The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops reinventing herself, Madonna is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner who has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide.
Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film critics, and the films have usually had tepid if any, success at the box office. Born Madonna Louise Ciccone in August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York in 1978 and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey, joined up with the Patrick Hernandez Revue, formed a pop/dance band called Breakfast Club and began working with then-boyfriend Stephen Bray on recording several disco-oriented songs. New York producer/D.J.
Mark Kamins passed her demo tapes to Sire Records in early 1982 and the rest is history. The 1980s was Madonna’s boom decade, and she dominated the music charts with a succession of multimillion-selling albums, and her musical and fashion influence on young women was felt around the globe. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (1979) and Vision Quest (1985).
Was Madonna’s mother French? What ethnicity is Madonna Louise Ciccone?
Her father’s parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro while her mother was of French-Canadian descent.
However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. Madonna’s next effort with then-husband Sean Penn, Shanghai Surprise (1986), was savaged by critics, although the resilient star managed to somewhat improve her standing with her next two films, the off-beat Who’s That Girl (1987) (although she did receive decidedly mixed reviews, they weren’t as negative as those of her previous effort) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989).
