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| Birth Name(s) : Martha Helen Kostyra |
Date of Birth: August 3, 1941 |
| Status:
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Public Figure |
Official Site
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Full Martha Stewart Biography
When America wants to learn how to make the perfect pie crust, plant an herb garden or fix a broken windowpane, it turns to Martha Stewart. Through the award-winning magazine Martha Stewart Living, an Emmy Award-winning television show, a Web site, syndicated newspaper columns, national radio show, mail-order catalog and product lines, Martha shares the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America's most trusted guide to stylish living.
Inspiration surrounded Martha at an early age. Raised in Nutley, N.J., in a family with six children, Martha developed her passion for cooking, gardening and homekeeping in her childhood home on Elm Place. Her mother, a schoolteacher and homemaker, taught her the basics of cooking, baking, canning and sewing, and her father, a pharmaceutical salesman and avid gardener, introduced her to gardening at the age of 3 in the family's small but orderly backyard garden.
While earning a bachelor's degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College, Martha worked as a model to pay her tuition. She got married during her sophomore year, and upon graduating became a successful stockbroker on Wall Street, where she gained her early business training. After moving to Westport, Conn., with her husband and daughter, Alexis, in 1972, she developed a catering business that showcased her remarkable talent and originality. Her unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes she created for her catered events were the basis for her first book, Entertaining (Crown, 1982), which has become an American classic.
Martha Stewart was named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women" by Fortune magazine in October 1998, as well as one of "America's 25 Most Influential People" by Time magazine in June 1996. She has earned two Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Service Show Host" (for the 1994-95 and 1996-97 broadcast seasons), and Martha Stewart Living earned an Emmy for "Outstanding Service Show" for the 1998-99 season.
Martha Stewart Living has been honored with numerous awards, including three National Magazine Awards, more than 50 Society of Publication Designers Awards, and the Acres of Diamonds Awards for Magazine Development. |
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Additional Martha Stewart Biography
Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941) is an American business magnate, author, editor and homemaking advocate. She is also a former stockbroker and fashion model. Over the last two decades Stewart has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry; as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television programs, and commercial spokeswoman for K-Mart. In 2001 she was named the third most powerful woman in America by Ladies Home Journal.
In 2002, she was accused of insider trading and other crimes relating to statements that she made to investigators, and in 2004 she was convicted of a felony other than insider trading, sentenced to prison, fined, and barred from serving on a public company Board of Directors and from serving in certain executive capacities for five years. Since her release from prison in March 2005, Stewart has been focused on reviving the fortunes of her businesses, which had suffered due to media coverage of the scandal, her conviction and incarceration, and the resulting volatile price of her company's stock. Stewart rapidly regained her former prominence as a homemaking expert, and she currently hosts Martha, as well as appearing on other television shows. She is once again involved with her company's magazine, Martha Stewart Living, she published a new book on starting a business, her merchandising activities are expanding, and the price of her company's stock recovered significantly.
Stewart was also active in many extracurricular activities, such as the school newspaper and the Art Club. During this time, Stewart began a modelling career. She was hired and appeared in several television commercials and magazines, including one of Tareyton's famous "Rather fight than switch" cigarette advertisements. Finishing with straight As, she was awarded a partial scholarship to Barnard College in New York City.
In 1990 she also signed with Time Publishing Ventures to develop a new magazine, Martha Stewart Living, for which Stewart served as editor in chief. The first issue was released in late 1990 with an initial rate base of 250,000. Circulation would peak in 2002 at more than 2 million copies per issue. In 1993, she began a weekly half-hour service program based on her magazine, which was quickly expanded to a full hour, and later to a daily format, with half-hour episodes on weekends. Stewart also became a frequent contributor to CBS's The Early Show, and starred in several prime time holiday specials on the CBS network.
On October 19, 1999, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO. The initial public offering was set at $18 per share, and rallied to $38 by the end of trading, making Stewart a billionaire on paper. The stock price slowly went down to $16 per share by February 2002. Stewart was then and continues to be the majority shareholder, with a commanding 96% control of voting power in the company.
Stewart surprised many in September 2004, when she agreed to begin serving a five-month prison term while her appeal was still pending. In October 2004, she reported to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia. She was released on March 4, 2005, after which she was placed under home confinement and required to wear an ankle bracelet for an additional 5 months.
Some libertarian commentators, especially those in the Ludwig von Mises Institute, argue that Stewart's trial was unfair and she was in fact a political prisoner. The right-wing libertarian website Lewrockwell.com also archived several articles defending Stewart.
In October 2005, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia launched a line of houses that carry her name to be built by KB Home initially in Cary, North Carolina and various other locations nationwide. The first homes, which were inspired by Stewart's homes in New York and Mount Desert Island in Maine, were completed in early 2006. Ultimately 650 homes are planned with prices from low $200,000 to mid-$400,000s. A line of paper-based crafts for EK Success is also in development. In September of 2007, Stewart launched an upscale line of homewares for Macy's, which is the largest brand launch in Macy's history. Appearing in commercials for the line, Stewart has stated that she has designed more than 2,000 items exclusively for Macy's. The line includes bedding, bath, cookware and dinnerware.
On September 14, 2007, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced that it inked a partnership with E & J Gallo Winery to produce a wine brand with label "Martha Stewart Vintage" (for sale in 6 cities, January, at $15). 15,000 cases to be sold include: 2006 Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2005 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Sonoma County Merlot (for Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Denver, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon). Martha Stewart also signed contract with Costco Wholesale Corp. to offer frozen and fresh food (label - Kirkland Signature).
There have been two biopics made for television about Martha. Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart for NBC and a sequel for CBS entitled Martha: Behind Bars, starring Cybill Shepherd. |
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Martha Stewart Quote(s)
| I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it's not a waste of time. |
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