Behind Every Great Man there’s a Great Woman | Influential Women

Aretha Franklin sang in ‘Sisters are doing it for themselves’, that behind every great man was a great women. She was right of course, so to celebrate the Blu-ray and DVD release of The Theory of Everything, out 11th May, we took a look at some of the inspirational and influential women that have been the driving force behind their male counterparts.

 

Jackie Kennedy & JFK

Jackie Kennedy & JFK

Jackie was the First Lady and wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. JFK was in power from 1960 until his assassination in 1963. Jackie was remembered as one of the most popular First ladies in American history, perhaps due to her skill at entertaining. Jackie proved quite popular among international dignitaries.

 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Brad and Angelia didn’t start their relationship in the most admired fashion, Brad was married to America’s sweetheart Jennifer Aniston at the time of meeting Angelina. Angelina Jolie a successful actress and director, stole the heart of Brad on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith. Together they now have 6 children and have recently been married.

Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King

Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King

Coretta an activist and a key leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1960, met Martin Luther King in college. Coretta’s support for her husband and the fight for racial equality continued after Martin’s tragic death in 1968. She honoured Martin’s legacy by founding the King Center and also succeeded in having Martin’s birthday become a National holiday in America.

 

Victoria Beckham and David Beckham

Victoria Beckham and David Beckham

Victoria rose to fame in 1990 with her all-female pop group The Spice Girls. After meeting popular footballer David Beckham in 1997, Victoria quickly became the driving force in becoming one of the most loved couples and families in the world, originally dubbed Posh & Becks by the media. Both very successful in their own right, Victoria has not only managed her husband’s career she has started paving the path for the careers of her sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz to by securing endorsement deals and becoming successful models.

 Kate Middleton and Prince William

Kate Middleton and Prince William

Kate Middleton not only captured the heart of the very eligible Prince William, she won over the world with her kind nature and humble background. Kate Middleton has recently given birth to her and Will’s second child, Princess Charlotte.

 

Beyonce and Jay- Z Beyonce and Jay- Z

Beyonce and rapper Jay-Z started a relationship after collaborating on song, Bonnie & Clyde in 2002. To date the couple have sold over more than 300 million records together. A self-described “modern-day feminist“, Beyoncé writes and performs songs that are often characterized by themes of female sexuality and empowerment.

 

Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton

Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton

Hillary, was the first Lady of United States of America from 1993- 2001 supporting her husband Bill through thick and thin during his Presidency. She has since become the first women senator on the only ever First Lady to have run for public office. Leaving office at the end of Obama’s first term, she authored her fifth book and undertook speaking engagements before announcing her second run for the presidency in April 2015.

 

Jane Hawking & Stephen Hawking

 

Jane Hawking & Stephen Hawking

Jane Wilde Hawking is the first wife of Professor Stephen Hawking. They met at college through mutual friends and later married in 1965, shortly after Stephen was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Jane supported and cared for Stephen during their marriage in dealing with his disease and still remain very close friends. In 2007 Jane wrote her memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, which was then adapted by Anthony McCarten and became the Academy Award winning film The Theory of Everything starring Felicity Jones & Eddie Redmayne.

 

The Theory of Everything is out on Blu-ray and DVD to own on 11th May

 

 

 

Angelina Jolie Gives Inspiring Speech In First Post Surgery Appearance | Video

Angelina Jolie Gives Inspiring Speech In First Post Surgery Appearance, angelina jolie, daughters, speech, surgeryFirstly, if you have not read Angelina Jolie’s moving account of her latest preventative cancer surgery then you should. Two years after having her breasts removed she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed and has since gone into menopause. Read her moving account here. In her first appearance since writing the piece for the New York Times she gave a heartfelt speech telling the audience at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards that it is okay to be different.

Jolie said: ‘Different is good. So, don’t fit. Don’t ever try to be less than what you are, and when someone tells you that you are different, smile and hold your head up high and be proud.’

Jolie made the speech after winning the Favourite Villain award for her role in Maleficent. She attended the awards with her gorgeous daughters Zahara and Shiloh, melting hearts everywhere as her daughters screamed and hugged their mother. Watch the video below.

Do you find Jolie inspirational?

 

 

Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt Marry: The Wedding Dress And The Details

Angelina Jolie has finally revealed her wedding dress, and it is a stunning Atelier Versace, hand-made strapless number with a beautiful, unique veil which has her children’s drawings sewn into it. We never thought we would actually see the dress but big-hearted Angelina and Brad sold the images of their wedding day to two tabloids and donated the money to charity.  Angelina-Jolie-wedding-dress-G1 Maddox (13), Pax (10), Zahara (9), Shiloh (8) and twins Vivienne, and Knox (6), helped design the veil and we think it looks beautiful.  Donatella Versace translated the children’s pictures and embroidered them into the veil. angelina-jolie-wedding-dress-brad-pitt‘Versace is honored to announce that on August 23rd 2014 Angelina Jolie chose to wear a stunning Atelier Versace creation designed by Donatella Versace in occasion of her marriage to Brad Pitt,’ a statement from Versace said.

The children also took on key roles in the wedding, Maddox and Pax walked their mother down the aisle, Zahara and Vivienne were flower girls, and Shiloh and Knox were ring bearers. That the children would have a role in the wedding was clear in May when Jolie said ‘We are discussing it with the children and how they imagine it might be, which is verging on hysterical, how kids envision a wedding,’  They will, in a way, be the wedding planners. It’s going to be Disney or paintball – one or the other!’

 

The newlyweds said: “It was important to us that the day was relaxed and full of laughter. It was such a special day to share with our children and a very happy time for our family,”

 

Just twenty people attended the ceremony which was held at the chapel of Château Miraval, the family’s estate in the French village of Correns. Angelina Jolie’s father, Jon Voight did not attend.

If you are getting married then get your hands on a copy of The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on planning your perfect wedding and is written by our editor, Catherine Balavage. It is also available in Ebook format and is a great guide for wedding planning.
 

Angelina Jolie On Meeting Louis Zamperini & Unbroken Trailer

One of the films we are most excited about is Angelina Jolie’s second directorial film, Unbroken. The film is about the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II. Angelina told Australia’s TV Week Magazine about meeting Zamperini just before he died.

“I brought him the film on my laptop in the hospital and it was amazing seeing someone at the end of their life watching their life unfold again, at the same time their body was shutting down,

He wanted me to make the movie to show something hopeful about the strength of the human spirit that can pull us through. He reminded me to have my surgery in the year that I did and he reminded me to appreciate every day of my life.”

Watch the trailer and let us know what you think.

unbroken__2014_ Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie Knows Being a Superstar Makes Being A Mum Easier

Angelina-Jolie-as-MaleficentIt is good to know that some people know how privileged they are and Angelina Jolie sure does. After being asked if she ever feels ‘mom guilt’ she replied.

 

“I’m not a single mom with two jobs trying to get by every day, I have much more support than most people, most women in this world. And I have the financial means to have a home and health care and food.

 

“My kids, they’re here upstairs,” [they were in the hotel she was being interviewed in, upstairs in her room]

 

“When I feel I’m doing too much, I do less, if I can. And that’s why I’m in a rare position where I don’t have to do job after job. I can take time when my family needs it,”

 

“I can say I can only get into the (editing) room after the kids are in school, and I have to be back for dinner, and they’re coming for lunch,”

 

“I actually feel that women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn’t complain. Consider all the people who really struggle and don’t have the financial means, don’t have the support, and many people are single raising children. That’s hard.”

 

Angelina Jolie And Michelle Obama Add Voices To #bringbackourgirls Campaign For Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls

Last month over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped and thanks to social media, the protest has been loud, with powerful names giving their support. Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama have added their voices to the #bringbackourgirls campaign. The First Lady tweeted this photo and message of support.

michelle obama #bringbackourgirls

Angelina Jolie told the Agence France-Presse: “The kidnapping of these young Nigerian girls is an unthinkable cruelty, Sadly, of course, there is real evil in the world. You watch the news and you see all of the people suffering and so much cruelty.”

CNN screened a video released by Nigerian Islamic group Boko Haram which featured the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, who claimed responsibility for kidnapping the girls and vowed to sell them into slavery. Reportedly, 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state.

Visit Change.org to sign the petition and use the #bringbackourgirls hashtag.

 

Oscars 2014 Round Up

The Oscars year after year always draw a lot of worldwide viewers and become a topic of discussion on many levels. Sometimes the focus of the movies seems less important than the storylines of the event itself and when you watch some of the opening ceremonies of the event, the media seem way more focused on what the stars are wearing and who designed it. What seems even more mind blowing is the value of some of the dresses and jewelry worn by some of the finest ladies on the planet are just insane with social media still buzzing over Charlize Theron’s $15M diamond necklace. She was not the only one dressed in bling and everyone got scrutinized for what they wore with social media being lit up on how the stars looked rather than what movies got what accolades. Of course Ellen DeGeneres was the host of the show and did a great job and made the show entertaining to watch.

Let’s start with who looked not so flattering and that the person who stole the show in that category was unfortunately Liza Minnelli. First DeGeneres joked earlier that the Liza Minnelli lookalike was a little too masculine hinting at being a drag queen. That didn’t seem to sit well with her but her dress was just mind-blowing on how poor of a choice it was in many ways. It looked ok to begin with, it was all blue and was more of a pant leg than anything dressy so maybe that is why Ellen did the drag queen jab but if you look at some of the pics of Liza on the red carpet it is hard not to notice her, ummm, lack of bra? That’s right, her puppies were fully visible through her blue top. So Liza took the award for possibly worst dressed and although she is a sweet looking lady, it just wasn’t her night unless her dress was part of a campaign to be talked about.

Best Dressed Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o stole the show for looking the best on all levels. She seemed to have an elegant but minimalistic look that made her look like an absolute princess. She wore a pale blue Prada dress that painted a nice backdrop to her beautiful dark skin, bright white smile while sporting and an elegant gold and diamond headband designed by Fred Leighton. She of course won an Oscar which was only fitting.

Charlize Theron $15M look

Charlize made a statement to make sure people would talk about her during and after the Oscars and it worked. She had a stunning black Dior dress and the talking piece of her look was the $15 million worth of diamonds on her neck which was set by Harry Winston. That is a lot of money invested into a compact piece of jewelry and you wouldn’t want that sitting around in case it gets lost or disappears. I’m sure the ladies would love to keep all their jewelry at the end of the night but that is quite a bit to hang on to and is probably worth selling and I’m sure a company like wpdiamonds will be busy buying up some unused diamonds as money is better left in the bank getting interest and kept safe.

Angelina Jolie brings 42 karat diamond bling

Angelina Jolie always looks great and on the Oscars 2014 she made sure she would be talked about and upon hitting the stage received a standing ovation as she has won the respect of many around the world for her double mastectomy and raising awareness to women around the world to get checkups and tests for breast cancer. That aside she had some serious earrings, 42 karat diamonds designed by Robert Procop. Her dress was simplistic but also pure elegance and definitely one of the best looking ladies of the night.

Ellen Oscar Selfie

Ellen breaks Twitter

Of course the most popular selfie pic in the world broke Twitter and was taken by Bradley Cooper. Ironically enough, Liza Minnelli was trying to fit into the pic but as the people were crowding the space, she was just left at the bad and was not included in the most retweeted pic in internet and Twitter history. That pic is probably the best way to summarize the entire evening. The pic fortunately will be what people can and will remember the Oscars for, as much as we love what the ladies looked like and what they were wearing, this pic is what it is all about and what people should be talking about.

 

Is This The Most Star-Studded Selfie Ever? Oscars 2014

We love this selfie Bradley Cooper took for Ellen during the Oscars. It has got to be the most star-studded selfie ever.

20140303-124101.jpg Is this your favourite selfie ever?

Copyright: Ellen.