Rita Wilson
Rita Wilson | |
---|---|
Wilson in October 2012
|
|
Born | Margarita Ibrahimoff October 26, 1956 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress, producer, singer |
Years active | 1972–present |
Spouse(s) | Tom Hanks (m. 1988) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Colin Hanks (step-son), Elizabeth Hanks (step-daughter) |
Rita Wilson (born October 26, 1956)[1] is an American actress, singer, and producer. She appeared in films Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Now and Then (1995), Jingle All the Way (1996), The Story of Us (1999) and Runaway Bride (1999). Wilson also performed on Broadway and television, and produced several films, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).
Contents
Early life
Rita Wilson was born as Margarita Ibrahimoff[1] (Bulgarian: Маргарита Ибрахимова; Greek: Μαργαρίτα Ιμπραΐμοφ) in Los Angeles, California. Her mother was Greek, born and raised in Sotire near Dropull i Sipërm (Greek: Άνω Δρόπολις, Ano Dropolis) in Albania, near the border of Greece.[2] Her father, Hassan Halilov Ibrahimoff (March 21, 1920 – March 6, 2009), was a Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim), born in Breshtene in the province of Western Thrace, Greece. Western Thrace came into being as a result of World War I, the Treaty of Neuilly in 1919, and the San Remo conference in 1920, when it shifted from Bulgaria to Greece. Her father's half-brother Ferhat lives in Bulgaria.[fn 1][3][4][5] Wilson's father moved to the United States on May 4, 1949.[4] Her father changed his name from Hassan Ibrahimoff to Allan Wilson in 1960,[4] choosing his name after a local street. Rita was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith.[6] Her father in addition to his Bulgarian could speak "Russian, Turkish, Polish, Greek, little a bit of Italian, little a bit of french" according to Rita's husband Tom Hanks, he based his character from the movie The Terminal on his father-in-law.[7]
Career
Wilson's career began with a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in the 1972 episode "Greg's Triangle," where she played one of the candidates running against Marcia for head cheerleader. She also twice appeared on M*A*S*H in 1982 as Nurse Lacey as well as the sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies starring her future husband Tom Hanks. She has appeared in numerous movies, including Volunteers, Teen Witch, Barbarians at the Gate, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Mixed Nuts, Sleepless in Seattle, Now and Then, That Thing You Do!, Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride, Invisible Child, The Story of Us, Raise Your Voice, It's Complicated, and Larry Crowne.
She played Susan Borman, wife of astronaut Frank Borman, in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. On television, she guest starred in many television series, including Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Good Wife, Body of Proof, and Girls.
Wilson performed on Broadway, where she performed the role of Roxie Hart from June–August 2006 in the revival of Chicago.
She is often credited with being the driving force behind Nia Vardalos's movie deal for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which became the highest-grossing independent film of all time, and for which she served as a producer.[8]
Wilson's long-standing interest in singing led her to record a debut solo album, AM/FM, which she released May 8, 2012, on the Decca Records label. The album featured classics from the 1960s/70s, including a cover of "Wichita Lineman" that she performed with the song's writer-composer, Jimmy Webb.[9][10]
Personal life
Wilson married actor Tom Hanks in 1988, and the couple have two sons, Chester and Truman.[11] Wilson has two stepchildren, Colin and Elizabeth Hanks.
She contributed to the Moffitt Cancer Center by donating "True Hearts" jewelry made of sterling silver and 14k gold. The proceeds will[when?] benefit several charities. Wilson has credited Rosie O'Donnell as inspiration for her charitable work, particularly with cancer and children's charities.[12]
She is a devout member of the Greek Orthodox Church.[13]
In April 2015, Wilson announced that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.[14] After a one-month hiatus, she returned to Larry David's "Fish in the Dark" Broadway show.[15]
Activism
In 2015 Wilson signed an open letter which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.[16]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1966 | Spinout | Bit Girl (uncredited)[citation needed] | |
1972 | The Brady Bunch | Pat Conway | Television program Episode: "Greg's Triangle" |
1979 | The Day It Came to Earth[citation needed] | Debbie | |
1980 | Cheech & Chong's Next Movie | Actress | |
1981 | Bosom Buddies | Cindy | Television program Episode: "All You Need is Love" |
1982 | M*A*S*H | Nurse Lacey | Television program Episodes: "Blood and Guts" "Hey, Look Me Over" |
1983 | Three's Company | Agnes Platt | Television program Episode: "Alias Jack Tripper" |
1985 | Volunteers | Beth Wexler | |
1986 | 227 | Dr. Peterson | Television program Episode: "Mary Nightingale" |
1989 | Teen Witch | Dancer | |
1990 | Sinners[citation needed] | Margaret | |
The Bonfire of the Vanities | P.R. Woman | ||
1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Jess Gilcrist | Television program Episode: Mournin' Mess |
1993 | Sleepless in Seattle | Suzy | |
1994 | Mixed Nuts | Catherine O'Shaughnessy | |
1995 | Now and Then | Chrissy DeWitt Williams | |
1996 | No Dogs Allowed[citation needed] | ||
That Thing You Do! | Marguerite | ||
Jingle All the Way | Liz Langston | ||
1998 | Psycho | Caroline | |
1999 | Invisible Child | Annie Beeman | |
Runaway Bride | Ellie Graham | ||
The Story of Us | Rachel | ||
2001 | Perfume | Roberta | aka Dress to Kill |
The Glass House | Grace Avery-Baker | (uncredited)[citation needed] | |
2002 | Auto Focus | Anne Crane | |
2003 | My Big Fat Greek Life | Cousin Ariana | Television program Episode: "Ariana" |
2004 | Raise Your Voice | Francis Fletcher | |
2005 | The Chumscrubber | Terri Bratley | |
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D | Beta Station Commander | Voice only | |
2006 | Beautiful Ohio | Judith Messerman | |
2009 | My Life in Ruins | Elinor | |
Old Dogs | Jenna | ||
It's Complicated | Trisha | ||
2011 | The Art of Getting By | Vivian Sargent | |
Larry Crowne | Wilma Gammelgaard | ||
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Bree Mazalon | Television program Episode: "Delinquent" |
|
The Good Wife | Viola Walsh | Television program Episodes: "Net Worth" "Great Firewall" "Live from Damascus" "Two Girls, One Code" "Outside the Bubble" |
|
2012 | Jewtopia | Arlene Lipschitz | |
Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series) | Herself | Television program Episode: "Rita Wilson" |
|
2013 | The Tutor[citation needed] | Tina | Short film |
Girls | Evie Michaels | Television program Episodes: "It's About Time" "Females Only" "Truth or Dare" |
|
2014 | Dawn Patrol | Shelia | |
2016 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 | Post-production |
As a producer
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | Producer | Producers Guild of America Visionary Award Nominated — Producers Guild of America Award for Motion Picture Producer of the Year |
2003 | My Big Fat Greek Life | Executive producer | Television program |
2004 | Connie and Carla | ||
2008 | Mamma Mia! | ||
2009 | My Life in Ruins | ||
2016 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 |
Discography
- 2012: AM/FM (Audio CD: May 8, 2012)[17]
Track listing
- "All I Have to Do is Dream"
- "Never My Love"
- "Come See About Me"
- "Angel of the Morning"
- "Walking in the Rain"
- "Wichita Lineman"
- "Cherish"
- "You Were on My Mind"
- "Good Times Charlie"
- "Love has No Pride"
- "Please Come to Boston"
- "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
- "Faithless Love"
- "River"
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Birth date confirmed at the State of California, California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Date of birth for Margarit Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California is October 26, 1956.[1]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Rita Wilson, Who Do You Think You Are?", tracing-the-tree, March 31, 2012; retrieved April 3, 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Stated on Who Do You Think You Are?, March 30, 2012.
- ↑ Tom Hanks' wife Rita Wilson breaks down after discovering she had a brother who died as a baby on Who Do You Think You Are. Mail Online, 31 March 2012; retrieved December 3, 2012.
- ↑ "My Big, Fat, Greek Mystery", tmatt.net; September 18, 2002; accessed April 15, 2015.
- ↑ "Season 12 Episode 9." Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 14 May 2016. Television.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Antoinette Bueno.Rita Wilson to Debut Solo Album, E! Online, February 9, 2012.
- ↑ "Rita Wilson to Debut Solo Album AM/FM", PRNewswire.com, February 9, 2012; retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; accessed April 15, 2015.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Rita Wilson talks about cancer
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Rita Wilson: "AM/FM". Artist notes and product description (Amazon.com). Retrieved 12 May 2012.
External links
- Rita Wilson at the Internet Movie Database
- Rita Wilson at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Rita Wilson at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Rita Wilson on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Articles with hCards
- Articles containing Bulgarian-language text
- Articles containing Greek-language text
- Vague or ambiguous time from January 2014
- Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015
- 1956 births
- American film actresses
- American people of Bulgarian descent
- American people of Greek descent
- American television actresses
- Living people
- Actresses from Los Angeles, California
- American female singers
- Decca Records artists
- American film producers
- Film producers from California
- Women film producers
- Actresses of Bulgarian descent
- Actresses of Greek descent
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Pomaks
- Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
- People with cancer