J. K. Rowling

Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE (born 31 July 1965), better known as J. K. Rowling (pronounced/ˈroʊlɪŋ/, ROH-ling), is a British author best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies and been the basis for a popular series of films, in which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts as well as maintaining creative control by serving as a producer on the final instalment.

Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on benefits to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of March 2010, when its latest world billionaires list was published, Forbes estimated Rowling's net worth to be US$1 billion. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($798 million), ranking her as the twelfth richest woman in Great Britain. Forbes ranked Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007, and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom. In October 2010, J. K. Rowling was named 'Most Influential Woman in Britain' by leading magazine editors. She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group).

Awards and honours

• 1997: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• 1998: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 1998: British Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• 1999: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 1999: British Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 1999: Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 2000: British Book Awards, Author of the Year.
• 2000: Order of the British Empire, Officer.
• 2003: Premio Príncipe de Asturias, Concord.
• 2006: British Book of the Year, winner for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• 2007: Blue Peter Badge, Gold.
• 2008: British Book Awards, Outstanding Achievement.
• 2009: Légion d'honneur, presented by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
• 2010: Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, inaugural award winner.
• 2011: British Academy Film Awards, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the Harry Potter film series, shared with David Heyman, cast and crew.
• Honorary degrees: St Andrews University, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Exeter, Harvard University

Publications

Harry Potter series

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June 1997)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007)

Other books

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2008)

Short story

• Harry Potter prequel (July 2008)

Articles

• "The First It Girl: J.K. Rowling reviews Decca: the Letters of Jessica Mitford ed by Peter Y Sussman", The Daily Telegraph 26 July 2006
• Introduction to "Ending Child Poverty" in Moving Britain Forward. Selected Speeches 1997–2006 by Gordon Brown, Bloomsbury (2006)
• Foreword to the anthology Magic, edited by Gil McNeil and Sarah Brown, Bloomsbury (2002)
• The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, J.K. Rowling, Harvard Magazine, 5 June 2008
• Foreword to "Harry, A History", written by Melissa Anelli, Pocket (2008)
• Gordon Brown – The 2009 Time 100 J.K Rowling, Time Magazine, 30 April 2009
• The single mother's manifesto J.K Rowling, The Times, 14 April 2010

[Credit: Wikipedia]

David Heyman

David Heyman (born 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. He obtained the film rights to the Harry Potter franchise in 1999 and has produced all seven installments in the series.


[Credit: Wikipedia]

David Yates

David Yates (born 30 November 1963) is an English director of film and television, best known for helming the final four films in the Harry Potter franchise. After completing their theatrical run between 2007 and 2011, his Potter films became the highest-grossing entries in the series post the first instalment, making him the most commercially successful British director in recent years and a celebrated director of large-scale motion picture productions.




[Credit: Wikipedia]

Steve Kloves

Stephen Keith "Steven" Kloves (born March 18, 1960) is a Golden Globe- and Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter mainly renowned for his adaptations of novels, especially for the Harry Potter film series and for Wonder Boys. He has also directed two motion pictures.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

David Barron

David Barron is a British film producer, best known for his involvement in the Harry Potter film franchise.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series adapted from the book series of the same name. Radcliffe has also made appearances in stage productions and a number of TV shows and films, including the ITV film My Boy Jack and the stage show Equus, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.

[Credit: Wikipedia] 

Emma Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and model who rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger, one of three starring roles in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2010, she starred in seven Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint; she will return for the final installment: the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Watson's work on the Harry Potter series has earned her several awards and more than £10 million. She made her modelling debut for Burberry's Autumn/Winter campaign in 2009.

In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in two non-Harry Potter productions: the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Ballet Shoeswas broadcast on 26 December 2007 to an audience of 5.2 million, and The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008 and grossed over US $70 million in worldwide sales.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Rupert Grint

Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (born 24 August 1988) is an English actor best known for portraying Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films. In December 2007, Grint was ranked #16 in the list of Forbes top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of $4 million (US).

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Tom Felton

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Felton (born 22 September 1987) is a British actor and musician. He is best known for playing the role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, the movie adaptations of the best-selling Harry Potter fantasy novels by author J. K. Rowling, for which he auditioned at age twelve.

Felton started filming in commercials when he was eight years old and in films at the age of ten, appearing in The Borrowers and Anna and the King. After being cast as Draco Malfoy he has subsequently appeared in all eight Harry Potter films, from 2001 to 2011, and finished filming the last two. A fishing aficionado, he helped form the World Junior Carp Tournament, a "family-friendly" fishing tournament.

Tom Felton's portrayal of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won him the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2010.

[Credit: Wikipedia] 

Evanna Lynch

Evanna Lynch (born 16 August 1991) is an Irish actress who rose to prominence playing Luna Lovegood, a supporting role in the Harry Potter film series adapted from the book series of the same name. Lynch was cast as Luna at the age of 14, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2007 to 2010, she was in three Harry Potter films and their tie-in video games; she will return for the final film and the film's two tie-in video games. Lynch's work on the series has earned her two award nominations.

[Credit: Wikipedia] 

Matthew Lewis

Matthew David Lewis (born 27 June 1989) is an English actor, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.

Bonnie Wright

Bonnie Francesca Wright (born 17 February 1991) is an English actress and model, known for playing Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter fantasy film series adapted from the popular book series by J. K. Rowling, one of the few actors to have starred in every film in the franchise.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane, OBE (born Anthony Robert McMillan; 30 March 1950) is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the British TV series Cracker and as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, known simply as Ralph Fiennes (pronounced /ˈreɪf ˈfaɪnz/; born 22 December 1962), is a British actor. He has appeared in films such as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days and Maid in Manhattan. He is also well known for his portrayals of three infamous villains: Nazi war criminal Amon Göth in Schindler's List, serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in the 2002 film Red Dragon, and Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series. Most recently, he appeared in The Reader (2008), The Hurt Locker (2009) and as Hades in Clash of the Titans (2010).
Fiennes has won a Tony Award and has been nominated twice for Academy Awards. He is also a UNICEF UK ambassador.


[Credit: Wikipeida]

Michael Gambon

Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE (born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-born British actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his role as Philip Marlow in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective and for his role as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series, replacing the late actor Richard Harris.

[Credit: Wikipedia]

Alan Rickman

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Rickman is known for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, Eamon de Valera in Michael Collins, and Metatron in Dogma.
He is also known for his prominent roles as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1991 film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and as Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee's 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. More recently he played Judge Turpin in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and voiced the Caterpillar in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The Guardian named Rickman as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

[Credit: Wikipeida]

Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Bonham Carter made her film debut in the K. M. Peyton film, A Pattern of Roses, before appearing in her first leading role in Lady Jane. She is known for her portrayals of Lucy Honeychurch in the film A Room with a View, Marla Singer in the film Fight Club, Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film series, her BAFTA-nominated performance as Enid Blyton in Enid, her Golden Globe-nominated performance as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, as well as her other collaborations with Tim Burton, her boyfriend since 2001. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her roles as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove and as Queen Elizabeth in the 2010 film The King's Speech, along with winning a BAFTA in 2011 for The King's Speech.

[Credit: Wikipeida]

Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith Cross, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years. She has won numerous awards for acting, both for the stage and for film, including five BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two SAG Awards, and a Tony Award. Her critically-acclaimed films include Othello (1965), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1967), California Suite (1978), A Room with a View (1985), and Gosford Park (2001). She has also appeared in a number of widely-popular films, including Sister Act (1992) and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series.

[Credit: Wikipeida]

James Phelps

James Andrew Eric Phelps (born 25 February 1986is an English actor, best known for playing Fred Weasley, in the Harry Potter film series.

[Credit: Wikipeida]

Oliver Phelps

Oliver Martyn John Phelps (born 25 February 1986) is an English actor, best known for playing George Weasley, in the Harry Potter film series.

[Credit: Wikipeida]