November 22: Scarlett Johansson is 29-years-old today.

-----

Johansson, who was born in New York City, debuted as a vocalist on her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which included cover versions of Tom Waits songs. The album was named the "23rd best album of 2008" by NME and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #126 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Her second album, Break Up, with singer/songwriter Pete Yorn was released in September 2009. The album was inspired by Serge Gainsbourg's duets with Brigitte Bardot.

In 2010, Steel Train released Terrible Thrills Vol. 1, which includes their favorite female artists singing songs from their self-titled album. Johansson is the first artist on the album, singing "Bullet."

In 2011, Johansson sang "One Whole Hour" for the soundtrack of the documentary film Wretches & Jabberers.





(Continued below video...)

(... Continued)

Of course, Johansson is best known as a movie actress. Johansson began her theater training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002. She began acting during her childhood. She made her film debut at age nine, as John Ritter's daughter in the 1994 fantasy comedy North. Following minor roles in the 1995 film Just Cause, as the daughter of Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw, and If Lucy Fell in 1996.

That same year, her performance as Amanda in Manny & Lo earned Scarlett a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female. Johansson got career boosts from after her roles in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and 2001's Ghost World.

Scarlett transitioned to adult roles with her performances in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, for which she won a BAFTA Award, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, both of which earned her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003. A role in A Love Song for Bobby Long earned her a third Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.

(Continued below CDs...)

HIGHLY Recommended (Links to Amazon):

-----

Following an appearance in The Island, Johansson garnered a fourth Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Woody Allen's Match Point. She then starred in another Allen film, Scoop, with Hugh Jackman.

A role in Brian De Palma's film noir The Black Dahlia was followed by a second role opposite Hugh Jackman in The Prestige, which also starred Christian Bale.

In early March 2012, it was announced that Johansson had been cast as Janet Leigh in the upcoming Sacha Gervasi-directed film Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, a behind-the-scenes drama about the making of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho. Johansson reprised the role of Natasha Romanoff in Marvel's The Avengers in 2012.

####