Sharon Stone

SHARON STONE

Date of Birth: March 10, 1958

When the legendary Katharine Hepburn saw Basic Instinct, the film that made Sharon Stone a big star, she remarked, "It's a new low for actresses when you have to wonder what's between her ears instead of her legs." Nonetheless, that little bit of "acting" that Stone did in that movie catapulted her right up into the ranks of the A-List actresses.

Born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Stone moved to Hollywood after appearing in a few TV commercials in New York. Once on the West coast, she would struggle to make her name for 10 years before finally landing the role in Basic Instinct that probably finally came her way because of the fine performance she'd turned in opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall. She had to bite her nails for some time waiting on word as to whether or not she'd landed the Basic Instinct part. "It was very tough for my agent because I turned down work for almost a year," she says, "hoping to get the movie. If I didn't get it, I thought I might go to law school. Do some writing. Maybe teach acting."

As for the "sex symbol" status that came her way after she showed her all and everything in Instinct, she says: "The horrible thing about being a so-called sex symbol is that people want to have sex with you but they don't really want to have sex with you. They just want other people to think they did."

In 1996, Stone received an Academy Award nomination for her work in Casino (2005). She didn't win, but she did win the Golden Globe for the same performance. She later received an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2004 for The Practice.

Stone wed third husband, San Francisco Examiner editor Phil Bronstein, in February 1998, and in June 2000, they adopted a baby boy they named Roan Joseph. She survived a life-threatening brain aneurysm in October 2001 and was away from the big screen for several years, but bounced back with a starring role in Cold Creek Manor (2003), opposite Dennis Quaid. In January 2004, she and Bronstein were divorced. Stone has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

If I Had Known I Was a Genius (2007)
When a Man Falls in the Forest (2007)
Alpha Dog (2007)
Bobby (2006)
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Broken Flowers (2005)
Catwoman (2004)
A Different Loyalty (2004)
Cold Creek Manor (2003)
Picking Up the Pieces (2000)
Beautiful Joe (2000)
Simpatico (1999)
The Muse (1999)
Gloria (1999)
Picking up the Pieces (1999)
Antz (1998) (voice)
The Mighty (1998)
Sphere (1998)
Diabolique (1996)
Last Dance (1996)
Casino (1995)
Catwalk (1995)
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Intersection (1994)
The Specialist (1994)
Last Action Hero (1993)
Sliver (1993)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Diary of a Hit Man (1992)
Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (1992)
He Said, She Said (1991)
Scissors (1991)
Year of the Gun (1991)
Total Recall (1990)
Beyond the Stars (1989)
Blood and Sand (1989)
Above the Law (1988)
Action Jackson (1988)
Tears in the Rain (1988)
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
Cold Steel (1987)
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
King Solomon's Mines (1985)
Irreconcilable Differences (1984)
Deadly Blessing (1981)
Stardust Memories (1980)