SL (Simian Line)

AMY WINEHOUSE

ROBERT DE NIRO Robert De Niro, presumably, has close friends. But don't expect to hear about them, or the star himself for that matter. The notoriously private icon is an "Actor", not a celebrity. And just because he's been in a few comedies of late -scoring with  Analyze This  and missing with  The Adventures Of Rocky & Bullwinkle  -don't think he's gone soft. Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943, in New York City, to Robert De Niro Sr, an abstract expressionist artist, and Virginia Admiral, a painter. An actor from age ten, Robert appeared as the Cowardly Lion in a local production of  The Wizard Of Oz,  and then, after dropping out of high school, went on to study with renowned figures in the world of theatre. De Niro flourished under the tutelage of Lee Strasberg - one of the greatest forces in method acting - and then at the famed Stella Adler Studio Of Acting. He paid his dues off-Broadway but soon established himself as a master of di...

TONY BLAIR Tony Blair (1953 - ) Double Simian Lines Blair was prime minister for a decade from 1997 - 2007. He is responsible for moving the Labour Party from the left towards the centre ground of British politics, resulting in an unprecedented three consecutive terms in power for the party. Anthony Blair was born on 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh. Educated at Oxford University, he became a barrister and in 1983 was elected Labour member of parliament for Sedgefield. He soon became identified with a group of self-conscious party 'modernisers' (which also included Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson), who sought to make Labour more acceptable to the electorate by repudiating its association with the trade unions, unilateral nuclear disarmament, public ownership and high taxation. In 1994, following the unexpected death of then leader John Smith, Blair became Labour Party leader after Gordon Brown stood aside to avoid splitting the pro-modernising vote in the leadership bal...