Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality.
72 Facts About Martha Stewart
2.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison and was released in March 2005.
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Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012.
4.
Martha Stewart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on August 3,1941.
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Martha Stewart is the second of six children born to parents Edward Kostyra and Martha and is of Polish heritage.
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When Martha Stewart was three years old, the family moved to Nutley, New Jersey.
7.
Martha Stewart adopted the name "Grace" for her Catholic confirmation name.
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When Martha Stewart was 10, she worked as the occasional babysitter for the children of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Gil McDougald, all players for the New York Yankees.
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Mickey and Merlyn Mantle had four sons, whom Martha Stewart watched and for whom she organized birthday parties.
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At 15, Martha Stewart was featured in a television commercial for Unilever.
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Martha Stewart's father had a passion for gardening and passed on much of his knowledge and expertise to his daughter.
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Martha Stewart was active in many extracurricular activities, such as the school's newspaper and art club.
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Martha Stewart attended Barnard College of Columbia University, originally planning to major in chemistry, but switching to art, history, and later architectural history.
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Martha Stewart returned to Barnard a year after their marriage to graduate with a double major in history and architectural history.
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In 1967, Martha Stewart began a second career as a stockbroker, her father-in-law's profession.
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Meanwhile, Andrew Martha Stewart founded a publishing house and served as chief executive of several others.
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Andrew and Martha Stewart moved to Westport, Connecticut, where they purchased and restored the 1805 farmhouse on Turkey Hill Road that would later become the model for the TV studio of Martha Stewart Living.
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In 1976, Martha Stewart started a catering business in her basement with a friend from her modeling days, Norma Collier.
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The venture quickly became successful but soured when Collier alleged that Martha Stewart was difficult to work with, and was taking catering jobs on the side.
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Martha Stewart was hired as the manager of a gourmet food store, the Market Basket, but after a disagreement with the owners at the mini-mall she was forced out and opened her own store.
21.
Martha Stewart contracted Stewart's company to cater the book release party, where Stewart was introduced to Alan Mirken, head of Crown Publishing Group.
22.
Andrew and Martha Stewart separated in 1987 and divorced in 1990.
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In 1990, Stewart signed with Time Publishing Ventures to develop a new magazine, Martha Stewart Living, for which Stewart would serve as editor-in-chief.
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In 1993, Stewart began a weekly half-hour television program, called Martha Stewart Living, based on her magazine.
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Martha Stewart became a frequent contributor to NBC's Today Show and later to CBS's The Early Show, and starred in several prime time holiday specials on the CBS network.
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Martha Stewart served as chairwoman, president, and CEO of the new company and Patrick became Chief Operations Officer.
27.
That same month, Stewart announced in Martha Stewart Living the launch of a companion website and a catalogue business, called Martha by Mail.
28.
On October 19,1999, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO.
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In June 2022, Martha Stewart announced that she would be launching her first original podcast, entitled The Martha Stewart Podcast, in partnership with iHeart Radio.
30.
On June 15,2022, Martha Stewart shared that Snoop Dogg would be the guest on the first episode of the podcast, which debuted on June 22,2022.
31.
On June 4,2003, Martha Stewart was indicted by the government on nine counts, including charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice.
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Martha Stewart voluntarily stepped down as CEO and Chairwoman of MSLO, but stayed on as chief creative officer.
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Under the settlement, Martha Stewart agreed to disgorge $58,062, as well as a civil penalty of three times the loss avoided, or $137,019.
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Martha Stewart agreed to a five-year ban from serving as a director, CEO, CFO, or any other officer role responsible for preparing, auditing, or disclosing financial results of any public company.
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Martha Stewart had been planning to speak at the Royal Academy on fashion and leisure industry matters.
36.
Martha Stewart wanted to go to prison in Connecticut or Florida.
37.
Martha Stewart did not want to serve at the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, owing to its remote location; in 2004, her lawyer said that the remoteness would make it difficult for Stewart's then-90-year-old mother to visit.
38.
Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum recommended to the Federal Bureau of Prisons that Martha Stewart be given her first choice, Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, or her second choice, Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman.
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Martha Stewart was then placed in a two-year term of supervised release; during five of those months, she was placed in home confinement with electronic monitoring.
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Martha Stewart served her home confinement at her residence in Bedford, New York.
41.
Martha Stewart was allowed to leave her house for 48 hours per week for work-related visits.
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Stewart returned to daytime television with The Martha Stewart Show and appeared in an adapted version of The Apprentice.
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The Apprentice: Martha Stewart was not renewed for a second season.
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Martha Stewart is a regular contributor of cooking, crafts, and gardening segments on NBC's Today show.
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Martha Stewart's daily talk show was nominated in six categories for the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards in 2006, including Best Host and Best Show.
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Martha Stewart made a special appearance on the comedy-drama series Ugly Betty, in the November 16,2006, episode "Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral," in which she gave her friend Wilhelmina Slater tips on how to prepare a turkey.
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In July 2006, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced a multi-year agreement with FLOR, Inc.
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The agreement with FLOR was part of the Martha Stewart organization's growing home furnishings program, which includes a wide range of products such as furniture with Bernhardt, wall color with Lowe's, and floor coverings with FLOR.
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Martha Stewart signed a contract with Costco to offer frozen and fresh food under the Kirkland Signature label.
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New York Magazine reported in 2011 that Martha Stewart Living had only made a profit in one of the previous eight years.
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That same year, Stewart debuted a new 30-minute show, Martha Bakes, on the Hallmark Channel.
52.
Martha Stewart played a private school headmistress in the episode entitled "Learning Curve".
53.
Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart later starred together in a Super Bowl commercial for T-Mobile during Super Bowl LI in February 2017.
54.
Martha Stewart was originally a blind-tester and then joined CEO Fabian Siegel on a joint venture.
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In June 2018, Martha Stewart started appearing as a recurring judge for Chopped, a cooking competition on the Food Network.
56.
In February 2019, Canopy Growth, a Canadian marijuana company, announced that Martha Stewart would join their company as an adviser.
57.
In May 2023, Martha Stewart appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as the cover model.
58.
At 81 years old, Martha Stewart is the oldest model to grace the cover.
59.
Subsequently, Martha Stewart dated Anthony Hopkins but ended the relationship after she saw The Silence of the Lambs.
60.
Martha Stewart stated she was unable to avoid associating Hopkins with the character of Hannibal Lecter.
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Martha Stewart dated billionaire Charles Simonyi, who was an early employee of Microsoft and head of their software group, on and off for 15 years.
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Martha Stewart featured footage of him as a space tourist aboard Soyuz on her television show in 2007.
63.
Martha Stewart's pets include champion show Chow Chow dogs, French Bulldogs, Himalayan cats, a Fell Pony named Ben Chunch, and Friesian horses.
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Kostyra, called "Big Martha" by her family, had appeared on Martha Stewart Living numerous times.
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Martha Stewart maintains a 35,000-square-foot residence on Mount Desert Island in Seal Harbor, Maine, known as 'Skylands,' the former summer estate of automobile designer and tycoon Edsel Ford, with gardens designed by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen.
66.
In 1995, Martha Stewart received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
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In 1997, Martha Stewart was honored with an Edison Achievement Award for her commitment to innovation throughout her career.
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In 2018, Martha Stewart was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
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In 2020, Martha Stewart was inducted into the Licensing International Hall of Fame.
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Martha Stewart has been portrayed and parodied in all forms of media.
71.
Martha Stewart was portrayed by Cybill Shepherd in both films.
72.
Martha Stewart made a cameo appearance in the fourth season of HBO's High Maintenance.