Britney Spears
BRITNEY SPEARS
Date of Birth: December 2, 1981
Britney Jean Spears was born in rural Louisiana to an average American family. She shone at gymnastics and dance as a child. At age eight, she was turned down after an audition for The Mickey Mouse Club, because she was too young. Britney was then taken to New York by her mother, where the little girl worked in commercials and was hired as the understudy for the lead in the off Broadway play Ruthless. At 11, she again auditioned for MMC and this time, she got in, along with two other 11-year-olds who would also go on to big careers -- Christina Aguilera and
Her first album, released in 1999, was an instant success. She won numerous awards internationally, including Billboard Music Awards' Female Albums Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year. For the next few years, she could do no wrong, topping the charts with both her singles (Oops! I Did it Again, Baby One More Time, Crazy, Toxic) and albums -- becoming the only female in music history to have her first four studio albums debut at number one.
In 2002, following her breakup with Timberlake and her parents' divorce, Britney, just 20 years old, announced she would take six months off. At the time, she was named "The World's most powerful celebrity" by Forbes magazine. She dated a variety of men and by late 2003, released a new album, In the Zone. Following her quickie marriage in Las Vegas, her single Toxic topped the charts.
Shortly afterwards, she began dating Kevin Federline, one of her backup dancers. Although her quickie marriage had stunned many fans, her alliance with Federline was even more shocking. While they were dating, his ex-girlfriend, with whom he already had one child, was pregnant with his second child. Nevertheless, three months after they met, Kevin and Britney became engaged and were married in September 2004.
Three years and two children later, they were divorced, with Britney's career at an all time low. Newly single, she began partying and hanging out with people like Paris Hilton. She hit the headlines for driving with her infant son on her lap rather than in an approved car seat; for being carried out of clubs too drunk to walk; for stripping down to her underwear at a New York club; and for not wearing underwear underneath extremely short skirts, exposing her crotch in public.
Early in 2007, she once again shocked the public by shaving off her in a salon after the hairdresser refused to do it for her. The next day, she was back to partying, wearing a wig. She also went in and out of rehab, sometimes checking out less than 24 hours after checking in. In an effort to revive her career, she sang and danced at the MTV awards, but the appearance earned her nothing but criticism - both for her lackluster performance and her appearance.
Just when we thought we'd seen it all, Britney lost custody of her children. Her constant refusals to show up for court dates and to provide samples for drug tests were topped off when she refused to hand over the children to Federline for his court-appointed joint custody. She locked herself and her youngest son, Jayden, in the bathroom of her mansion on January 3, 2008. After a three-hour standoff, she was taken from the house on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance. The incident wound up with Kevin Federline getting full custody of the boys.
Though her brief stay in the hospital wasn't long enough to determine what was wrong with the former pop star, later that month, she was back. Dating a member of the paparazzi and speaking constantly in a British accent, her behavior appeared crazier than ever. She was placed on a 5150 hold - a 72-hour confinement of a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Incredible details of Britney's situation emerged. A restraining order was taken out on her "manager" Osama "Sam" Lutfi, 33, alleging that he drugged her on a daily basis and took control of her life and finances. A declaration from Spears' mother, Lynne, stated that Sam insinuated himself into Britney's life in October 2007 and drugged Britney by crushing pills into her food, cut her home phone lines and removed her cell phone chargers so that she was fully dependent on him. He threatened Britney's mother and father when they tried to intervene.
Since then, her father has taken conservatorship of her estate, and she is back with the manager who led her to stardom as a teen. Britney appeared on the TV series How I Met Your Mother in March 2008 to high ratings, and may appear on the show again. Meanwhile, she is working out a deal to be a spokesperson for Bally's Total Fitness.
Spears is also hoping to release a new album soon, as well as act in more movies.
Filmography:
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)Crossroads (2002)
Longshot (2000)