Madonna

Madonna or Madonna Louise Ciccone (1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. During the MTV craze in the 1980s, Madonna pushed boundaries with her provocative song texts and performances. She frequently reinvented herself and her music and Madonna stayed the 'Queen of Pop' for decades. Her global bestsellers were hits such as Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986), but for us, she became more interesting with songs like Like a Prayer (1989), Vogue (1991), and Frozen (1998). And we're still fans, even of some of her films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Truth or Dare (1991), and Evita (1996).


French postcard in the 'série chanteurs' by Editions Gil/Edition F. Nugeron, no. 131. Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985).


British postcard, no. FA 213. Rosanna Arquette and Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985).


French postcard by Editions Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. A-C 1217. Photo: UGC Distribution. Madonna and Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986).


British postcard New-Line, no. 229. Photo: Madonna and Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990).


Vintage postcard, no. AB 79. Photo: Steven Meisel. Publicity still for Madonna: Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna (Alek Keshishian, 1991). Madonna impersonating Jayne Mansfield.

Rosaries and crosses as jewelry and black rubber typewriter bands as bracelets

Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. Her father is Italian, her mother was French-Canadian. Her siblings are Anthony Ciccone (1956), Martin Ciccone (1957), Paula Ciccone (1959), Christopher Ciccone (1960), and Melanie Henry (1962).

In 1962, Madonna's mother, pregnant with her sixth child, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She delayed treatment until her baby was born, but by that time it was too late. A harrowing, yearlong battle with the disease ensued. She lost her battle with cancer in 1963.

In 1978, Madonna moved to New York and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey. She 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. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (Stephen Jon Lewicki, 1979) and Crazy for You (Harold Becker, 1985), starring Matthew Modine. Her first film, A Certain Sacrifice (1979), was released in 1985, after she became a star, but was actually shot in two parts, the first in 1979, and the other, in 1981.

However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. In 1984, she started fashion trends with her unique look using rosaries and crosses as jewelry and black rubber typewriter bands as bracelets. Legions of adolescent girls mimicked her look and a Madonna clothing store was opened in New York. Again in 2001, another huge fashion trend was set off by the "Material Mom", this time with Western wear - cowboy hats and mud-splattered jeans.

In 1986, she starred with then-husband Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986), which was savaged by critics. She managed to somewhat improve her standing in the cinema with her next two films, the off-beat Who's That Girl (James Foley, 1987) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (Howard Brookner, 1989).


Dutch promotion card by Verenigde Spaarbank, Utrecht.


British postcard by Santoro Graphics, London, no. BW123. Photo: Steven Meisel. Photo for the cover of the album 'Like a Virgin' (1984).


American postcard Classico, San Francisco / Winterland Productions / Rock Express, no. 460-053. Photo: Herb Ritts / Boy Toy Inc., 1991. Photo for the cover of the album 'True Blue' (1986).


Vintage postcard, no. DK 647. Photo: Steven Meisel.


German postcard by Warner Music Germany. Photo: Mario Testino. Publicity still for the album Ray of Light (1998).


French promotion card. Photo: J. B. Mondino / WEA. The postcard promotes Madonna's album and single 'Music'. The album premiered in France on 18 September 2000 and the single on 22 August 2000.

A Golden Globe for Best Actress

Madonna played in the big-budget and star-filled Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990) bad girl Breathless Mahoney flirting with Warren Beatty. The epic failed to catch fire at the box office. However, her next film, the tell-all documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (Alek Keshishian, 1991) which followed on her controversial Blond Ambition tour in 1990, fared much better at the box office. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in colour, it is an intimate look at the work of the music performer, from a prayer circle with the dancers before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

Madonna got good reviews as a feisty baseball player alongside Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in the entertaining A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992), a story about female baseball players during W.W.II.

Madonna drew the wrath of critics with the whodunnit Body of Evidence (Uli Edel, 1992) with Willem Dafoe, an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of the sexy Sharon Stone thriller Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992). For this pseudo-S&M thriller, her show-and-tell photo book 'Sex', and her subpar dance album 'Erotica' she received a maelstrom of negative publicity.

Several minor screen roles followed, but then Madonna starred as Eva Perón opposite Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in Evita (Alan Parker, 1996). She received a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in this fairly well-received screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical.

Madonna stayed away from the film cameras for several years. She returned to the screen co-starring with Rupert Everett in the romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (John Schlesinger, 2000), followed by the painfully bad Swept Away (2002) for husband Guy Ritchie. She was again miscast as a vampish fencing instructor in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002) starring Pierce Brosnan.

In 2008, Madonna began a directing career with the comedy Filth and Wisdom (Madonna, 2008), and a year later she reunited with director Alek Keshishian to develop a script about the relationship between the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication in 1936. The result was the film W.E. (Madonna, 2011), starring James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough as the infernal but still royal couple. The film was released in 2011 to lukewarm critics but it gathered one Oscar nomination for costumes. Madonna contributed the ballad 'Masterpiece' for the film's soundtrack, which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

In the following years, Madonna continued to perform and record albums, but her film career seemed over. However, in 2020, Madonna posted a video on her Instagram where she discussed ideas for a script with writer Diablo Cody. Later she confirmed on an Instagram live stream they were writing a film about her life, to be produced by Amy Pascal.

Wikipedia: "With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is certified as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. With a revenue of U.S. $1.5 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time."

Madonna has 6 children: daughter Lourdes Leon (1996) with ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon, son Rocco Ritchie (2000), and adoptive son, David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie (2005) with ex-husband Guy Ritchie, and three adoptive daughters, Mercy James Ciccone (2006), and the twins Estere Ciccone and Stella Ciccone (2012).


French postcard by Editions Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. ST-56.


English postcard by Anabas, Romford, no. AP182, 1986.


French postcard by Editions Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. A-C 1216. Photo: UGC Distribution. Madonna in Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986).


French postcard in the série chanteurs by Les Editions GIL, no. 125. Madonna in Who's That Girl (James Foley, 1987).


British postcard by Film Review, no. Set E, Card 2. Photo: Guild Film Distribution. Madonna in Body of Evidence (Uli Edel, 1992).


Vintage postcard, no. X334. Caption: Madonna, Blonde Ambition Tour.


French postcard, no. 1232. Photo: Steven Meisel. Publicity still for Madonna: Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna (Alek Keshishian, 1991).

Sources: Phineas Topollino (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.