Profession: Actor, Film Producer, Film Director, Screenwriter, Voice Actor

“As a married father, I seem to have become incredibly sexy. I can feel it.”- Paul Bettany

As someone rightly points out “he is a signpost of blond, gorgeous Englishness.” Paul Bettany is a British Actor, film producer, film director, screenwriter and voice actor who is well known for his roles in successful films like  A Knight’sTale, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, Creation, The Tourist and many more. He has a net worth of $5 million.

Early Life-

Paul Bettany was born on 27 May 1971 in Shepherd’s Bush, London, England, UK. His mother was a stage singer, theatre teacher, and stage manager. His father was a dancer, actor, and drama teacher. When Bettany was 16, his brother Matthew died after falling from a pavilion near their home at age 8. It was a trying time for him, “It blew the family apart. Life was never the same again”, he said of the incident. Shortly after his brother’s death, Bettany dropped out of school, left home, and went to live on his own in London. He was a skilled guitar player and earned money by playing his guitar in the streets of London. Towards the end he got very sick, his father came and picked him up and so he went back home. He later worked in a home for the elderly. After working there for a year, Bettany enrolled at the Drama Centre in London.

Acting Career-

Bettany began his acting career onstage with The Inspector Calls in the West End. He went on to appear in various other productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company like Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. He then moved to television, appearing in a BBC production of Oliver Twist. He made his film debut with a role in Bent (1997). His first leading role was in the film Gangster No. 1(2000). Bettany’s first big Hollywood production A Knight’s Tale (2001) brought him much critical acclaim. He played Geoffrey Chaucer in the film. A Beautiful Mind came out the same year. Bettany’s portrayal of Dr. Stephen Maturin in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World(2003) won him many nominations and awards including a BAFTA nomination. He played Charles Darwin in the 2009 film Creation.

His other important films include The Reckoning, Firewall, Dogville, Wimbledon, The Da Vinci Code, Legion, Priest, Blood and The Tourist amongst many. He is also the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the “Iron Man” franchise. Bettany is to play the character of Vision in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S.

Awards-

London Film Critics’ Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year (2001) for- A Knight’s Tale

Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor(2003) for- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Heart of Me

London Film Critics’ Circle Award for British Actor of the Year(2003) for- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Jordan Award for Best Actor(2004) for- Wimbledon

Glamour Awards Man of the Year 2006

Personal Life-

Bettany is married to Actress Jennifer Connelly. They met while they were filming together for  A Beautiful Mind and got married in 2003. “I remember looking across that enormous table and seeing Jennifer. Thank God I’d learnt my part. I’d never been that close to someone that beautiful before,”he says of his first meeting with Jennifer. The couple live in New York with their two children Stellan and Agnes and Connelly’s son Kai.  

 Assets-

Since moving to New York together, Bettany and wife Connelly have owned and moved from one gorgeous home to another.

Limestone townhouse in Brooklyn-

It is a much talked about house that the couple owned-  a gorgeous 18-room single family limestone mansion in Brooklyn, New York. Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany put it on the market for $8.5 million.

Tribeca Penthouse-

Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly owns this penthouse apartment in one of America’s most desirable and fashionable neighbourhoods-  the affluent TriBeCa neighbourhood, situated on the edge of New York City.  The couple has put the 4,096 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms house in the market  at an asking price of $8,495,000.

Vermont farm house-

Stowe, Vermont is famous for being the abode of many famous celebrities including Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly. Bettany said he bought the 100-acre farm in Vermont as a weekend retreat for his children.

Fun Facts-

-          He quit smoking after finding out his son, Stellan, imitating him with a pen.

-          He named his son Stellan after actor Stellan Skarsgard whom he starred together with in Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)  and   Dogville .

-          He suffered from laryngitis after filming A Knight’s Tale due to all the yelling he had to do portraying Geoffrey Chaucer in the film.

-          His role as Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale was specifically written for him by director Brian Helgeland.

-          He loves broccoli, cheese and whisky and his favorite book is “Darkness at Noon”.

-          He was once was a cocaine user but he quit after an incident with a friend.

Money Quote-

-          You realise you have the privilege of being in the stupidly fortunate position of earning a lot of money in a very short period of time. So the actual privilege is that you can then take time off – and if you don’t, you’re a fool. You’re earning all this money to support children whom you then don’t see, which is absurd.

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Career/Profession: Retired professional Tennis player

Age: 44

“I question myself every day. That’s what I still find motivating about this. I don’t have the answers; I don’t pretend that I do just because I won the match. Just keep fighting and maybe something good happens”.

               -Andre Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American tennis player who was formerly the world’s number one. He is considered to be the greatest tennis players of all time by his contemporaries and critics. He is an eight time Grand Slam champion and had won gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Agassi was the first male tennis player to win Grand Slams on three different surfaces and also the last American player to win the American Open and French Open. His playing career saw serious troubles when his world ranking fell down to 141 and many believed that his playing days were over. But he shot back to being number one in 1999. He retired from the game in 2996 after having serious health issues.

My origins

Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas to a former Olympic boxer father and a breast cancer survivor mother. Agassi was admitted to Nick Bollettieri’s tennis school in Florida, where his father could afford only three months of the fees. But after watching Agassi at play, Bollettieri decided to train him for free. He claimed that he had never seen such a talented player as Agassi before.

Climbing the ladder of success

Andre Agassi played his first professional match when he was just sixteen at La Quinta in California. There he won the first match, but lost the second one. After winning his debut top level singles title at the Sul American Open, he ended up being world number 25 straight from the world number 91 rank. By the end of that year he had won six tournaments and became the fastest person in history to surpass the US$1 million prize money in just 43 tournaments. That year he also set a record for the maximum number of consecutive victories in tennis matches by any male teenager, which stood strong for almost two decades. He ended that year at the third position and was named The Most Improved Player of the Year in 1988.

Being a teenager he was regarded as the next big thing on the block when he reached the semi finals of both the French Open and US Open in the same year. But the beginning of the next decade, 1990 that is, saw more misses than hits. In 1990, he reached his first Grand Slam finals at the French open where he lost the match. He reached the second Grand Slam finals and again lost it to Pete Sampras. In 1991, Agassi again reached the Grand Slam finals but lost the match. It was then that he decided to play at the Wimbledon. His breakthrough match was the one where he defeated Goran Ivanisevic. For the next ten years, no other player could defeat Andre Agassi at Wimbledon. He was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992.

N 1994, with a new coach, Brad Gilbert, Agassi began improving in his game and resurged at the tournaments that year. Though there were a few initial misses at the French Open and Wimbledon, he re emerged later and won the Canadian Open and then in the US Open.

In 1995, Agassi, for the first time, was placed at world number one ranking, which he held for 30 weeks. That year, Andre Agassi won 73 matches and lost only 9. That year for the third time in row, Agassi won the Davis Cup for the US.

1996 was a tough year for Agassi as he failed to make his mark and did not reach any Grand Slam final even, let alone winning any title. But the only saving grace that year was the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. 1997 saw the downfall of Andre Agassi, when his injury resurfaced and he played very few matches that year. He did not pass the ATP drug test and was warned by ATP. He also had a troubled marriage and his world ranking suffered a hard blow when it fell down to 141. Everybody thought Agassi’s sports career was over.

In 1998, Agassi got back his sportsman spirit and after a lot of hard work and practice, he sprang up to world number 6 in just a single year. Later that year he got back his position as the world number one, after winning five titles that year. In 1999 Agassi became a part of the history to win all the four Grand slam titles on three different types of surfaces. Andre Agassi became the first male player to win the Career Golden Slam. He ended the year as world number one. His ranking in 2001 dropped down slightly and he ended the year as world number 3.

Andre Agassi finally retired from the game in 2006, after a series of wins, and received a standing ovation from the crown after his final match.

Charitable Work

Agassi has been regarded as one of the most charitable tennis players who has been involved in charity. He founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association and was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his undying efforts to help the underprivileged youth. He also has a Boys & Girls Club helps around 2,000 children a year to inspire the sportsmanship in them. In 2001, he opened a tuition free charity school for children in the areas prone to natural calamities. He also supports the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation which looks after abused children and provides residential facilities to them.

Truly, he is a humble man and we all love him, even years after he has retired. Don’t we?

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Venus Williams was born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California. Venus is Right-handed player. She has got 45 titles in her career and she has been on number 1 ranking in the world in tennis. Venus is highly accomplished professional tennis player. She is a very active female player and is known for her sensational fast serve, brilliant two-handed, strong volley, hard-hitting groundstroke and mind-blowing agility on the court. She is the first woman on the planet who received the prize money on par with her Wimbledon champion Roger Federer. She is the first black woman or the African-American woman won the World no 1 title. She has received a number of different tiles, achievements and the awards. Not only is this, she has received a number of gold medals at various games and competitions and holds an unbeatable record for the fastest serve by a female tennis player in the world.

Her name is Venus Ebony Starr Williams and is the sister of Serena Williams. Venus has played against her younger sister Serena in 24 professional match since 1998 out of which Serena won 14 matches out of 24. Not only is this, they played in the six grand slams out of which Serena won 4.

Early life

She is born to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Her father was a sharecropper. When she was at the age of 10, she moved to Compton, California to West Palm Beach. There both the sisters attended the tennis academy of Rick Macci. They were very good in tennis since childhood but parents wanted them to focus on study work. But later on, when he realized the real talent he provide them coaching at the home only. She was in a 3 year relationship with professional golfer Hank Kuehne which lasts till 2010.

Awards and Achievements

She has a breakthrough record in winning the awards and medals. Overall she has won 22 grand slams out of which 7 in singles, 13 in women’s doubles and 2 in mixed doubles. Venus is one of the four women in the open era to won more than 5 Wimbledon single titles in the World. not only is this, the records says that between the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 US Open she won 4 out of 6 Grand Slam single tournament. Venus won 4 Olympic Gold medals as 1 in single and 3 in women’s double. The two sisters have won a large number of titles than other female players in the World today. In the year 2000, at the Sydney Olympics she became the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles after Helen Wills Moody in the year 1924.

Her major tennis achievements include the fastest serve at 128.6 mph in the year 2011, according to the Forbes she was ranked #3, the highest paid female tennis player after Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki.

Richness

Venus Williams is one of the richest woman player in the World. Her net worth is $60 million. Though her most of the fortune is coming from the Tennis play but still she managed to look after many other ventures and is carrying her own fashion line “Eleven” and is currently the CEO of Florida based interior design company “V Starr Interiors”. Not only is this, she is the limited partner of Miami Dolphins (NFL) along with her sister. Venus is very famous for her bright outfits and the bold accessories. She is the ambassador of Gender Equality for the UNESCO-Sony Ericsson WTA.

Talking about her property, she owns a Palm Beach Garden. She bought this house in the year 2009 for $2 million. This exquisite property is located in Florida, USA. The mansion is built on a circular theme which includes a breakfast room, a circular foyer, a library and a well decorated kitchen and 4 master bedrooms. Her favorite holiday destination is Hawaii. Recently she was spotted at Hawaii with her latest boyfriend, rapper Common though she walk their frequently. She often raeh there in her best mood. She likes to donate in the money in good work and is involved in various different caises like Elton John AIDS Foundation which was established in the year 1992 and aims to support people infected with HIV. She is actively involved in the charity and hosted some charity nights. She is also involved in Great Ormond Street Hospital o London which is highly concerned in treating children suffering from rare and life threatning diseases. Another on eis Health Truth which works to enlighten women against the causes of heart attack. And the last one is Save the Music Foundation which is non profit organization which aims at the education provided in the USA.

Venus is recently spotted in a Stuart Weitzman Glittered Ballerina Flats which has a rubber sole. Not only is this she loves to wear other brands like the Louis Vuitton Miroir Speedy 30 Silver Handbag , which is avery famous bag from Louis Vetton and is made up of leather and silver finishing. She spotted in Rock and Republic, The Berlin Skinny Jeans which has embroidered finish and is made up of 87% cotton, 1.5% Lycra and 11.5% nylon and was spotted in Jimmy Choo Glitter Sling back Pump with a  narrow back strap.

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Net Worth- $180 million

Holding on to my breath, fingers crossed, eyes focused on the television screen, lips chanting something and within seconds, there goes a SMASH! And there he did it!! Federer won. I jump off my couch all elated and drink a beer. Well, not really beer but surely I go around screaming in joy. This man, Roger Federer, takes my heart with his smashes. A Swiss professional tennis player, he is ranked No. 8 by ATP and is regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time. Despite of holding place in our hearts, he also holds several men’s world records of the Opera Era and held No. 1 position for nearly 302 weeks from 2004 to 2008. Winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles and managing to reach in the finals of each Grand Slam 5 times at least along with reaching the finals of Wimbledon 8 times, makes him the flagship of this sport. A dominant player since years, who even swept off the other heroes like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Federer or FedEx (Federer Express) as he is referred to, remains the soul of tennis. He has been inspired by some great names and acts as an inspiration to many of us.

Personal life

Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland at the Basel Cantonal Hospital but grew up in Birsfelden, Riehan. His father, Robert Federer, is a Swiss and mother, Lynette Federer, is a South African and as expected, he holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He has an elder sister, Diana. Having said that, he is fluent in Swiss, French and English with German as his native language. Federer was raised as a Roman Catholic and he was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, he had to quit due to a severe back problem. Federer is also a football fan and grew up supporting Swiss National Football team. Not to forget his interest in cricket after having met Sachin Tendulkar. He used to play a lot of badminton and basketball for hand-eye coordination.

His wedding took place on the 11^th of April, 2009 with his long-term girlfriend and former Women’s Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec in the presence of a small circle of close friends and family. They have two identical twin girls and are now expecting a third child in 2014.

Philanthropy

When it comes to charity, Federer is no behind as he happens to supports a number of charities. To help the disadvantaged people and also to promote sports among people, he and his mother Lynette founded the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003. By auctioning his racquet in 2005, Federer helped the victims of the monstrous Hurricane Katrina from his US Open championship. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, 2005, he had arranged an exhibition that included top players from ATP and WTP tours to a Rally for Relief. This was done for the tsunami affected victims in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu and South Africa. Did you know he was also appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006? He made one of the biggest contributions in response to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake by joining hands with fellow top tennis players and by forming a charity event called ‘Hit for Haiti’ while forgoing their final day preparation of 2019 Australian Open in which the proceeds went to the victims. The World Economic Forum named him Global Young Leader of 2010 for his leadership and the various contributions he made to the society.

Career

In the initial years, Federer first came up at Wimbledon in 1998 where he won both the boy’s singles over Irakli Labadze and defeated Andy Ram and Michaël Llodra by teaming up with Oliver Rochus. Additionally, he won four ITF junior singles tournament including the prestigious Orange Bowl. He entered 1998 as the No. 1 junior world ranking as a professional where we could say his journey started. He made his breakthrough in 2000 at the Marseille Open where initially he lost to Marc Rosset but later as he grew technique, he came up leaps and bounds and defeated Monica Seles and Jan Michael Gambill in the finals of Hopman, 2001. The remarkable victory which has put him in the top 10 for the first time was the Master series even at the 2002 Hamburg Maters by defeating Marat Safin. He won his first even Grand Slam singles at the Wimbledon in 2003. He made it to the ATP tours stepping in to 9 final rounds winning only 7 of them. The years from 2008 to 2013 were under his dominance winning several singles title and defeating many in the doubles by pairing up with some of the top notched players including Rafael Nadal, who is also considered to be his rival. He grabbed most of the Grand Slam titles than any other men’s singles.

Endorsements

Federer is regarded as one of the highest earning athletes in the world and according to the Forbes World’s Highest Paid Athletes, he is listed number two. Not quite surprising to hear that he earns 40-50 million euros a year from his prize money that he receives and also the endorsements  from companies like Nike, Rolex, Lindt, etc. As a matter of fact, in 2013, he remained the top 10 earner in tennis with ten endorsement deals. He has many other sponsors and earlier, he was an ambassador for NetJets and Maurice Lacroix.

Treasures

Apart from the properties in Switzerland, Federer owns a luxurious apartment in Dubai. The reason for choosing such a location was because he wanted to train himself getting used to different weather conditions. Also, a carp carpa villa was bought in Switzerland in a village called Valbella. This house was bought in 2008 in a ski region, a spacious house with all modern facilities including a tennis court. He also owns an expensive penthouse apartment in Zurich. Not to forget the ninth most expensive legal-street silver color car that he owns- Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Roadster.

Hobbies

This is interesting to know that Federer usually spends his time with his family in a water sport especially swimming. It is found that he enjoys swimming as he believes it keeps him mentally fit and healthy. Adding to that, tennis has always been his passion and is also seen playing tennis in his leisure time. His love for Swiss mountains is exhilarating. He said that he loves going to the mountains with his family whenever possible. He is also a regular visitor of Maldives.

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