Actors - Cher

	Actors - Cher

Cherilyn Sarkisian (born May 20, 1946), better known simply by her stage name Cher is an iconic American, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning actress, director, Emmy Award winning television star and entertainer.

She was born in El Centro, California. Her mother was Georgia Holt, a one time aspiring bit-part actress and occassional model, who was mostly English and Irish descent, but also 1/8 Cherokee. Her father was John Sarkisian (an Armenian refugee). She rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as one half of the pop duo Sonny and Cher, later emerging as a successful solo artist, television star, and later, film actress.

In a career that has now surpassed 40 years, Cher has become a celebrated pop icon, and one of the most enduring entertainers of her time.

Early Life

Cher was mostly raised by her mother during her childhood. Her mother and father divorced when she was young. Cher's mother remarried a man by the name of Gilbert LaPierre. He later adopted Cher and she took his name.

Career

1962 – 1970: Beginnings: Sonny and Cher

Cherilyn first met Sonny Bono in a Los Angeles coffee shop in November 1962, when she was just 16. The much older Sonny (he was already 27) was working for record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The two became fast friends, eventual lovers, and then married. Through Sonny, Cher (as she was called early on for short) eventually got to sing back-up on several of Spector’s classic recordings.

Her first solo recording was the novelty single "Ringo, I Love You", released under the pseudonym of Bonnie-Jo Mason and produced by Phil Spector. It went nowhere. Her second attempt was the more popular single "Dream Baby", released under the name Cherilyn, written and produced by Sonny. Both were released in 1964.

With Sonny continuing to write, arrange and produce the songs, Sonny and Cher’s first incarnation was as the duo "Caesar and Cleo". They received little attention. They later re-emerged as "Sonny and Cher", and released their first album Look at Us in the summer of 1965. This album contained the overnight smash and eventual #1 single "I Got You Babe" (U.S. #1, 1965). Cher was 19 years old.

Several more Top 40 hits would follow, including "Baby, Don’t Go" (U.S. #8, 1965), "Just You" (U.S. #20, 1965), "But You're Mine" (U.S. #15, 1965), "Little Man" (U.S. #21, 1966), and "The Beat Goes On" (U.S. #6, 1967) from the albums The Wonderous World of Sonny and Cher (1966]]), and In Case You’re In Love (1967).

The two became a quick sensation, travelling and performing around the world. The duo made an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the fall of 1965 in which Mr. Sullivan infamously pronounced her name 'Chur' during their introduction.

While initially perceived as the slightly awkward and under-estimated half of the popular singing duo, Cher quickly rose to prominence as the more outspoken, daring and provocative half of the husband-and-wife singing team. With her dark, exotic looks, she became a fashion trend-setter, quickly popularizing fashion bellbottoms, and incorporating ‘hippie’ attire and eccentric gowns and elaborate costumes into their live shows.

Meanwhile, also in 1965, Cher released her first solo record All I Really Want To Do which charted her first solo U.S. Top 20 hit, a cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do" (U.S. #15, 1965). She followed up with "Where Do You Go" (U.S. #25, 1965) "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down!)" (U.S. #2, 1966)the feature film title track "Alfie" (U.S. #32, 1966) and "You Better Sit Down Kids" (U.S. #9, 1967) from the albums The Sonny Side of Cher (1966), Cher (1966), Backstage (1967), With Love…Cher (1968).

In an attempt to capitalize on the duo’s success, Sonny penned their first feature film (themed similarily to The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine) Good Times in 1967, in which the duo starred. The film was a flop.

Sonny and Cher's career had stalled by 1968, as album sales quickly dried up. Their gentle, easy-listening pop sound and anti-drug policy had become unpopular in an era becoming increasingly consumed with the psychedelic rock that came with the overall evolutionary change in the landscape of American pop culture during the late 1960's.

Sonny and Cher also welcomed their first child, Chastity Bono, born on March 4, 1969.

Cher released the album 3614 Jackson Highway later on that year.

The duo made another unsuccessful foray into film later in 1969 with Bono writing and producing the film Chastity, intended as a dramatic debut for Cher as an actress. That film (directed by first and only-time director Alessio De Paulo) was also considered a commercial failure.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Cher ]

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Actors - Cher

Early Life

Career

1962 – 1970: Beginnings: Sonny and Cher

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