado" (The Red Grasshopper) which inspired Bumblebee Man, the Spanish-speaking character from the U.S. animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was given a large-scale memorial on November 30, with thousands of fans and prominent Mexican comedians paying tribute to him in a memorial at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.
    Actor James Garner, best known for his prime-time television roles as the wisecracking frontier gambler on "Maverick" and as an ex-con turned private eye on "The Rockford Files," died on July 19 at age 86. Garner, who built a six-decade career playing ruggedly charming, good-natured anti-heroes and received the highest honor of the Screen Actors Guild in 2004, was found dead from natural causes at his Los Angeles home.
    Bob Casale, the guitarist and original member of the U.S. New Wave band Devo best known for the 1980 hit "Whip It," died on February 17 from heart failure at the age of 61. Devo started out as an underground band and released an influential debut album, "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!", in 1978 that was produced by British recording pioneer Brian Eno.
    Actor and director Richard Attenborough died on August 24, five days before his 91st birthday, after a career in the film industry spanning over six decades. One of Attenborough's greatest achievements was overcoming 20 years of resistance from Hollywood studios to finally make a cinematic tribute to Mahatma Gandhi in 1982 with the $22 million epic "Gandhi" winning eight Academy Awards including best film and a best director Oscar for Attenborough. He also won acting fame for a list of movies including playing a theme park owner in "Jurassic Park", Kris Kringle in the 1994 Christmas fantasy film "Miracle on 34th Street", and Big X in prison camp drama "The Great Escape."
    Comedy actor and director Harold Ramis, best known for films such as "Ghostbusters," "Groundhog Day" and "Caddyshack," died at his home in Chicago at the age of 69 of complications from a rare vascular disease on Monday February 24. Ramis had suffered from the rare illness since 2010.
    British actor Bob Hoskins, whose roles ranged from London gangsters to FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover and who starred opposite a cast of cartoon characters in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," died after a bout of pneumonia on April 29, he was 71. In 2012 Hoskins announced his retirement from acting saying that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease.
    Sid Caesar, who pioneered TV sketch comedy during the 1950s as the star and creative force of "Your Show of Shows," died on February 12 at age 91 Although most of today's television audience is too young to remember him from the height of his popularity, Caesar's work and imprint live on in pop culture touchstones as diverse as "The Dick Van Dyke Show," the box-office hit "Grease" and "Saturday Night Live." With a career on TV, film and stage that spanned six decades but was marred by years of substance abuse, he is best-known for his work with comedienne Imogene Coca on the landmark "Your Show of Shows." NBC aired the show from February 1950 to June 1954.
    Legendary stage and screen actress Ruby Dee, who won acclaim in theater, film and television and became a notable figure in the U.S. civil rights movement, died of natural causes on June 11 at the age of 91. Dee won an Oscar nomination in 2008 for her role in "American Gangster" as well as six Emmy nominations. She nabbed the award in 1991 for her role in the TV movie "Decoration Day," and received acclaim for roles in 1961's "A Raisin in the Sun" and Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing," opposite her husband of 57, Ossie Davis, who died in 2005.
    Prolific actor Eli Wallach, an early practitioner of "method acting" who made a lasting impression as the scuzzy bandit Tuco in the film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," died on June 24 at the age of 98. Wallach appeared on the big screen well into his 90s in such films as Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel. Wallach made a name on Broadway with roles in two Tennessee Williams' works, "Camino Real" and "The Rose Tattoo," for which he won a Tony in 1951, as well as a two-year run in "Mr. Roberts." His first movie was another Williams work, "Baby Doll" in 1956. Other major films included "How the West Was Won," "Mystic River," "The Holiday," "Lord Jim," and "The Misfits," - in which he starred with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe with John Huston directing an Arthur Miller script - and "The Godfather Part 3."
    Elaine Stritch, a husky-voiced actress whose performances over six decades lit up New York's Broadway and London's West End and brought a touch of the profane to the stage with her brassy personality, died of natural causes on July 17 at age 89. Stritch also had Emmy-winning roles on the television shows "30 Rock" and "Law & Order." Stritch worked with some of the stage's greatest composers - from Noel Coward, who called her Stritchie, to Stephen Sondheim, who wrote what became her signature song, the show-stopping "The Ladies Who Lunch," from the 1970 musical "Company." Her 2002 one-woman show "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty" won her a Tony, as well as an Emmy for the version that aired on cable's HBO. Onstage, her costume - a man's white oxford shirt worn over black tights - showed off her dancer's legs.
    Russell Johnson, the veteran character actor who appeared in science fiction films and Westerns before earning enduring fame as "The Professor" on the classic 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," died of natural causes on January 16 at the age of 89. Johnson had appeared in Westerns including "Law and Order" (1953) starring future President Ronald Reagan and sci-fi films including "It Came from Outer Space" (1953), "This Island Earth" (1955) and "Attack of the Crab Monsters" (1957).
    Pete Seeger, who helped create the modern American folk music movement, co-wrote enduring songs like "If I Had a Hammer" and became a leading voice for social justice, died of natural causes on January 27 at the age of 94. He was hailed in social and traditional media as a "hero," "America's conscience" and "a man of the people." Seeger was well known for his liberal politics. He protested U.S. wars from Vietnam to Iraq, participated in the civil rights movement, supported organized labor and helped found an environmental group that played a key role in cleaning up the polluted Hudson River.
    And tragedy struck Peaches Geldof, the 25 year socialite daughter of musician and Band Aid founder Bob Geldof and the late TV personality Paula Yates, who was found dead by her husband of two years, Thomas Cohen, in a spare bedroom of their home in Wrotham, Kent on the afternoon of Monday, April 7. While her death was called "non-suspicious but unexplained" it was later ruled that the death was drugs-related. Geldof, a media and fashion personality in her own right and mother of two boys aged 23 months and 11 months, was laid to rest in a funeral attended by several celebrities, in a coffin painted with blue sky, clouds, flowers, and a portrait of her family.
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