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Morgan Freeman is an Oscar-winning actor whose career spans more than five decades. His latest movie is "Now You See Me." Freeman made his Broadway debut was the 1960's all-black version of "Hello, Dolly!" Soon after, he was cast in the TV soap opera "Another World" and PBS's show for kids, "The Electric Company," where he played memorable roles such as Easy Reader and Vincent the Vegetable Vampire. Since then, Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in the movies "Street Smart," "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Invictus." He won the Oscar in 2005 for his work in "Million Dollar Baby." He has appeared in many other box office hits, including "Unforgiven," "The Dark Knight" and "The Bucket List." Freeman is also the host and narrator of the Science Channel's TV investigative show, "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman."
Bill O'Reilly has hosted Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" since 1996. His latest book is "Keep It Pithy: Useful Observations in a Tough World." He is also the author of numerous New York Times #1 bestsellers including "Culture Warrior" (2006), "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity: A Memoir" (2008), "Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama" (2010), "Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" (2011) and "Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot" (2012). Raised in New York and New Jersey, O'Reilly studied history at Marist College and taught high school English and history before studying broadcast journalism at Boston University. He began his broadcast career as a reporter and anchor at WNEP in Scranton, Pennsylvania and worked in local news before settling in New York as an anchor at a CBS affiliate. In 1982 he became a CBS News network correspondent, covering international affairs, and moved to ABC News in 1986. He went on to anchor "Inside News," then took a brief break from television to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 1996 O'Reilly launched "The O'Reilly Report" on the Fox News Channel, then in its first year of operation. Until 2009 his television broadcast was complemented by "The Radio Factor," which was carried by over 400 radio stations. He writes a weekly column that is syndicated by newspapers nationwide.
Phil Jackson is considered one of the greatest basketball coaches in the history of the NBA. As head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Jackson coached legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to six NBA championships. From 2000 to 2010, Jackson won five championships as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Adding together the two championships he also won as a player for the New York Knicks, Jackson holds the record for most combined NBA championships by a player and a head coach. His new book is "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."
Ellen Page is an Oscar-nominated actress who has followed-up her big break in "Juno" (2007) with roles in "Inception" and Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love" (2012). Her latest movie is the thriller "The East" (2013). Born in Nova Scotia, Page pursued acting at a young age. At ten, she landed a role on the Canadian TV series "Pit Pony" (1999). At 14, she played the lead role in the indie film "Hard Candy" (2005). Jason Reitman's 2007 hit "Juno" launched her into the spotlight, leading to roles in "An American Crime" (2007) and "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006). On Twitter she describes herself as "a tiny Canadian."
George Packer is an award-winning author and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His latest book, "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America," interweaves narratives of a small number of Americans to help readers understand the ways in which the United States has declined over the past thirty years. Packer's 2006 book, "The Assassins Gate: America in Iraq," won wide critical acclaim for its careful consideration of the innerworkings of America's involvement in the war in Iraq. He has also written two novels, "The Half Man" in 1991 and "Central Square" in 1998. His other books include two more nonfiction titles from 2001, "The Blood of Liberals" and "The Village of Waiting." Packer was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2001 for his work as a general nonfiction writer. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Olympia Snowe is a former United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican party. In her new book "Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress," Snowe talks about her frustration with the way Washington works now. First elected to Congress in 1978, Snowe served in the House of Representatives from 1979 until she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. In 2012, she announced she would not seek reelection. Prior to her time in Washington, Snowe served the people of Maine on the state level as a representative and a state senator. Born in Augusta, Maine, Snowe graduated from the University of Maine. She and her husband, former Maine Governor John R. McKernan Jr., live in Falmouth, Maine and Washington, D.C.
Nathan Lane is a Tony and Emmy award-winning actor known for his roles on the stage, the big screen, and on television. In 1996, Lane won his first Best Actor Tony Award for his role in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Five years later he played Max Bialystock in "The Producers," earning him the Tony Award for Best Actor once again in 2001. Lane also starred in the 2005 film version of "The Producers." His film credits include the voice of Timon in "The Lion King" (1994), "The Birdcage" (1996), and the 1997 comedy "Mousehunt." During a career that's spanned more than three decades, Lane has also appeared in a number of television shows including "Timon & Pumbaa" (1995), "Charlie Lawrence" (2003), and "30 Rock" (2007). More recently, Lane can be seen in CBS's "The Good Wife" and on ABC's hit comedy "Modern Family."
J.J. Abrams is a film and TV screenwriter, director and producer. His latest movie is "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013). During his senior year at Sarah Lawrence College, he teamed up with Paul Mazursky's daughter Jill to write the 1990 movie "Taking Care of Business." His next movie was 1991's "Regarding Henry," directed by Mike Nichols and starring Harrison Ford. Since then, Abrams has co-created the TV series "Felicity" (1998-2002) and "Lost" (2004-2010) and created the TV series "Alias" (2001-2006), "Fringe" (2008-present) and "Undercovers" (2010). His more recent movies include 2009's "Star Trek" and 2011's "Super 8," which was produced by Stephen Spielberg. Abrams lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with his wife and their three children.
David Sedaris is a writer, humorist, and playwright who can be heard regularly on National Public Radio. His latest book is "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls." In 1992, NPR invited Sedaris to read his essay "SantaLand Diaries" on air. He published his first collection of essays and short stories, "Barrel Fever," in 1994. His next five essay collections, "Naked," "Holidays on Ice," "Me Talk Pretty One Day," "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" and "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" are New York Times best sellers. In 2010, he released "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary," a collection of morality tales. Sedaris was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album, and received the 2001 Thurber Prize for American Humor. David Sedaris lives in France.
Carey Mulligan is an Oscar-nominated actor whose film credits include roles in "Pride and Prejudice" (2005), "An Education" (2009), and "Drive" (2011). Her latest role is as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrman's "The Great Gatsby" (2013). Born in London, Mulligan found a passion for acting at an early age. She pursued roles in musicals and plays during her teenage years, and landed her big break alongside Kiera Knightly in "Pride & Prejudice" (2005). Next she transitioned to several roles on British television series such as "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard" (2006), "Waking the Dead" (2007), and "Doctor Who" (2007). In 2008, she made her Broadway debut in Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull." Mulligan is married to Marcus Mumford of the folk band Mumford & Sons.
Mindy Kaling is the executive producer, writer and star of the Fox comedy "The Mindy Project." Kaling is perhaps best known for her role as Kelly Kapoor on NBC's award-winning sitcom "The Office." She also serves as co-executive producer, writer, and director for "The Office." Her film roles include parts on "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," (2005) "License to Wed," (2007) "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009) and "No Strings Attached" (2011). In November 2011 she published a comic memoir, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)."
Christiane Amanpour is the chief international correspondent for CNN and the anchor of the nightly news magazine "Amanpour." She is also the global affairs anchor for ABC News. A veteran international journalist, Amanpour has reported from virtually every major international conflict, interviewed the world's top leaders, and traveled far and wide to report on international news events. Amanpour got her start in journalism in 1983 as a desk assistant at CNN in Atlanta. CNN promoted Amanpour to correspondent in its New York bureau, then assigned her to international correspondent in 1990. Her list of accolades includes an inaugural Television Academy Honor, nine Emmy awards and four Peabody awards. Amanpour studied journalism at the University of Rhode Island. She is based in New York.